You may not think it is a big deal when you download a video clip or an image from the Internet, took information from an article you read and used it for your project or research, or passed on a song to a music-sharing website. Technically speaking however, these acts may very well be a violation of the law. Intellectual property is protected by copyright law in almost all countries and the first thing it clearly requires is a permission from the creator or the owner of the work before any reproduction, distribution or other use can be made by another party. So before you use any information you see in the Internet, check if the site declares a blanket permission for use of its material. Otherwise you might be getting on the wrong side of the law.