[Alberta's Child]

Excellent points. I can honestly say that I own CDs for about 90% of the songs I've downloaded, and the rest of them are simply older, unique tunes that won't drive me to buy a whole CD just to hear them. I'd love to be able to pay a fee to download these tunes, especially if there is an automatic credit given back for those who then buy a full CD afterward.

While the legality and morality of this downloading process are clear, it should be pointed out that this is precisely what drove the publishing industry to come out with paperback books -- they made their products cheap enough that nobody would bother copying them.

[DAnconia55]

and the rest of them are simply older, unique tunes that won't drive me to buy a whole CD just to hear them

I believe after a certain time, the copyrights expire, and you can do this.