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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
sin trouble	james	Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Question: hi ive been struggling terribly recently i confessed downloading things at work that broke copyrights etc probably i got out of the confessional and i felt lack of peace i started worrying badly because i recalled a time i downloaded something ,before downloading from what i can recall i thought to myself what if this isnt free to download but i decided to do it anyways also since there was no indication anywhere that it was someone elses property i recall browsing to see if it did belong to anyone before, i think or i probably downloaded it and only did that after but couldnt find anything i do also recalling looking to see if this wasnt someone elses property and i downloaded this stuff (audios . basically catholic seminars ) now sadly im struggling with worries that because this might be serious matter and i didnt mention in my recent confession about going to regular sacraments that ive been recieving communion and confession in badly , because ive been recieving communion about 3 times a week for about 4- 6 months and regular confessions . and so i feel because of this sin ive left a trail of bad confessions and bad communions , even though i didnt even think of this event until recently when i downloaded stuff at work . sadly i tend to be have moments of bad scruples and i think this might be another one of those cases . so sadly i feel now that i have to go back and re confess all those sins for those times because of the bad confessions that i made , i feel i didnt intentionally withhold this sin in confession but probably didnt think of it at the time or was maybe neglectant im not even so sure anymore . sorry for the long read hope you understand thanx
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), LTh, DD Dear James: I cannot really comment on the copyright issues without knowing specifically the item that you downloaded. Generally speaking, everything is automatically copyrighted even if there is no copyright statement, unless the author says that downloading is okay. If the author has assigned Creative Commons rights, then generally you can download the item. But, I'd have to know the specifics. If the only way to download the item is by hacking or otherwise manipulating the file to get it to download, then your intent is to steal the item. But, it is okay to download seminars and other material that have audio, video, pdf, or other files that the author provides for download. Again, I cannot really give an answer without knowing the website and file that is being downloaded. Public domain, in which copyright has expired, is material older than 75 years. As for Confession, when in doubt about whether or not you committed a sin, confess it anyway. Even venial sins are good to confess in the Sacrament. In addition, you can ask the priest for clarification. Deliberately withholding any grave sin makes the Confession bad and thus the sins of that Confession must be re-confessed. Genuinely forgetting sins is okay, the Confession is still good and all sins (including forgetten ones) are absolved when the priest absolves you. You need to talk to your confesser about the specifics of all this and to whether or not your past confessions were good or bad. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

sin trouble

james

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Question:

hi

ive been struggling terribly recently i confessed downloading things at work that broke copyrights etc probably i got out of the confessional and i felt lack of peace

i started worrying badly because i recalled a time i downloaded something ,before downloading from what i can recall i thought to myself what if this isnt free to download but i decided to do it anyways also since there was no indication anywhere that it was someone elses property i recall browsing to see if it did belong to anyone before, i think or i probably downloaded it and only did that after but couldnt find anything i do also recalling looking to see if this wasnt someone elses property and i downloaded this stuff (audios . basically catholic seminars ) now sadly im struggling with worries that because this might be serious matter and i didnt mention in my recent confession about going to regular sacraments that ive been recieving communion and confession in badly , because ive been recieving communion about 3 times a week for about 4- 6 months and regular confessions . and so i feel because of this sin ive left a trail of bad confessions and bad communions , even though i didnt even think of this event until recently when i downloaded stuff at work . sadly i tend to be have moments of bad scruples and i think this might be another one of those cases . so sadly i feel now that i have to go back and re confess all those sins for those times because of the bad confessions that i made , i feel i didnt intentionally withhold this sin in confession but probably didnt think of it at the time or was maybe neglectant im not even so sure anymore . sorry for the long read hope you understand

thanx

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), LTh, DD

Dear James:

I cannot really comment on the copyright issues without knowing specifically the item that you downloaded.

Generally speaking, everything is automatically copyrighted even if there is no copyright statement, unless the author says that downloading is okay. If the author has assigned Creative Commons rights, then generally you can download the item. But, I'd have to know the specifics.

If the only way to download the item is by hacking or otherwise manipulating the file to get it to download, then your intent is to steal the item. But, it is okay to download seminars and other material that have audio, video, pdf, or other files that the author provides for download. Again, I cannot really give an answer without knowing the website and file that is being downloaded.

Public domain, in which copyright has expired, is material older than 75 years.

As for Confession, when in doubt about whether or not you committed a sin, confess it anyway. Even venial sins are good to confess in the Sacrament. In addition, you can ask the priest for clarification.

Deliberately withholding any grave sin makes the Confession bad and thus the sins of that Confession must be re-confessed. Genuinely forgetting sins is okay, the Confession is still good and all sins (including forgetten ones) are absolved when the priest absolves you.

You need to talk to your confesser about the specifics of all this and to whether or not your past confessions were good or bad.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum