Q&A: Music downloading

Music industry bodies have taken legal action against music fans in the US, Canada, Denmark, Germany and Italy who are accused of illegally downloading copied music or putting copied music online. BBC News Online explains the issue.

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The UK music industry has started issuing warnings to downloaders

What is music downloading?

People with an internet connection can transfer songs in digital format to their computers. These can come from websites and other home computers around the world, often with little regulation.

The users can then play the songs on their computers, copy them to a CD or put them onto a portable device like Apple's iPod.

Where do these songs come from?

There are two main sources - which can be broadly classified as authorised and unauthorised. The authorised sites are official services which work with record labels and artists. Most require payment to cover royalties and other music industry costs.

Unauthorised sites usually offer free tracks that have been copied by other fans and put there without the permission of labels and artists. Fans get lots of choice - but no money goes back to those who made the music.

How popular is downloading?

Very. One international industry body said in January 2004, 6.2 million people were using unauthorised services around the world at any one time - up from three million in June 2002.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) estimates that 92% of all UK downloaders were using unauthorised sites. And with technology getting better and internet speeds getting faster, it is getting easier than ever.

Why is the music industry worried?

It needs fans to pay for music, otherwise it will not survive in its current form. It says the value of global CD sales has dropped about 22% since 1999 - and insists unauthorised downloading is to blame.

It says studies have proved that people who download music buy fewer CDs. But a string of major authorised services, set up to offer a legal alternative to unauthorised sites, are starting to take a foothold. The market leader, Apple's iTunes, sells about 2.5 million songs a week - but is still only available in the US.

Who is being sued?

Almost 2,000 unauthorised downloaders have been sued in the US so far. The US record industry says it is trying to "track and shut down repeat offenders" - those targeted by legal action have included a 12-year-old girl and a 66-year-old grandmother.

Elsewhere in the world, 247 "major offenders" accused of illegally making hundreds of tracks available, have been sued in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada.

In the UK, the industry has threatened to start legal action and is making pop-up warnings appear when music is downloaded on some unauthorised sites.

The industry sees legal action as one of the best ways to deter music fans from using unauthorised sites.

Could I be sued for swapping just a few songs?

Theoretically, you could. But the BPI says the problem stems from a small hardcore of "serial uploaders" who offer hundreds or thousands of music files over the internet.