The music and movie production companies are so rich they don’t need all the money from us buying their expensive versions.
The artists don’t even get any of the money from the purchase of official DVD and downloads.
It’s not like we’re stealing from a person. These big companies don’t suffer from a few hundred copies being made of their movies and music.
We’re helping poor people because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to hear or see any of this popular stuff.
We’re keeping people in employment by producing this alternative economy.
COUNTER ARGUMENT
Piracy is akin to theft. Millions of pirate copies of movies, games and music are made each year, which has a huge impact on people who work in the creative industries.
Many popular films and music are freely available onradio and television. If you really care about poverty, then people need jobs in safe working conditions. Illegal traders who do not pay taxes and don’t pay a fair wage to workers control piracy. It’s these people who keep people poor.
The people who are employed producing pirate copies of movies, music and games have no workers’ rights
and often work in unsafe conditions. Child labor is used to produce some pirate and counterfeit goods and people who sell the products are at risk of arrest. Piracy is part of an illegal economy.
The production companies employ a large number of people whose salaries and wages are paid partly by the sales of music and movies.
Copyright law ensures that artists receive a percentage of the sales price when a DVD or download is purchased. If we buy pirated versions, the artists don’t receive any money. Criminals sometimes use IP crime to finance other criminal business activities.