Why is filesharing illegal?
British record companies invest tens of millions pounds annually in new artists, and recoup that by having the exclusive right to copy, distribute and make available their recordings. Without copyright, labels would have no financial incentive to invest in new music and Britain would not have its world-beating music business. The Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 grants various rights to copyright owners, and people who distribute copyrighted recordings via peer-to-peer networks without permission are breaking the law by infringing those rights. It is absolutely clear in UK copyright law that unauthorised filesharing is illegal. Specifically, filesharing runs counter to Section 16, which grants the copyright holder various exclusive rights, including the ‘exclusive right to copy and to communicate works to the public’; and Section 20, which provides that the exclusive right of communication to the public includes making the work available to the public ‘by electronic transmission i
