Though this whole issue has gotten off topic, I really have to comment.

I have two jobs in life: a programmer and a musician. Both of these jobs require that I create something intellectually and I am glad the people in my country have agreed that this work is worth protecting. The company I work for is small, but we have a great product that is protected by a patent, and this means we have a chance to compete in the marketplace. We have spent two years (and loger before I got there) and millions of dollers developing a revolutionary product, and it would stink if any of our clients could freely decide not to buy our product from us but use our research and development to build their own (which would certainly be economicly viable in some of our really big systems).

As a musician, at this point I would (and will with the album I am currently working on) freely distribute and let people copy my music, but that is my choise becase I am financing the project and I am not really doing it for profit. Record companies do have a say in who should be able to listen to music because they are responisible for it being made (though their response to mp3's has been ignorant and sad - I do agree they are loosing this battle and I am totally steamed that I can't rip a CD my wife bought me for Christmas).

As far as bands playing songs in bars, I am pretty sure it is illegal to play copywrited material if you make people pay to see your band. I lead the music at my church and we have to report all the music that we do (for free to the church goer, mind you) so the authors of the music get paid. My church is perfectly happy to do whatever we need to so that great music keeps getting written.

I do think that using music you didn't pay for (that isn't free of course) is stealing, and that is an appropriate word for it.