Piracy is a concern for all, no matter what area of business they are in, and internet piracy affects the sales and profit figures of every company out there. This is particularly prevalent in publishing. Officially known as copyright infringement, the practice of piracy directly inhibits the progress of publishers, most notably those who are attempting to initially launch their products.
When people discuss piracy, they often compare it to theft. However rather than the taking of physical objects from someone's possession, we generally refer to it as exercising one of the exclusive rights of the copyright holder[1]. That is, viewing, using and/or distributing something that belongs to an unaware legal owner.
As a brief reference regarding statistics, music as a sector saw the highest volumes of illegal content consumed over the period compared to TV (56 million), films (44 million), video games (35 million), computer software (27 million) and books (8 million)[2]
So what motivates people to pirate content? Well the main cause of (chiefly internet) piracy is an unwillingness to pay for a product when a free (albeit illegal) alternative exists. Secondly, and quite ironically, another reason for piracy's prevalence is because many people wish to avoid having to view the lengthy and `unskippable` anti-piracy adverts (or any adverts at all, in fact). Another reason could be the fact that people (again, primarily when on the internet) wish to remain anonymous. Most, if not all, pay-for-service sites require a username and email address as identification before a product can be bought, and many see this as an unnecessary inconvenience when piracy sites require nothing of the sort. A fourth motive for piracy is lack of availability. It is this cause that I will focus on now.
When a product or service is unavailable in someone's country of residence, whether for copyright laws or other reasons, it can be immensely frustrating, and it is only natural that one would look to piracy if it were to solve one's problem. However it is my opinion that it is not so much lack of availability that is key to the growth of piracy, rather lack of accessibility (no they are not the same).
As a brief reference regarding statistics, music as a sector saw the highest volumes of illegal content consumed over the period compared to TV (56 million), films (44 million), video games (35 million), computer software (27 million) and books (8 million)[2]
So what motivates people to pirate content? Well the main cause of (chiefly internet) piracy is an unwillingness to pay for a product when a free (albeit illegal) alternative exists. Secondly, and quite ironically, another reason for piracy's prevalence is because many people wish to avoid having to view the lengthy and `unskippable` anti-piracy adverts (or any adverts at all, in fact). Another reason could be the fact that people (again, primarily when on the internet) wish to remain anonymous. Most, if not all, pay-for-service sites require a username and email address as identification before a product can be bought, and many see this as an unnecessary inconvenience when piracy sites require nothing of the sort. A fourth motive for piracy is lack of availability. It is this cause that I will focus on now.
When a product or service is unavailable in someone's country of residence, whether for copyright laws or other reasons, it can be immensely frustrating, and it is only natural that one would look to piracy if it were to solve one's problem. However it is my opinion that it is not so much lack of availability that is key to the growth of piracy, rather lack of accessibility (no they are not the same).
So what can publishers do to combat this issue? Well it has been countered in the past, most notably in the video game industry. This is a clear example of where piracy was actively shown to decline[3]; and this was chiefly due to an increase in the accessibility of paid for products. A digital distribution company known as Steam led the change by creating a hugely rewarding community that is not accessible by pirates. Achievements, free-to-play games, DLC (Downloadable Content) and an online, unrestricted and open world to share with all other Steam users is something that even pirates couldn't resist. Steam developers made their content so easily accessible and open that people were actively choosing to pay money for the service that was provided rather than pirate the content. The developers of Steam, known as Valve Corporation knew what the people wanted and provided it. It directly reduced piracy figures and was mainly due to the company being, as CEO of Valve Gabe Newell puts it, "customer centric rather than production centric". In an interview with TCS[4], he said, "Most of our decisions are based on the rapidly evolving opportunities to better serve our customers, and not on optimizing to be a better game company or digital distributor. The latter focus would be more of a straitjacket than conceptual aid." It is this approach that made the company as successful as they are today.
So as the above paragraph demonstrates, piracy can be combatted, and it is this attitude that publishers must concern themselves with; how do they make their products more accessible? How can their services be more readily available? These are the issues that publishing companies need to address and until they do so, they could risk falling behind, and being overwhelmed by piracy.
Word count: 659
So as the above paragraph demonstrates, piracy can be combatted, and it is this attitude that publishers must concern themselves with; how do they make their products more accessible? How can their services be more readily available? These are the issues that publishing companies need to address and until they do so, they could risk falling behind, and being overwhelmed by piracy.
Word count: 659
References
Piracy image 1: http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/newyork/imgs/media.images/6394/worrying-surge-in-piracy-in-gulf-of-guinea.jpg - Accessed 31/10/2013 Piracy image 2: http://www.macgasm.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Music-Piracy-630x400.png
Steam image: http://kangaroopunch.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/07/Steam-Logo.png
[1] Jonathan Clough (2010). Principles of Cybercrime. Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-521-72812-6. – Accessed 31/10/2013
[2] Tom Pakinkis (2013). Music piracy figures - http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/music-piracy-more-than-tv-film-and-games-combined-in-new-ofcom-report/053925 - Accessed 31/10/2013
[3] Sean F (2011). Decline of PC Gaming Piracy - http://www.digital-digest.com/news-62904-PC-Gaming-Piracy-On-the-Decline-Says-Industry-Head.html - Accessed 31/10/2013
[4] Nicholas Tufnell (2013). Interview with Gabe Newell - http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/interviews/0012301-interview-gabe-newell.html - Accessed 30/10/2013
Piracy image 1: http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/newyork/imgs/media.images/6394/worrying-surge-in-piracy-in-gulf-of-guinea.jpg - Accessed 31/10/2013 Piracy image 2: http://www.macgasm.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Music-Piracy-630x400.png
Steam image: http://kangaroopunch.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/07/Steam-Logo.png
[1] Jonathan Clough (2010). Principles of Cybercrime. Cambridge University Press. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-521-72812-6. – Accessed 31/10/2013
[2] Tom Pakinkis (2013). Music piracy figures - http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/music-piracy-more-than-tv-film-and-games-combined-in-new-ofcom-report/053925 - Accessed 31/10/2013
[3] Sean F (2011). Decline of PC Gaming Piracy - http://www.digital-digest.com/news-62904-PC-Gaming-Piracy-On-the-Decline-Says-Industry-Head.html - Accessed 31/10/2013
[4] Nicholas Tufnell (2013). Interview with Gabe Newell - http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/interviews/0012301-interview-gabe-newell.html - Accessed 30/10/2013
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