For the people who make and sell movies, music, video games, and software programs for a living, the effort to stamp out piracy is a constant battle. Protecting intellectual property rights requires the use of a number of different approaches while adapting to a market with a relentless appetite for new content. Although the general public thinks of piracy as a victimless crime, this form of copyright infringement undermines the creative professional’s ability to make a living from their work.
Public education and technological advances are two ways to prevent forms of piracy.
Public education campaigns are often considered the first line of defense against piracy. To help prevent piracy of DVD movies, for example, filmmakers began placing a small commercial at the beginning of each disc, equating buying a pirated copy of a DVD with theft. Individual artists, ranging from musical celebrities like Metallica to housewives who sell digital scrapbooking kits in their spare time, often speak out against piracy when talking to their fans. Grassroots organizations also work to educate the public about intellectual property rights through online marketing campaigns.
Education is the first line of defense against ending piracy.
Technology has been a key component in helping to stamp out piracy. Record companies have been experimenting with ways to include anti-copy software on the CDs they sell. Software programs can be created to require authorization codes or online registration forms that make hacking difficult because they are only provided with legal copies. For downloadable content, digital rights management systems limit the number of devices that can play a particular movie or song to prevent people from sharing unauthorized copies. On a similar note, some websites sell downloadable files with a fingerprint that allows pirated copies to be traced back to the original source. Unfortunately, resourceful hackers and people in the hacking industry continue to find ways around these measures.
DVDs are often pirated.
Lawsuits may seem like an obvious way to stop piracy, but lawsuits are often the last resort. With the global nature of the Internet, it is time consuming and costly to track down all the parties that would be involved in a lawsuit. Anti-piracy laws also vary from country to country, making enforcement quite difficult. For large corporations, negative publicity is also a factor. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was criticized in 2000 for suing thousands of people accused of illegally downloading copyrighted music through Napster®, including college students, homemakers and retirees.
Hackers are constantly finding new ways to crack networks and hack software.
Digital piracy has been cited as a major cause of declining theater attendance.
The distribution of pirated videos over the Internet has become a major problem.
