Music Piracy Market Value: $4.5 Billion

May 10, 2008 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy · Comment 

Music Piracy is the unauthorized copying, selling, and distributing of licensed music without the permission of the copyright holder.

The IFPI states the pirate trade in music is valued at $4.5 billion.

Source: International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), “ The Recording Industry 2006 Piracy Report,” July 27, 2006, pg.4, (last accessed: November 1, 2006).

95 percent of music tracks online are pirated

June 16, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy · Comment 

The music industry estimates that up to 95 percent of all music tracks online are pirated.

Source: Eric Pfanner, “Universal Music and Virgin Reach a Download Deal,” New York Times, June 15, 2009.

“I speak French. Excuse me.”

June 15, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy, Europe · 1 Comment 

The New York Times reports on the lack of knowledge by French politicians regarding peer-to-peer technology.

From the NY Times:

In a video shot for an online news site, French legislators were asked whether they were familiar with peer-to-peer file-sharing technology. “No,” one lawmaker responded, rolling his eyes. “I speak French. Excuse me.”

2008 Music Piracy losses by Country

June 10, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy · 2 Comments 

Below is the most recent figures regarding losses due to music piracy by country.  The figures are from the International Intellectual Property Alliance.

Country

Losses

1

China

564 Million

2

Mexico

419.7 Million

3

Italy

350 Million

4

Russia

313 Million

5

Brazil

117.1 Million

6

Philippines

117 Million

7

Poland

100 Million

8

Argentina

75.1 Million

9

Peru

57.2 Million

10

Nigeria

55 Million

11

India

36.2 Million

12

Ukraine

35 Million

13

Malaysia

26.2 Million

14

Pakistan

25 Million

14

Saudi Arabia

25 Million

16

Turkey

22 Million

17

Thailand

21.7 Million

18

Chile

21 Million

19

Hungary

20 Million

19

Indonesia

20 Million

21

Egypt

15 Million

22

Costa Rica

14.8 Million

23

Spain

13.4 Million

24

Romania

10 Million

24

Kuwait

10 Million

26

Dominican Republic

9.9 Million

27

Taiwan

4.4 Million

28

Lebanon

3 Million

58 billion lost to US economy due to copyright piracy

June 10, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy · Comment 

At the World Copyright Summit in Washington, D.C., US Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) stated that piracy of movies, music, software and video games costs the US economy $58 billion a yer.

Source:  AFP, “Calls for united action at World Copyright Summit,” Google News, June 9, 2009.

2 billion tracks illegally downloaded in Spain

June 9, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy, Europe · Comment 

An estimated 2 billion music tracks were illegally downloaded in Spain in 2008, compared to the 2.2 million legally purchased online.

Source: AP, “Music industry battles Spanish computer buff,” Washington Post, June 9, 2009.

Google to offer free music downloads in China to combat piracy

April 7, 2009 · Posted in Asia, Counterfeit and Piracy · Comment 

Search engine Google will offer users of its service free music downloads in China as it attempts to gain market share against Baidu.com.  Google will share revenue with the major record labels in the licensing deal.  According to reports, up to 99 percent of all online music downloaded in China are unlicensed copies.  The majority of those files are found through the Chinese search engine Baidu.com.

Read the entire story at the New York Times.

Free online music provider gaining customers in UK

March 24, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy, Europe · Comment 

An online music provider is gaining customers at a rapid pace in the United Kingdom as companies attempt to find new ways to bring music to people. 

According to a story in Newsweek, online music service Spotify provides  offers a huge online catalogue that rivals iTunes.  Listeners can listen directly from the site without having to store every song on to its computer.  The service is completely free if listeners are willing to hear an ad once every half hour.  Otherwise, they may pay $14 a month for the service. Record companies are willing to support the service in an attempt to limit losses from piracy. 

Read the article at Newsweek. 

More than 50 percent of content sold in Lebanon is pirated

February 20, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy, Middle East · Comment 

According to the IFPI, more than half of all movies, music, and software sold in Lebanon are pirated.  The high rate of counterfeiting occurring within the country is preventing Lebanon from joining the World Trade Organization.  

Source: AFP, “Piracy sinking Lebanon cinema, music, cable industry,” Google News, February 20, 2009.

Isle of Man proposes flat fee to download unlimited music

January 27, 2009 · Posted in Counterfeit and Piracy, Europe · Comment 

Isle of Man, a Crown dependency of the United Kingdom, is proposing a new tactic to solve the piracy woes of the recording companies.  The government is proposing that all 80,000 people living on the island be able to download an unlimited number of digital music tracks from the Internet for a fee of 1 Euro paid to the Internet service provider.  The island government is taking the track that with 95 percent of music still pirated after years of enforcement, a new policy is needed. 

Read the article, “Is music’s future on the Isle of Man” at the International Herald Tribune. 

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