"Don't Download This Song" is the first single from "Weird Al" Yankovic's 12th studio album Straight Outta Lynwood, which was released on September 26, 2006. It is a style parody of "We Are the World" and other similar charity songs. The song "describes the perils of online music file-sharing" in a tongue-in-cheek manner. blank">Bill Plympton Studio The song is currently available for _streaming and download (legally) in "DRM-free" MPEG fileformat at Weird Al's MySpace page (96 kbit/s, 22050 Hz), at dontdownloadthissong.com (160 kbit/s, 44100 Hz), and for download at the CNET site Download.com Music (link below).
"Don't Download This Song" references several court cases related to the RIAA and music piracy. Among these are lawsuits against "a grandma" (presumably Gertrude Walton sues_the_dead/" target="_blank">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/05/riaa_sues_the_dead/ , who was sued for piracy six months after passing away) and a "7-year-old girl" (presumably a reference to Tanya Andersen's daughter Recording Industry vs. The People sued at age 10 for alleged copyright infringements made at the age of 7 ), as well as _Lars Ulrich's strong stance against music piracy in the days of Napster. Mention is also made of Tommy Chong's time spent in prison. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/09/09/the_riaa_sees_the_face/ The song is one of Weird Al's few outright political songs.
