Technically, LimeWire is perfectly legal – it wouldn’t be in business otherwise. LimeWire is merely a peer-to-peer (PTP) file sharing service. PTP file sharing services are simple in concept: they allow connected users to share files with each other. The more connected users, the more files there are to share. Many people like to share music files, especially because of how quickly they can be downloaded. But all kinds of files can be shared, including DVDs, videos, graphics, data, etc.

LimeWire is merely the software that connects users with one another to share files. There is nothing illegal about that. However, every time a user shares or downloads a file with another user on LimeWire he or she may be violating copyright law. In fact, many users break copyright law all the time and don’t even know they are doing it. But as many law students are taught in the first week of law school, ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law.

NOTE: The same rules of copyright law apply to LimeWire PRO as to the free version of LimeWire. In other words, LimeWire PRO does not grant users a license to obtain or distribute copyrighted files. LimeWire emphasizes this point on its website.

Next, let’s explore how LimeWire is often used illegally to share files, and how you can share files legally with it.