All About Music Piracy
What is Music Piracy
Music piracy, a form of copyright infringement, is a crime in many countries. It involves copying and distributing copies of pieces without the composer‘s consent, performing copyrighted work, or reproducing pieces of copyrighted music. Over the last century, questions about what should be considered piracy have arisen. Losses incurred by production and distribution companies, and the ethics of the act of redistribution have been discussed most often in debates.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) only 5% of all downloaded music in 2008 was actually paid for. The growing threat by online distribution to potential sales has prompted the RIAA to lobby for stricter laws against music piracy in the United States of America. Some people believe that the proposed $150,000 fine per infringement is unreasonable and goes against the very nature of United State laws that is against cruelty and harsh punishment.
Real impact of Music Piracy
But what is the real impact of music piracy on revenue and sales? The actual effect and the ramifications of music piracy on the music industry as a whole is quite hard to assess. However, some statistics report the drop in CD sales by 8-9% in 2002. The question is whether this drop is completely caused by Internet music distribution or not. While the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) holds free downloads on the Internet responsible for the drop in legitimate sales, the numbers continue to be intriguing. If Internet sharing was the only factor responsible for the drop in sales, the sales would have dropped much more significantly. For instance when the drop in the sale of CDs was 8-9%, the increase in Internet downloads was more than double. So it does appear that people who buy CDs are different from those who download music. Music piracy, therefore, cannot be held solely responsible for the drop in sales.
With the increase in Internet availability and the ease of downloads, it is safe to say that music piracy is only bound to increase. The question that remains is whether music piracy and Internet downloads is ethical. There is no doubt of the fact that people who download music from the Internet are only doing so because they do not want to spend money buying it legitimately. If the reason for downloading music is that people want access to their favourite music without having to wait for it, they should ethically pay for downloads. There is no doubt at all of the fact that downloading music without paying for it is music piracy and is detrimental to the music industry. The music belongs to those who created it and justly deserve the revenue.
The Fallout Of Music Piracy
The fallout of music piracy is that the smaller players will not be able to survive the onslaught of music piracy though the larger icons of music are unlikely to be affected by it. This cannot e a good thing for the music industry as a whole, nor for music lovers. Music piracy is bound to have a negative impact on music.
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