<P> Around the world in 2006, an estimated five billion songs, equating to approximately 38,000 years in music were swapped on peer - to - peer websites, while 509 million songs were purchased online . The same study which estimated these findings also found that artists that had an online presence ended up retaining more of the profits rather than the music companies . </P> <P> In November 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Secure Federal File Sharing Act, which would, if enacted, prohibit the use of peer - to - peer file - sharing software by U.S. government employees and contractors on computers used for federal government work . The bill has died with the adjournment of 111th Congress . </P> <P> A copyright in the United States consists of the exclusive rights enumerated under 17 USC 106 . When having to do with pictures, music, literature or video, these exclusive rights include: 1 . The right to reproduce or redistribute the picture, music, lyrics, text, video, or images of a video . 2 . The right to distribute the picture, music, lyrics, text, video, or images of a video . 3 . The right to produce derivative works of the copyrighted work . 4 . The right to perform the work publicly . 5 . The right to display the work publicly . 6 . The right to transmit the work through the use of radio or digital transition . In summary, these exclusive rights cover the reproduction, adaptation, publication, performance, and display of a copyrighted work (subject to limitations such as fair use). </P> <P> Anyone who violates the exclusive rights of copyright has committed copyright infringement, whether or not the work has been registered at the copyright office . If an infringement has occurred, the copyright owner has a legal right to sue the infringer for violating the terms of their copyright . The monetary value of the lawsuit can be whatever a jury decides is acceptable . </P>

It is legal to download multimedia files from the internet if they are to be used in