One new way to search for free music on the net is to use the music search engines. Three examples of music search engines are Skreemr, Sonqza, and SeeqPod. These three search engines function as a new way to search for free music on the net by indexing the World Wide Web to scout around for specific music files uploaded to certain servers. You can use this new way to search for free music on the net by either identifying a song title, or a name of an artist, as your search parameters.



However, there is an element of legal uncertainty with use of music search engines because most music search engines do not pay any royalties for the music you can get through them. So though they are the new way to search for free music on the net, the existence of these music search engines may be founded on shaky legal ground as they operate now. Think copyright infringement.

So if these music search engines seem guilty of copyright infringement in nearly each and every case where they dish up music to Internet users, why is it they are still allowed to operate anyway? The problem lies in the fact that current interpretation of copyright law happens to favor search engines to a great extent. Since music search engines do not host the music themselves but instead tap into other servers that host the music files, the culpability of the music search engines seems to be zero. According to Google counsel Andrew Bridges, it is highly possible that music search engines can be found guiltier of contributory infringement instead. But that type of charge against music search engines is also problematic to pursue because there has not been a definitive case for contributory infringement to set a legal precedent yet.

Provided the music search engine never stores the actual music files on its own server, at present it cannot be sued for copyright infringement and it is highly unlikely it will be sued for contributory infringement either. To make a case against a music search engine that tries to function as the new way to search for free music on the net, you would need to prove that there was motivation and intent to defraud the music creators of their royalties that come with every sale of their music product. And to make that charge stick would mean being able to trace the entire process from initiating a search for an artist or a music title to being able to download the actual music into your own PC. In a virtual world where prowess in technology means that you can change data at will, that is pretty hard to achieve.

There are actually websites which tread on the safe side of the law (such as Imeem.com) where you can give you legally-acquired music files when and how you need them. If you are seeking a legal yet new way to search for free music on the net, it is generally advisable to rely on these more law-abiding sites instead.