Napster Right Or Wrong?

Napster, “a Peer 2 Peer “file sharing service that was invented by college student Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker in 1999. The program allowed millions of people to openly allow users the ability to share and download music files with anyone who was connected to the Napster network.The creation of peer 2 peer created a conflict between record labels and music fans. Napster provided a way for broke teenagers to download any of their favorite music for free. Music file-sharing being legal or not will always have many different perspectives. The teenaged me would scream about why it should be legal at all cost, because I didn’t have the money and if I had the money to buy albums by every artist that I liked I would have. The adult me would scream that it’s illegal to share someone else hard work without them being compensated for it. Even though Napster seemed harmless to the users, it neglected the rights of the artist, and it was illegal reproduction of copyright music

I know plenty people who have used Napster and although it was an awesome site to go to for downloads I do not think it should be legal. Why would people create music if it was free?The actual artist will always see Napster use as a form of stealing and it was violation of their rights. "I spent $15,000 on my Web site. I paid a publicist for a year and a half out of my own pocket. And now some kid's going to tell me my catalog should be free? They're just entrepreneurs setting themselves up to make a ton of money off other people's work. Where's the compensation for the artists?" These artists take time out to write their music, produce music, and release their music to hopefully get money off it. This is their job and if people don't pay for the music the artist to keep doing their job, then they won’t be able to keep making the music. Napster may have given people a pathway to music that was hard to access. The case of Metallica vs. Napster is a great example of why it should not be legal to download music, "Napster hijacked our music without asking," Ulrich told Congress in July 2000. "They never sought our permission.

Our catalog of music simply became available for free downloads on the Napster system”, stated Ulrich after finding out that Napster leaked a track that was made for an upcoming movie. Who knows the amount of Metallica could have made off that song, but with its early release and free shares it cost them a great amount of profit. [bookmark: _Hlk525488188]Napster was known as one of the fastest growing businesses of its time and changed a whole new generation outlook on music. Napster transformed the music industry and paved a way for companies like iTunes to give their fans music quicker, easier, and cheaper. The founders argued that file sharing program was legal. They were promoting illegal reproduction of copyright music. The people using the program was responsible for illegal distribution, but the act of sharing copyrighted music is what the authorities will prosecute for, as you are allowing other users to download something which they should pay for, for free. Socially and Ethically it is still stealing, I can’t go to an art gallery and just take the art home anytime I want, I must purchase it. “The recording association asserts Napster is guilty of contributory copyright infringement.

The industry contends that Napster has built a business by encouraging individual users to share files of music they do not own” (Lamont, 2018), Also known as stealing. Though the business began with more intention on cutting out the middle man, it helped to transform the music industrySo, in conclusion, asking if Napster should be legal is like asking if guns should be legal everywhere, it all depends on how you plan to use it. All music artist should be able to earn something for the music they put out. Even though everyone enjoys the concept of being able to consume music for free through music share, music is something that is published and copy-written. Any file downloaded under copyright without purchase is illegal no matter what software program used.