Legal Question in Technology Law in Tennessee

Re: piracy

Copyrighted material is protected regardless of the form it is in. If an artist owns the copyright to one of her songs, she doesn't lose that right just because someone converts it to mp3 format.

Not all mp3 downloads are illegal, since some recordings are in the public domain. Far more recordings are copyrighted, though. Also, some mp3 downloads are available for a fee, and where reputable sites (like record companies or major computer hardware or software manufacturers) offer these downloads they are probably legitimate.

If you think you should be paying for the music (and my guess is that you do, or you wouldn't have posted this question) you're probably right.