If I cloned it for free then the artist would miss a sale, but would I be stealing?
Yes.
I studied for weeks, bought books to read tons of text, memorized, drilled, payed a tutor, and practiced hard for my final exams and passed with a good grade.
You walked into class, sat down next to me and copied all my answers in a few minutes and walked out with the same grade. Intangible or not, oranges or not, you stole "fruit" from my hard work.
As a fellow musician, you'll find it easy to relate the exam examples directly to what you've had to go through becoming a competent musician.
There's a godzillion places that sell reproductions of this or that famous painting and it's perfectly legal because....it's a copy.
Copyright ownership never existed or long expired on really old stuff like classical music and paintings. That's not necessarily a fair comparision in the modern world. When your song is 200 years old, it will be free too.
IMHO, the current big music industry blows. Tons of great music never gets heard. The indie internet radio is starting to change that, but how long till the big guys try to crush it?
Plaz
