How do you know it *isn't* illegal to record a song off the radio? Cite your source please.

There is a HUGE difference between the two mediums. Namely, downloading a digital music file is an EXACT copy of the original. Or in a format which is of a high enough quality to be considered a copy for all intents and purposes. <EDIT> Here's another big difference: Radio stations pay royalties to the artists/labels for every song they play, each time it is played. So they are paying for the right to broadcast the artist's music. The person who copies a song from a CD onto his computer and then shares it with everybody else who has not paid for a CD and is not paying any royalties has no legal right to do so. So anyone who downloads such music is stealing. Legitimate music download sites DO pay the artist for the right to distribute their music every time someone downloads a song from them. Downloading music from these sites is NOT stealing.

both are typically illegal however its a dame site easier for you to be caught downloading p2p than recording from the radio

actually it is technically illegal to record a song off the radio. I think that's one of the reasons CD players and radios don't have a record button that records radio stations like they used to. Aside from quality being lower on radio recordings compared to mp3s or lossless Flac files which are nearly identical to the purchased quality versions, you have many more limitations recording from the radio...you have to wait for them to play the song to record it AND you can't download a whole album (with the cover art as well)...and considerig the state of radio playlists nowdays they might not even play any songs you like over the air...but you can get darn near anything through p2p. So I think they crack down harder on p2p because of these reasons and the fact that it's easier to catch someone online downloading than finding someone in their home with a FM stereo recording songs.

1) "Recording the Radio is Legal. Recording Satellite Radio is Illegal." "Chalk another one up for the record companies. In a lawsuit brought by Atlantic Recording Corp, BMG Music, Capitol Records Inc, and other music distribution companies against XM Satellite Radio, the companies claimed that XM directly infringes on their exclusive distribution rights by letting consumers record songs onto special receivers marketed as “XM + MP3″ players. However, XM argued that it is protected from infringement lawsuits by the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which permits individuals to record music off the radio for private use. The judge ruled in favor of the music industry, saying she did not believe XM was protected by the same act. She said that by broadcasting and storing copyrighted music for later listening by the consumer, XM is both a broadcaster and a distributor, but only paying to be a broadcaster. XM argued in court papers that an XM + MP3 player is much like a traditional radio-cassette player. The judge disagreed. “It is manifestly apparent that the use of a radio-cassette player to record songs played over free radio does not threaten the market for copyrighted works as does the use of a recorder which stores songs from private radio broadcasts on a subscription fee basis,” she said." Source and further information: http://www.jwharrison.com/blog/2007/01/20/recording-the-radio-is-legal-recording-satellite-radio-is-illegal/ 2) "Not so. There is a specific law, The Audio Home Recording Act, which gives the consumer the right to record broadcast music for his own use. He/she cannot, of course, make copies for someone else." "Good question - My opinion as a songwriter & music promoter Don't quite know what the law says. Before the internet and before high speed internet - forget it the quality wasn't there whether it was a dial-up connection or FM radio, to record the broadcast just wasn't going to give you the quality recording that you would get if you went out and bought the CD...(for those reasons, I don't think the industry was too concerned) but now with high speed internet and software that will record off your soundcard it's not that difficult to get a really great sounding recording from streaming music on the web... It has always been fair use to record TV using a VCR and now (DVR) recorders with hard drives, some of which have built in DVD recorders. Of couse that fair use is only for your own use and not to sell or distribute... But let's face it, when you record music from the web, the songwriter is not getting paid any royalties for their song... not really fair to them... so whether it's technically legal or not somehow it just doesn't seem kosher that the 8.5¢ per song royalty isn't being paid (9.1¢ beginning Jan 1, 2006). On the other hand sometimes an artist authorizies his music to be given away for free. In fact in most cases today, music that is streamed on the web has been authorized by somebody who has the right to give it away. They give it away in the hopes that you will like the artist and will seek out and pay for additional music from the same artist. (In fact many times they get paid for these streams but only in tenths of a cent.) After all how is an artist to ever sell his music if first no one ever hears the music to know if they want to buy it or not? So, I would say that in most cases the music has been authorized for streaming and it is expected that some folks will record it in real time while streaming it. To be fair, I would say, that if you like something enough to record it and it is from an artist you haven't heard before at least search the web to find more of their music. That's why they are letting you listen (and record) for free.... so use your favorite search engine or digital music service or try sites like Amazon.com or CDBaby.com and see what other music is available from that artist. If you do that, then sure go ahead and record whatever you want with a clean conscience." Source and further information: http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7597_102-0.html?forumID=41&threadID=128943&start=15 Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_download http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Home_Recording_Act