Labels: One-third of CDs sold are pirated

More than a third of all CDs purchased worldwide are pirated, according to a record label report released Thursday.

Illegally sold copies of music discs are a $4.6 billion market, with legitimate sales in some countries shrinking by as much as a third in just a few years, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said.

Online digital piracy also remains a concern, particularly in several countries with high levels of broadband Net use, the group said.

"The music industry fights piracy because if it did not the music industry would quite simply not exist," IFPI Chief Executive Officer John Kennedy said in a statement. "Billions of dollars of investment go into releasing and marketing over 100,000 albums in a single year, and this is only possible when there is good, effective enforcement of copyright."

The group's annual report is aimed at spotlighting how well specific countries are doing in fighting bootlegging and tracking changes in copyright laws around the world.

Overall, many countries have cracked down on pirated disc sales, with growth in the black market slowing to its lowest level in five years. A total of 1.2 billion illegally copied discs were sold in 2004, the group said.

However, in more than 34 countries, the total number of illegal copies sold outstripped the number of legally produced discs.

The group spotlights Canada, South Korea and Taiwan as having weak digital copyright rules or enforcement of existing rules. The Canadian government took steps this week to introduce new legislation that would bring that country's legal framework closer to that of the United States, however.

[heystoopid]

fiction exceeds fact on these reports

Past critical analysis of these annual reports in respect to piracy, have shown many inconsistencies and innaccuracies, with gross distortions of fact. Even if one includes the number of convicted illegal file sharers to date it still does not come close to the claimed $ value! If this info is accurate, these music pirates would need to have manufacturing plants bigger than the those possessed by the major record plants owned by emi/sony et al with distribution systems the size of Walmart's, But then again perhaps this report shows just, how much the industry is shortchanging the average musician and recording artists of their royalty payments and entitlements(an average royalty payment of $0-90 per cd minus record company bookkeeping and other charges and two years or so to pay after release is not the road to riches!)

[jetman8000]

ahh, you're forgetting something: P2P

you don't need large cd recording plants or walmart distribution centers when you have 1 thing: P2P!

check out:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://news.com.com/Study+Falling+CD+sales+cant+be+blamed+on+P2P/2100-1027_3-5746291.html?tag=st.rn" target="_newWindow">http://news.com.com/Study+Falling+CD+sales+cant+be+blamed+on+P2P/2100-1027_3-5746291.html?tag=st.rn</a>

copy the entire line into your browser.

[unknown unknown]

This reminds me of a BSA report

that said 3/4 of software in use is pirates. Do they draw number of out of hat to come up with these figures or what.

[unknown unknown]

One more thing

Here is a glimpse into how the MPAA came up with at least one figure for damages it suffered from copyright infringement.

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://constitutionalcode.blogspot.com/2005/06/machiavellian-picture-association-of.html" target="_newWindow">http://constitutionalcode.blogspot.com/2005/06/machiavellian-picture-association-of.html</a>

No, they do not pull the numbers....

Out of a hat. They pull them out of the ass!

Robert

[who-cares]

Where is your proof or substantiation?

I am fed up with the Media reporting these unsubstantiated "studies" as facts. Where is your responsibility? Does anyone check facts and figures anymore? Or, do you blindly accept the nonsense handed out in self-serving press releases?

You should never accept statistics and studies as facts without first examining the source, and determining whether or not the numbers are even credible. This has gotten so bad that I now laugh at all such "stories", as just so much B.S.

If you want to be taken seriously as Journalists, you should laugh at them too!

[AshQuinn1]

One-third of CDs sold are pirated

...because the other 2/3 of CDs are cr@p and not worth the disc they're copied on. One way to decrease the amount of music that gets pirated is to produce even more music that no one wants to listen to! Sounds fun

[Razzl]

Capitalism 101...

...is where we learn that, as the party line goes, sellers can offer their goods at whatever price they want and if buyers don't buy, they can lower the prices or sell less. But in the real world, if you consistently hold up your price on a desirable commodity (notice I didn't say "essential" commodity), you risk provoking the backlash of theft, counterfeiting, and all the ills the macroeconomics books don't want to acknowledge. Piracy is wrong, but price-gouging is wrong-headed...

[Darryl Snortberry]

Oh Well, Who Cares.

All the laws are working in big businesses favor so the sympathy card won't work with me.