It's a case of the law (including copyright law) failing to keep abreast of technology. I really have no idea where the concept of copyright is going, but there really has to be a better way than what we have now. The recording industry is in trouble -- CDs are being replaced by MP3, and who knows what will come after that? If I scan a page of music from a book, creating a jpeg file, and then send the file to someone in England (as I have), I am, technically, file sharing. If I use software I have to copy LPs onto my PC, pick out the songs from the LPs I like, and burn them to a CD which I give to my friends, I'm file sharing (also if I put them into MP3).

The problem is not that I can do this, the real root of the problem is that the artists and the recording companies aren't getting paid.

As I said earlier, the law is behind the technology. The law and the recording companies have not yet understood the changes that are sweeping the industry. If they don't, they're both going to be swept away.