Why is copyright infringement illegal?

In the U.S., the answer begins with Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution: The Congress shall have Power To... read more

So Copyright Infringement is not a criminal act, unlike murder. The police aren't hunting for people infringing on Copyright, that is the responsibility of the Copyright Holder. So the act is legal under criminal law, but not legal under Copyright law. It gets even more fun. read more

Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission, infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. read more

Copyright Infringement is defined as the copying, distribution or sharing of copyrighted works (including music, videos, and digital copies of textbooks) without permission and may be referred to as “pirating” or, in the electronic context of peer-to-peer networks, “illegal file sharing”. read more