If I don't charge people for downloading music from my site, I'm not violating copyright law.
FALSE. If you don't hold the copyright, you cannot authorize downloads of sound records -- even if you don't charge a fee.

If I only download sound recordings, it's not a violation of copyright law.
FALSE. It's a violation if you upload or download copyrighted sound recordings without permission of the copyright owners.

The "fair use" exemption protects me.
FALSE. Some uses may be "fair," but uploading or downloading full-length recordings without permission is not "fair use."

If a Web site doesn't display a copyright notice for the music, the music isn't copyrighted.
FALSE. In the U.S., almost every work created privately and originally after March 1, 1989 is copyrighted and protected whether or not it has a notice.

If I upload or download a sound recording and leave it on my drive for less than 24 hours, it is not copyright infringement.
FALSE. Whether you upload or download a sound recording and keep it for 24 hours or 24 seconds, you are still violating copyright law.

An MP3 site is legal with a disclaimer on it.
FALSE. It doesn't matter how many disclaimers you put on an MP3 site. If you operate an MP3 site, you're violating copyright law.

It's within my First Amendment (free speech) rights to create an MP3 site.
FALSE. The First Amendment does not include the right to infringe copyrighted works.

Distribution of music doesn't hurt anybody. It's promotional and free advertising.
FALSE. It's up to the artist and copyright owner to decide how their music will be heard, distributed, and promoted. Furthermore, approximately 15 percent of record sales support new and emerging artists who are being recorded. Fewer sales mean less money for new music. To an emerging artist, every sale counts.

I'll never get caught anyway; nobody ever does.
FALSE. The RIAA is continually combing all facets of the Internet, looking for Web and FTP sites that distribute MP3s.

 
Provided by and used with permission of the Recording Industry Association of America. Excerpted from a Quick Tip available at http://it.ucdavis.edu/pubs/quicktips/.