Negative Impacts of Music Piracy

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MUSIC PIRACY
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NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MUSIC PIRACY
Music piracy is a problem that has become exacerbated by the advent of computers and the internet. Various websites sharing music for free have emerged and even as some shutdown, there are others that replace them. Nonetheless, music piracy is harmful to the artists, recording companies, their employees, the government and halts innovation in the entertainment industry. It reduces the revenue by providing potential customers with their favorite songs free of charge There are various laws that been enacted to combat the problem of piracy, which have made it possible to prosecute people in a court of law for copyright infringement. Consequently, there have been numerous court cases that have highlighted the problem of music piracy and the extreme penalties imposed on those found guilty highlights the harms of the practice.
For instance, Capitol Records, Inc., et al v. Thomas-Rasset, is a court case that explores the issue of copyright infringement in regards to music piracy. It is the first major case involving filesharing where major recording labels had sued a private citizen. The defendant in the case Jammie Thomas-Rasset was found liable to the plaintiff and was ordered by the court to pay $220,000 in statutory damages. Thomas-Rasset had shared 24 songs that were copyrighted using Kazaa, a desktop application that facilitated peer-to-peer file sharing. Thomas-Rasset filed a motion for new trial on the basis that the penalty exceeded the constitutional requirement of a crime being equal to the punishment. However, he was found liable and the statutory damage was increased to $1,920,000. A judge reduced the payment to $54000. The plaintiff then rejected the remittitur and filed for a new trial. The plaintiff was found liable and the jury increased the statutory damage to $1,500,000. Again, a judge reduced the penalty to the constitutional maximum of $54000 and the plaintiff appealed the decision. The appeals court reinstated the first judgement and the defendant was ordered to pay $220,000 in statutory damages. Thomas-Rasset appealed the decision in the supreme court, but was denied certiorari. He had filed a motion asking the court to clarify distribution in regards to copyright infringement. The case was closed and the defendant was required to pay $220,000, which amounted to $9,250 per song. The judge reasoned that statutory claims in copyright infringement laws were not limited by the constitution. The judge reinstated the first ruling, which had awarded the companies the The case highlights the problem of music piracy as well as the punitive penalties imposed on those who are caught. The penalties are supposed to act as a deterrence but they are usually not since piracy is a problem that has endured for long.
It also is important to note that civil lawsuits in cases of copyright infringement are usually for first time offenders. In contrast, repeat offenders can be criminally prosecuted with possible jail time and fines being a probable outcome. Critics of the copyright infringement laws argue that the punishments are harsh, which makes them unconstitutional like in the Capitol Records, Inc., et al v. Thomas-Rasset court case. However, the harms of music piracy are generally complex and extensive. The damage caused by an individual is not fully known because it involves considering various factors that will be impacted by the action. Some of the impact is usually direct while it might be indirect. Therefore, such high penalties are justified due to the negative impact of music piracy on various sectors of the industry as well as society.
For example, piracy causes a loss to the producers and songwriters in the music industry. Usually, music artists enter contracts with songwriters and producers, and the amount of money stipulated in the contracts is usually dependent on the expected revenue from the songs. Sometimes, the contract may stipulate royalties for the both producers and songwriters, which causes their income to be dependent on music sales. Piracy denies the payment for hard work because people obtain the songs free of charge. In Capitol Records, Inc., et al v. Thomas-Rasset, the main issue was that it is possible that people who downloaded the songs that the defendant had shared would not make a purchase as they would have otherwise done without access to the pirated music, which resulted in lost sales. Ironically, artists might not be heavily impacted by piracy because it increases the number of people listening to music, which leads to more popularity and more ticket sales to their concerts. Nevertheless, producers and songwriters, are harmed because they are paid based on sales and not the performance. Piracy deprives them their livelihood, which makes demotivates them and makes them unable to support their families. As such piracy kills talents in the music industry because it deprives gifted individuals the rewards of their hard work.
Moreover, the loss of revenue from sales also affects the recording companies. In Capitol Records, Inc., et al v. Thomas-Rasset, the plaintiffs were major record labels, who were the affected by the defendant’s act...