m0l0t0v Posted October 12, 2004 I was wondering... There seem to be quite a lot of sites offering free and legal MP3s. (Even Doomworld is doing it). On http://www.goingware.com/tips/legal-downloads.html there are many links to sites offering free/legal MP3s. Does this mean, that I can take these MP3s and host/stream them on my site aswell? And if bands let you download sample songs, can I host them on my site? Are there laws/ rules for this or is the internet nothing more than digital anarchy... 0 Share this post Link to post
Sephiroth Posted October 13, 2004 the biggest problem next to legality of the issue is spyware. many of these sites seem to be fronts for spyware. so be careful, very careful. though i don't go around looking for MP3's others have told me they have been asked to download "software" to get these MP3's, which was spyware. Also some friends have downloade dit to find it was either the wrong band, some cover band or complete garbage. 0 Share this post Link to post
Amaster Posted October 13, 2004 m0l0t0v said:I was wondering... There seem to be quite a lot of sites offering free and legal MP3s. (Even Doomworld is doing it). On http://www.goingware.com/tips/legal-downloads.html there are many links to sites offering free/legal MP3s. Does this mean, that I can take these MP3s and host/stream them on my site aswell? And if bands let you download sample songs, can I host them on my site? Are there laws/ rules for this or is the internet nothing more than digital anarchy... Just because it's free doesnt mean there arent rules about usage. Check the site FAQ/documentation or contact the authors. 0 Share this post Link to post
Fletcher` Posted October 13, 2004 Just because they are advertised as free doesnt mean they really are. Click further and you'll see what i mean. 0 Share this post Link to post
Fredrik Posted October 13, 2004 MP3s aren't free. The format is patent encumbered. 0 Share this post Link to post
deathbringer Posted October 15, 2004 MP3s aren't free. The format is patent encumbered. Yeah, like any site with a .gif file on it is paying £100 a day to some group we have never heard of... "Now let me tell you how it works in the real world"-Kyle in south park 0 Share this post Link to post
Fredrik Posted October 15, 2004 It is illegal to distribute a program that plays or creates an MP3 file, or develop the MP3 technology further, unless you pay Fraunhofer Institute money for a license. The same was true for GIF/Unisys (though the LZW patent has expired now). So yeah, the bits in an MP3 file are free (except for potentially copyrighted content), you just can't legally create or decode them unless you pay (directly or indirectly). 0 Share this post Link to post
Kristian Ronge Posted October 16, 2004 Ah, MP3s.. I remember the good old days (early '97) when all there was was Fraunhofer IIS "WinPlay" (a sucky player which didn't even allow for fast-forwarding/rewinding! Still, probably had better sound than any/all MP3 players today...). I remember trying the experimental Winamp 1.x versions, which slaughtered MP3 files on a regular basis -- you'd better make backups! Then, of course, the word got out, and by late 1998, every joe schmoe wanted to get their hands on MP3s... Anyway, so the point of this post is ... ah, who am I kidding, it's just rambling. 0 Share this post Link to post
jute Posted October 17, 2004 i get a lot of good free music from: http://www.songfight.org http://www.somesongs.com http://www.crapart.spacebar.org/aad 0 Share this post Link to post
