But isn’t it illegal to download music videos? We know it’s illegal to download MP3’s of singers who want you to actually buy their album. There have been plenty of anti-piracy messages on television and online about downloading new music and full movies without paying for them. 

How about to download music videos? Some might argue saying that often times music videos just premiere on television or cable and aren’t physically for sale, rather they are created just to promote a new album.  Also consider though, that some artists have started including DVD copies of the music video along with their album. Does this imply a message?

While music videos are primarily produced to push album sales, technically, and because of copyright laws, owning or distributing any piece of work that the author did not grant you (say by direct sale) would be illegal. 

That’s not to say that if you download music videos to your permanent files you’re going to be jailed or fined. In fact, because of the fact that music videos promote album sales, it’s less of an offense to the music industry to download a video than it is an MP3 for which you did not pay. These music videos, after all, are broadcast on television and could be recorded on a VCR just the same.

Many music videos are available on the Internet for streaming media players, and are recorded for your listening and viewing enjoyment, and in hopes you will buy the upcoming album. A good basis for deciding what is right or wrong is to read what each website says about the videos it’s offering. 

Does it invite you to download music videos and save them to your computer? If the option to download is not offered anywhere on the web it’s safe to assume they just want you to buy the album and sample the video. If they encourage you to download music videos, (some artists actually want their videos distributed freely for more exposure) you can download to your heart’s content.