Victimless crime not a crime at all, rules Spanish judge

There's concern in the cosy, leather-sofaed offices of music lawyers at the Spanish court rejection of a prosecution for filesharing.

Of course, what the court hasn't done is to give the thumbs-up for people helping themselves to music off the web for nothing. What Judge Paz Aldecoa's ruling sets out is that downloading music off the web, if intended for personal use, is not a crime:

"[There was] no talk of money or any other compensation beyond the sharing of material available among various users."

"No offense meriting penal sanction has been committed [...a guilty verdict] would imply the criminalization of socially accepted and widely practiced behavior in which the aim is in no way to make money illicitly, but rather to obtain copies for private use."

The State prosecutor had been trying to get someone thrown into jail for two years; Spanish Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar seems to have missed the point of the ruling with the sort of ham-fisted confusion only a politician can muster:

"Certain attacks must be taken seriously, especially those for lucrative ends."

Well, perhaps - but the whole crux of this case was that there were no "lucrative ends" involved. That's exactly why the judge dismissed the charges.

The music industry has, of course, been bleating about the judgement, but it should really be welcoming it. The attempt to force copyright issues into a crime against nations and citizenry rather than a civil wrong at the expense of a company has been a disfiguring sideshow, and the sight of executives calling for people to be clapped in irons because they have a few old Roxy Music tracks on an iPod makes it very difficult for any sympathy to be worked up on the occasions when the record companies have a legitimate grievance. Copyright trangressions aren't crimes, they're like neighbourly disputes. The music industry should take this chance to take a step back from the bowels of self-parody up which they are disappearing.

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