Know 2 Share Files Legally and Safely

Sharing data is a basic part of what we do with our computers. After all, the whole purpose of connecting computers to a network is so that data can easily flow between them. Despite huge advances in processing power and remarkable pieces of software coming out every day, we’ve struggled to solve one of the Internet’s first problems: how to send each other files.

If you’ve heard the phrase “file sharing” before, it probably wasn’t in an entirely positive context. The term first began to enter the public consciousness in the late 90s when a college student named Shawn Fanning released a program called Napster. Perhaps the most infamous of what we now term “peer-to-peer” file sharing technologies, Napster was an instant hit among college students who used it to trade mp3 files of their favorite music on their high-speed college network connections. While previous generations not only had to pay for musical recordings but were limited in their ability to copy music, college students at the turn of the century were trading not just individual songs but entire music collections with the click of a mouse.

The problem is that when albums are being freely traded nobody is being paid. Within a few years record labels and artists began to sue not just Napster but individual users who downloaded songs they didn’t own for copyright violation. These lawsuits were successful in shutting down Napster, but in the years since a wide variety of bew ways to share files, legally and illegally, have appeared online.

There are several factors that determine whether or not you’re allowed to share a particular file. The question we’re looking at today is whether or not the file contains copyrighted material. While Napster brought attention to the distribution of copyrighted music, lots of other media can be copyrighted: the text of books, movies, photographs, maps, computer programs, and really anything else that can be considered an original work. The only time that sharing a copyrighted work is acceptable is when the right’s holder has given permission or negotiated a contract for use of the copyrighted work. For instance, let’s say you want to use a song in a promotional video for your company. First, you have to figure out who holds the copyright to the song. It could be the original artist who wrote the song, the musicians who played and recorded the song, the record label who released the music commercially, or even a third party who bought the rights to the track. Then you need to reach an agreement with the copyright holder, usually in the form of payment for use of the song.

Copyright is a complicated topic, but the fact is that you cannot simply share other people’s work freely online. Just because other people do it (and sometimes get away with it) doesn’t mean that you should. After all, copyright is an important part of our system of laws, guaranteeing that a people who create original works are free to make money from their creations.

Thankfully, you can freely share plenty of other files online without worry. Anything you’ve created, whether it’s a home video or a business proposal, is yours to do with as you please. Similarly, there are lots of times when you receive files and are given permission to share them. Every day families share photographs with one another, and PowerPoint presentations travel around the office. As long as the creator of these photographs and documents has approved of their use, this kind of file sharing is perfectly legal.

While email works for small files, what about when you need to send something larger like a video clip or audio track? If you’ve ever tried, then you already know what happens—the email is returned, too large to deliver. While email is a perfect solution for day-to-day communication and sharing simple documents, large files require a different solution.