Downloading pirated music is stealing – I’ve heard that since before I knew what pirated music was. And I’ve always understood that the reason it’s stealing is because you are depriving the company that publishes the music from your sales. But an interesting question was recently brought to my attention that puzzled me.
Suppose a music group produces an independent album. Their music gets wide recognition, and they are signed up with a major label, and start hitting the tops of the charts with their music. Many people become fans, and pride themselves on having the group’s complete collection of music – until they find out about the independent album, which is no longer being published. After doing a thorough search of the group’s website and also checking Amazon and every bookstore in the country, they begin to lose hope. But then finally, one google search brings them to a website where they can download the album for free. At this point, is there anything wrong with downloading it?
My first instinct is to say yes, it’s pirated music. But if the only problem with pirated music is that it stiffs the publishing company, what’s the issue when the album isn’t even being published?
Here is my opinion. First, the company may decide to start re-publishing the album at a later date, for one reason for another, and you are depriving them of future sales. Second, even if the album is never produced again, physical copies of the album almost definitely exist somewhere. With the album out of publication, they become collector’s items, and may someday be worth a fortune. But if people have access to the music without buying the few surviving copies, the collector’s item’s depreciate, and you are depriving the owner’s of the collector’s items of a percentage of their sales in the future. Thirdly, the simple fact is that it’s illegal.
In our modern society we have lost sight of the importance of submitting ourselves to the governing authorities. We see laws as general advice, and assert that the only true crime is getting caught, not actually committing crimes. This disregard for authority breaks down the moral fiber of our society (if one law is irrelevant, who’s to say that another isn’t?), encourages the government to pass trivial laws (since it’s just viewed as advice anyway), and can lead to stricter penalties (to scare the people into obedience). Laws were meant to be obeyed.
Even if you can’t see any other way to get the music you want, don’t download pirated music. You will survive without it.
-The Collegiate Capitalist
http://www.collegiatecapitalist.blogspot.com
You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
-Romans 2:21
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
-Romans 13:1
