How do I learn about copyright laws in the U.S.?

So according to what you said "if it's available on CD it's copyrighted", that doesn't leave a whole heck of alot of stuff to download right? I mean what CAN you download? It sounds like I can only download local upstart bands without recording labels and that's about it. I don't see how Limewire can operate with a sharefile based on such a small market.

If I've seen it on T.V., saw it at the theatres, or heard it on the radio; it's going to have been copyrighted.

I don't mean to sound negative but I heard all this hype about how great it was to burn CD's off of Limewire and it looks like you really can't (read not allowed). That means everyone I know is in violation of some federal law.