Legal Question in Technology Law in California
File Sharing
My question is about the criminal part of file sharing. From my reading of Title 17 of the United States Code
� 506 Criminal offenses and of
unofficial opinions all over the internet the sharing part is what is a misdemeanor if I were to upload or share at least $1000 worth of
movies, songs or computer programs in any 6 month period.
The opinions are that the parts
such as this :(B) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means and this:
(A) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain;
mean reproducing by sharing
with others and that the private
financial gain is that if I share my
copyrighted files illegally then so
will other peer to peer group
members.
So is it true that the
misdemeanor can never apply to anyone
who only downloads or just
receives files such as computer
programs? I tended
to believe this as most
every software maker
states in their license agreement
that if you provide someone else
a copy of your software that you
have transferred all rights in it to
that person. So given what the
license agreements state how
could only downloading ever be
a misdemeanor on that basis alone?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: File Sharing
AFAIK the FBI is not interested in prosecuting garden variety file sharers. The RIAA/MPAA -will- sue your pants off in civil court for copyright infringement, in part because most file sharing programs automatically make your downloaded files available to others for uploading and RIAA/MPAA contends this is the same as distribution for profit.
Re: File Sharing
The loss of all license rights is only one consequence of the downloading. The license agreements don't say forfeiture of your license rights is the licensor/copyright owner's exclusive remedy against you. It still has the right to sue you.
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