Downloading music, according to this argument is a kind of 'public performance' of the original work and musicians are claiming rights well beyond the fourteen year limit. Con:

Illegal online file-sharing is fundamentally different from taping films on television or making cassette recording. Because the technology of file sharing is vastly superior, the downloaded product is virtually identical to a CD-quality song, or a song downloaded for a fee. Additionally, unlike a cassette or VHS tape that degrades in quality every time it is copied, sharing music can be transmitted person to person without any variation in quality.

Piracy is not a victimless crime: artists exert a tremendous amount of effort to create a piece of music and depriving them of their ability to profit from their hard work is just as much a crime of theft and stealing as is shoplifting a DVD from a store (Moore 2010). Fans will also suffer in the long run: if musicians are not fairly recompensed for their efforts, soon they will stop producing their product. This was eventually recognized in the U.S. Supreme Court case MGM Studios v. Grokster, which found that the file sharing service Grokster...

Even though not all forms of music 'sharing' can be regulated, this does not mean that musicians should have to tolerate their works being disseminated in such a manner that will substantially curtail their ability to sell the same songs for a fee. The fact that there is little social stigma in file sharing is an argument why it must be regulated so strictly, because of the danger it poses to artists' property rights.
Works Cited

Condry, Ian. (2004). Cultures of music piracy. International Journal of Cultural Studies. 7(3):

343 -- 363. Retrieved February 26, 2011 at http://web.mit.edu/condry/www/pubs/Condry04-CMusPiracy.pdf

MGM Studios v. Grokster. (2004). Retrieved February 26, 2011 at http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2004/2004_04_480

Moore, Charles W. (2003). Is Music piracy stealing? Applelinks. Retrieved February 26, 2011 at http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/pirate.shtml

Sony Corp. Of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (1984). Cornell Law School.

Retrieved February 26, 2011 at http://www.law.cornell.edu/copyright/cases/464_US_417.htm