Music sharing: legal? safe?

It's been quite a while since I've investigated music sharing. Last I heard, some was illegal and a lot was unsafe. Are there now legal and safe methods for exchanging music files on the Internet?

 

File sharing programs are legal. As far as legality, it not the method but the music (or video) file that is at issue. If it is copyrighted, you must have the copyright owners permission to share it or you are legally liable. If you have the copyright owners permission, you may share it in accordance with the copyright owners stipulations. If it is not under copyright protection, you may share it without restriction. There is no filesharing application that allows you to legally trade copyrighted files without the owners permission. Anyone that claims otherwise is a scammer. As far as safety, invest a little time researching any program you might use to find out it's background and what users say about it. As ar as anything you might share, remeber it is a file from an unknown person with unknown motives. Make sure you are prepared for anything malicious or underhanded.