RIPPING DANCE MUSIC: MP3s AND THE LAW.

It's free music--but are MP3s legal? Simply put, MP3 is a file format that stores audio files on a computer with nearly perfect clarity (similar to a CD's quality) but takes up relatively little hard drive space. The technology enables Web surfers to download music posted on the Internet. Technically, MP3s can be used legally or illegally, depending on the application.

Downloading MP3s is legal if the song's copyright holder has granted permission, or if the recording of the music is in what is considered public domain. Downloading an MP3 is illegal if it has been posted without permission from the copyright holder (i.e., bootleg concerts or unreleased material: songs for which artists and their labels could potentially receive royalties). "Ripping"--translating audio into MP3 format--is also legal, with the same copyright restrictions.

There are plenty of Web sites devoted to legal MP3s--MP3.com and Emusic.com are two of the best known. These sites are resources for largely unknown songs from unsigned artists who want to have their music heard by a wider audience. MP3.com and Emusic.com are supported by advertising; there is no fee to download files.

Another example of legal use of MP3s is when a record label deliberately posts songs online to promote a particular artist, the theory being that releasing a song or two won't affect sales and that after hearing a single people will want to buy the entire album.

What's recently got record label executives up in arms is that new technology is now making MP3 files portable. Diamond Multimedia's Rio, much like a Walkman, allows people who have downloaded MP3 files to take them anywhere they want, not just listen to them on the computer. The sale of the Rio was fought and lost by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), who alleged that the device would encourage piracy.

According to Boston-based intellectual property lawyer Joe Laferrera, "Just because you can download a file from the Internet does not mean that the file isn't subject to the copyright laws. The recording industry is not concerned about MP3 because the songs lose their copyright protection; it is concerned because MP3 makes it easy for the public to ignore that protection and copy the music illegally."

In response, RIAA has joined forces with major record labels (Sony, BMG, EMI, Warner, and Universal) to launch the Secure Digital Music Initiative to "create and implement new industry standards for copyright protection and distribution of music in digital formats." In plain English this means record companies are working to make available, for a fee, entire albums by major recording artists in the MP3 format.

The major labels' first collaborative effort has been in testing IBM's Electronic Music Management System (also known as the Madison Project), a sales and distribution system that has all sorts of James Bond-sounding copyright protection devices encoded in the MP3, like encryption, watermarking, and file lockout. RIAA hopes to make this music purchasing option available by December 1999.

However, advocates of direct distribution say the industry fears that if artists can simply send their music directly to the customer, then labels, distribution, and retailers will become obsolete. According to the New York Times, techno-savvy recording artists like the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and Less Than Jake posted MP3 files of their songs on their Web sites but were forced to take them down by their recording companies.

How does this affect dancers, choreographers, and dance teachers? Basically, it means that a lot more music can be explored in the comfort and privacy of one's own home, including music that's not signed to a label and wouldn't be available otherwise.

Music downloaded from the Internet used for classroom or performance is subject to the same rules regulating music obtained by more traditional means. Bottom line: MP3 or not, the copyright holder must be contacted for permission to use her or his property for public performance. In the case of most MP3 sites there's a direct link to the artist--and negotiation is just a point and click away.