W
Werewoof
Guest
Hi there.
I need some advice on whether or not I’ve committed a sin.
I entered a Halloween song writing contest two years ago. I used sounds which could be purchased and therefore licensed for use, but I didn’t pay for said sounds. Buuuuut there’s more to it than just that.
I found the sounds on an old version of sounddogs .com: it was their retired site, IIRC. The designers of the website allowed for low-resolution previews of the sounds (which they still do on their new site), but they overlooked(?) the fact that one could still download those low resolution sounds and be perfectly happy with them. Which I was.
Only in recent years have I really dwelt and let the impact of my decisions sink in and make me question my actions: had I won the contest, I would’ve gotten some gain from it. I know that any ill-gotten gain is inherently wrong, but I’m not sure whether I was sinning or not, if what I was doing was even piracy. I can admit to exploitation of a faulty system, but at the time I wasn’t thinking of how morally risky my actions could be.
I know piracy is flat out wrong in every situation: just because someone illegally puts something up for redistribution doesn’t mean it’s okay to copy, just because it’s there… in my case, everything was legally put there. But I’d really appreciate some second thoughts here. I’m leaning towards “yes, I’ve sinned, and I need to legally buy the sounds I used,” but I don’t know.
I’m good about getting myself into hairy moral situations. Please help if you have time, and pray for me.
God Bless and Mary Keep,
-WW
I need some advice on whether or not I’ve committed a sin.
I entered a Halloween song writing contest two years ago. I used sounds which could be purchased and therefore licensed for use, but I didn’t pay for said sounds. Buuuuut there’s more to it than just that.
I found the sounds on an old version of sounddogs .com: it was their retired site, IIRC. The designers of the website allowed for low-resolution previews of the sounds (which they still do on their new site), but they overlooked(?) the fact that one could still download those low resolution sounds and be perfectly happy with them. Which I was.
Only in recent years have I really dwelt and let the impact of my decisions sink in and make me question my actions: had I won the contest, I would’ve gotten some gain from it. I know that any ill-gotten gain is inherently wrong, but I’m not sure whether I was sinning or not, if what I was doing was even piracy. I can admit to exploitation of a faulty system, but at the time I wasn’t thinking of how morally risky my actions could be.
I know piracy is flat out wrong in every situation: just because someone illegally puts something up for redistribution doesn’t mean it’s okay to copy, just because it’s there… in my case, everything was legally put there. But I’d really appreciate some second thoughts here. I’m leaning towards “yes, I’ve sinned, and I need to legally buy the sounds I used,” but I don’t know.
I’m good about getting myself into hairy moral situations. Please help if you have time, and pray for me.
God Bless and Mary Keep,
-WW
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