File Sharing Ruled Legal In Spain

stupid_is writes "As a follow-up to a previous discussion a judge in Spain has ruled that under Spanish law a person who downloads music for personal use can not be punished or branded a criminal. This seems to be a teeny bit clearer than the first article, which points out that downloading is a civil, and not criminal, offense for individuals. The Spanish recording industry federation Promusicae is predictably a bit peeved, and says it will appeal against the decision." From the article: "The state prosecutor's office and two music distribution associations had sought a two year sentence against the man, who downloaded songs and then allegedly offered them on a CD through email and chat rooms. However, there was no direct proof he made money from selling the CDs. Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopéz Aguilar says Spain is drafting a new law to abolish the existing right to private copies of material. Due to different regulatory regimes in Europe, the proceedings against file sharers differ greatly in each country. However, most European judges tend to take a harder stance on file sharing. Twenty two people in Finland were fined €427,000 last week for illegally sharing movies, music, games and software, while courts in Sweden also fined two men who had downloaded movies and music for personal use."

Downloading != Sharing

[Fastolfe]

Everyone also needs to keep in mind that in most countries where these things are issues, the offenses related to downloading things versus sharing them are completely different. I don't believe anybody even in the US has been taken to court merely for downloading. It's always about sharing (redistribution). It's frustrating when the media tends to use the two things interchangeably.

Re:Downloading != Sharing

[giorgiofr]

Nobody downloads mp3 via http from pimply-faced youths anymore. People get music on eMule and movies on BitTorrent. So, everytime you're downloading, you're uploading as well.

Comparison invalid

[ruppel]

The comparison with Finland is invalid since the sentence was given for filesharing and not for downloading files. Untill recently the legislation in finland was as clear about downloads (i.e. they were legal). Now we have the new european version of the DMCA and there haven't been any cases to test whether that status has changed. Since the legislation is essentially (supposed to be) the same throughout europe, I would guess that simply downloading stuff is still legal.

Re:Filesharing is theft. Plain and simple.

[Volante3192]

Every day, fewer and fewer customers enter my store to buy fewer and fewer CDs. Why is no one buying CDs? Are people not interested in music? Do people prefer to watch TV, see films, read books? I don't know. But there is one, inescapable truth - Internet piracy is mostly to blame. The statistics speak for themselves - one in three discs world wide is a pirate.

One in three discs is pirated. So, are you referring here to counterfeit discs produced on the black market and sold for 3 bucks in the subway? Because those are COMPLETELY different from burning a mix cd from tracks off the internet, which rarely, if ever, get sold. Want to talk unreferenced statistics? The highest downloaded tracks online are also the highest purchased CDs. Shocker.

I buy two artists these days: R.E.M. and Weird Al (Sony connections be damned, I think they just do production anyway...) Every day I listen to the radio and there's just nothing on that I'd bother plunking down my cash for. I'd rather get another DS game or another DVD.

I think people don't buy music because they found other things to be interested in. There's a gigantic amount of entertainment choices out there now. We're past the days of the walkman. Music has to compete against movies (now portable), the DS and PSP, at home there's hundreds of TV stations.

Plus I don't think many people, at least in this corner of the cyberverse, have many good things to say about the media racket.

Re:Filesharing is theft. Plain and simple.

[scharkalvin]

Is the record retail business going bust due to filesharing?
Maybe, but there are other forces at work here....
You may be loosing business to the likes of Amazon.com, Ebay, and other non-brick and mortar
retail outlets that are undercutting your price. Also there are LEGAL download sites
(such as itunes) that offer customers the choice to buy just the cuts they want, not the entire
CD. Face it, your method of business is going the way of the dinosaur. File sharing may be
part of the problem, but by many accounts it is a small percentage.
Blacklist the pirates? Maybe a good idea, but good luck!
Why don't you modify your business plan to include internet sales? Get a fraging website
for crying out loud! If you don't join 'em you won't beat 'em!