Outline · [ Standard ] · Linear+ $.04 for music downloads - legally?, Looks legit...

Interesting read:
http://www.g4techtv.com/feature.aspx?article_key=779
http://www.museekster.com/allofmp3info.htm

At $.01 per Meg, that's about $.04 per song at 128kbps. They need a larger catalog, but it's growing every day.

Because this service originates in Russia, it is bound by Russian copyright law - which is a little different than the copyright laws here in the United States (or Canada, Australia and/or Europe).

United States copyright law does not really apply since you are buying the music for personal use from a licensed (and legitimate) content provider. So we really need to look at intellectual property law to determine if this is legal or not - and then we need to consider who's intellecual property laws apply. United States law? Russian law? Currently, the neither the WTO or the World Court has established any minimum standards for international intellectual property standards. So until they do, it can be argued that you downloaded the files from a Russian site, then you will be covered under Russian copyright laws.

Way too dodgy IMO. Would you really feel comfortable giving them your credit card #?

Nup! Not me! <_<

From the museekster review:

My feeling is that if you purchase a licensed work of art, you are able to use it subject to the terms of that license. Thus, if the work you purchased a license for included terms that you were able to use it anywhere, and reproduce/broadcast it, then that license would hold firm.

The key lies in allofmp3's rights to license and distribute the music. If it's affiliation with CISAC is genuine, then that would satisfy Australian law to the best of my knowledge, provided you used the work in accordance with the the terms of the license.

Also, if there were an alleged breach of copyright law, my suspicion is that since the work is licensed in Russia, then that would be the appropriate forum for the RIAA to sue you in. Chances of that anyone??

I would like to take a speculative analysis, based on random facts that I know, but not based on any law books.

For music and for entertainment, the american rights are usually sold separately from the international rights. If you buy music internationally, you are bound by the copyright of the music (as the buyer), so if the rights to the music being sold do not belong to and are not licensed to the person selling the music, you (as the buyer) are not performing a legal action by purchasing the music from someone who does not own it. That is like going to asia and buying a burned DVD. You wouldn't want to be caught by the lawyers of the people who owns the international rights to that movie.

speculation only, though. I wonder where the RIAA is monitoring, though, especially if this site does not have a large library.