Legal Download Clearinghouses

Free Music

Sharing Music, Movies and Software: Your Responsibilities at Macalester College with Respect to Copyright Law

Over the last few years, court decisions and government actions (as well as actions by the music, movie and software industries) make illegally downloading copyrighted materials more dangerous than ever. Copyright holders, such as the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, have actively sought to find people who have shared copyrighted materials without payment or permission. Whether rightly or wrongly, significant attention has focused on college students. When copyright holders find violations, they will act quickly to stop the violation and potentially prosecute the violator.

Penalties can be severe. The federal No Electronic Theft Act of 1997 extends criminal coypright law to cases even where there is no clear profit motive. It imposes fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of as long as five years for those who illegally distribute copyrighted works.

Macalester's Responsible Use policy recognizes that copying commercial files without permission or payment is a violation. See www.macalester.edu/its/policies/responsibleuse.html. We resist the notion of monitoring individuals' data files because of our commitment to your privacy - but we must, and will, respond when potential copyright violations are reported to the College through appropriate channels. If you do not have permission to have copied commercial files on your computer and you are discovered, you will minimally lose network privileges until you take down the files. Repeat offense will put you into the student judicial process. Persons or organizations outside the College may also sue you for substantial damages and fines.

COPYRIGHT LAW
The severity of the situation traces back to recent interpretations of U. S. Copyright law (Title 17, United States Code). This law governs the reproduction of copyrighted material regardless of its format. Copyright law is complicated and its interpretation is frequently controversial. This does not mean, however, that copyright holders will hesitate to prosecute alleged violators. Macalester's Library staff have prepared a comprehensive guide to copyright law and regulations. Please see www.macalester.edu/infoservices/copyright/.

THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT (DMCA)
The DMCA specifies procedures that Macalester must follow when we are notified that an individual using our network is violating copyright laws. If the copyright holder contacts Macalester about a violation, we will block network access for the individual, notify him or her of the notice we have received, and require removal of the offending material from his or her computer. The individual has a right to claim that the material is not protected by copyright, and then a legal process begins. To date, every notice we have received has resulted in the offending material being removed.

Legal Sources for Online Music and Movies

You can legally download music and movies without using illegal download tools or P2P file-sharing applications that violate copyright law. The following sites provide free, legal music and shows.

Legal Download Clearinghouses

These sites collect lots of links to legal downloads.

MusicUnited.org

What's The Download.com

The Motion Picture Association of America

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Free Music

Live365 Internet Radio - A network where members can create their own online radio station or listen to other Live365 broadcasters' online stations.

Last.fm - Every track you play on Last.fm tells your profile something about what you like. It can connect you to other people who like what you like and recommend songs from their music collections.

Pandora Radio - Pandora Radio is a personalized Internet radio service that helps you find new music based on your old and current favorites.

Radio-Locator - Radio-Locator is a comprehensive listing of radio stations all over the world that have Web pages.

RadioTower - RadioTower provides details, descriptions , ratings and one-click instant access to thousands of live Internet radio feeds.

SHOUTcast - SHOUTcast Radio offers thousands of free Internet radio stations from DJs and broadcasters around the world.

Yahoo! Music - Yahoo! Music lets you find music videos, Internet radio, music downloads and the latest music news and information.

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Free Video, Movies and Television: Networks

ABC

Al Jazeera

BBC

CBS

Fox

NBC

PBS

TV5Monde

Free Video, Movies and Television: Other Providers

Hulu.com - a joint venture of NBC/Universal and Fox, is a free online video service that offers hit TV shows including Family Guy, 30 Rock, NBA, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and more.

Joost - Joost provides music, TV and movies, and allows you to search by title or category, or you can find suggestions from friends or people who share common interests.

Sling - Sling offers content from most of the major networks and studios including Warner, Sony, and MGM. The site also has videos from a number of smaller sources.

Music Subscription Services

Audio Lunchbox - Audio Lunchbox strives to make the purchase of digital music quick, easy and affordable. Downloads are not restricted by DRM (Digital Rights Management).

eMusic - focuses on independent music and audio books. Its catalog includes music beyond the commercial mainstream and nearly 5,000 audio book titles.

Napster - Napster has reinvented itself as a legal commercial service. Napster provides music on demand, allowing you to play just about any song you can think of, whenever you want, for one monthly fee. Napster adds hundreds of new releases every week.

Rhapsody - Rhapsody is a digital music service that lets you listen to whatever you want, wherever you are, without paying per track. Rhapsody membership plans start at less than the cost of a CD a month, so you can listen to as much music as you want without limits.

Music, Movie and TV Download Stores

Amazon Video on Demand - Amazon offers movies and TV shows to buy or rent to your computer, XBox360, TiVo, Roku, or portable video device.

Blockbuster Online - Blockbuster Online enables you to rent or buy downloads of movies, TV shows and other popular videos.

CinemaNow - CinemaNow offers download-to-own and pay-per-view movies, TV shows, and music videos from more than 250 licensors including 20th Century Fox, Disney, EMI, HDNet, IFC, Lionsgate, MGM, Miramax, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Sundance Channel, Vivendi Entertainment and Warner Bros.

iTunes Store - The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple, now the number-one music vendor in the United States. The store sells music, movies, audiobooks, TV shows and also carries podcasts.

Lala - On Lala, you can play any song or album once for free. Lala matches the songs on your computer to its catalog, and adds them for free to your online collection. You can add new music to your online collection as you go, buying Web songs (unlimited online plays) or MP3 downloads.

With grateful acknowledgement to Tracy Mitrano and Cornell University!

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