The pro-copyright, pro-DMCA, anti-counterfeit lobby groups would have you believe that all unauthorized reproduction (and distribution), colloquially known (inaccurately) as piracy, is horrid for the industries concerned, and is destroying them. They go so far as to call it theft, which it isn’t. It can’t be reduced to a single term, like “theft” or “piracy”, because it is not actually a crime, but the commission of an otherwise legal act made tortious (wrong in a civil, as opposed to criminal way) by the lack of authorization. Theft is in and of itself a crime, as is piracy. Copying is not. Copying without authorization is a civil wrong. I’m going to end that discussion before I get into a rant.
Anyway, I want to take a different tack: Many say that unauthorized copying actually benefits the concerned industries. Do you think this is true? If so, which industry benefits the most? I’ve created a poll, which is to the left of this post, and I would like you to let me know what you think. Feel free to comment to this post. I’ll repeat the options below:
Which industry benefits the most from unauthorized reproduction/distribution (i.e. “piracy”)
Loading ...- Software - Standards are reinforced and the companies profit through the necessity created by ubiquity. Ubiquity creates a spiralling increase in demand.
- Mainstream music - Popularity thresholds are crossed that are similar to the “standards” concept. The overall popularity increase yields revenue through the popularity-increases-demand model, with a net increase over the everything’s-paid-for model that has lower popularity; touring revenues further increase from the increase in popularity.
- Long-tail, independent label, and other rarer musical acts – The exposure through shared music now is no different from years ago; fans of these genres are likely to purchase albums (often directly from the artists at higher profit margin) and go to small live venues.
- Movies - Popularizing the brand in anticipation of the sequel is more important than initial returns. The movie industry in now a branding and franchise industry. In an industry now increasingly dependent on sequels and the application of the “franchise model” to entertainment, building a brand through any means whatsoever is beneficial.
- No one - Everyone loses when unauthorized reproduction is rampant. Bring on the Copyright Czar!
Comment below…
Software industries benefit in the sense that if their software is being heavily pirated, then it is highly successful an becomes the ‘standard’. When you are the standard the business’ large enough to afford the ridiculous price tags on these software will buy them. The programmers will generally not, however why should the (large) software companies care? If designers can’t use their product, they can’t learn it or use it when the time comes that large company X hires them.
My vote is Software Companies benefit the most. Please note that video games are not included in my analysis, and are hurt by piracy in my opinion. Also small software companies are also hurt. Many ‘pirates’ post comments on these types of links to support the developer by buying their product if you can because they work hard on it and deserve the money.