Are torrents legal?

No. You have to pay for music, and games…or it’s illegal.

what if a person downloads movies, music, pics, and only for his or her viewing only

Even if you don’t redistribute copyrighted content it is illegal to download it if you aren’t legally entitled to it. Currently people caught doing this receive heavy penalties since the music industry has been pressuring prosecutors to make examples of pirates.

Note that torrents go both ways, You are distributing the data you have already downloaded.

No. The torrent file it’s self isn’t illegal, but using the file to download copyrighted material is. The only material that is NOT illegal to download would be open source programs and files, or files which the original artists distribute on their website for free to download.

All files that are free and legal to download will not require you to use a torrent to download in most cases, though. The artists, programmers, or developers otherwise will have the content for you to download from their page. So.. I’d recommend doing it the proper way, to insure you’re not stepping on shaky legal grounds.