Simply put, downloading copyrighted material without expressed permission is illegal. Copyrighted material must be purchased from an authorized distributor in order to be legal.

Ask Me Help Desk members will not help you obtain copyrighted material illegally, so please don't ask such general questions as "How do I download music for free".

That said, not all free music downloads are illegal. Examples of free and legal music downloads may be found in the public domain, and sometimes on artist and distributor websites.

We are happy to help you find sources for public domain material, or music that might be available with the express permission of the copyright owner or distributor.

For more information about what's legal and what's not, check out these helpful links:

Downloading Legally - Understanding the RIAA Lawsuits (http://mp3.about.com/od/isitlegal/a/riaalawsuits.htm)
Legality in Music Downloading - Is It Illegal? (http://mp3.about.com/od/isitlegal/Legal_Issues_How_to_Play_It_Safe_with_Your_Music.h tm)

Here is a website where they claim that college students can download music for free: Ruckus - Over 2.6 Million tracks of Free Music for college students! (http://www.ruckus.com/)

Thank you, sypher373, for pointing this out.

If anyone knows of legitimate sites where music can be downloaded for free (but NOT file sharing sites like L******e), PM me and I'll add it here.

And here are some other sites that FadedMaster suggested we add to the list:

Mininova is now legal:
Mininova : The ultimate BitTorrent source! (http://www.mininova.org/)

Internet Archive (great for concert recordings):
Download & Streaming : Audio Archive : Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/details/audio)

SXSW is another great resource, and here's a link to a collection of the music made available from SXSW:
Home of the (UNOFFICIAL) SXSW Torrents (http://sites.google.com/site/sxswtorrent/)

A few social sites where bands go to get discovered and post their music for download:

iLike - Home (http://www.ilike.com/)
Free Music - Unsigned Band Web (http://www.unsignedbandweb.com/)
PureVolume™ | We're Listening To You (http://www.purevolume.com/)