Piracy Is Not A Joke, Or Is It?
By: Jenice Ko
Piracy, something completely foreign to a person of fifteen year ago, has become a part of our everyday lives. The word piracy is defined as the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented intention, trademarked product, etc. This doesn’t necessarily seem like a crime, in fact, many people think pirating music is a small act that doesn’t have a great effect on the artist or the music, but that’s not true. It actually takes quite the toll on all of the people who helped create the song. People lose jobs from this concept as well as cause a sharp decrease in the money that could have been earned if the song had been paid for. To those who wouldn't have any compensation for creating the song, the annual harm to be about $12.5 billion dollars in losses to the economy as well as more than 70,000 lost jobs and $2 billion in lost wages to American workers. But to what extent could piracy be considered a good thing?
People naturally buy music as a legal and safe way of downloading songs, but there are those who don’t. Their reasons for not buying music can range from not being willing to purchase songs to not being able to. Illegally downloading music may not be the best idea, but it could help small upcoming bands be found or become famous. The attitude of the current generation is also a reason why piracy is at an all-time high. People nowadays are accustomed to find a cheaper and more convenient way to get what they want; this is a major reason of the increasing numbers illegally downloading their music.
Some solutions to this problem would be to both block and disconnect all pirating websites or to lower the price of music to attract a larger crowd to legally purchase their music. There are also programs which provide music that can be streamed such as Pandora or Spotify. These programs can also be downloaded onto your phone or any smart appliance. It’s constantly updating, providing the latest songs as well as providing a mix radio of popular music ranging from different genres to artists.
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