Yes, that seems to me a valid assumption. If I am the rights holder and I see a down load with no corresponding payment I don’t know why I should assume it isn’t stolen. I may send a bill or I may ask to see your proof of use.
The way I understand the law, if you buy the CD, you can make one copy of that CD for your personal use. If you say; “Hey I bought Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic in 1989 on CD so now I can download “Sweet Emotion” any time I want as many times as I want in perpetuity.” I would say you don’t have the law on your side.
I would say I do... who’s to say that mpeg isn’t my copy? RIAA is basically marching rapidly toward irrellevance