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Movie and Music Piracy is one of the worst types of Intellectual Property (IP) Crimes that affect our economy. The theft of music and movies truly represents a loss to the movie studios, record labels, and artists that have worked so hard to create a product that the consumers desire. The record labels and movie studios do not make money on every CD or movie they release. In fact, the music industry only turns a profit on 1% of their artists. So when you really think about how much money is spent in research and development on all the artists and then add piracy into the equation, it can’t be good.
The movie studios and record labels spend years in developing their products. So when a pirate immediately steals their creation as soon as it is released, the studios and record companies lose millions of dollars instantly. The general public really does not understand the harmful effects that piracy has on all of us. We all need to educate ourselves and those around us to the true harmful effects of piracy. Nothing positive comes from piracy.
In 2005, The Los Angeles County economy lost over 283 million dollars in lost tax revenue , along with 100,000 jobs to counterfeiting and piracy. The problem is real and it is eroding our financial foundation on a daily basis. Refer to “A False Bargain: The Los Angeles County Economic Consequences of Counterfeit Product.”
Creation and innovation is what has made America the country it is today. We are the capitol of “creation and innovation” for the world, however everyday that we allow piracy and counterfeiting to grow and flourish, we are risking losing what has made this country so great. It is important that we all value and respect those artists that have worked their entire lives to follow their passion and create a product that they want to share with the world.
The illegal downloading of music is no different than buying a pirated CD from a vendor standing on the street corner. There really is no difference. Anytime a consumer is not purchasing an authentic CD or DVD, they are hurting legitimate businesses, artists, and are also helping fund criminal organizations.
Music and Movie piracy has been tied to organized crime, child labor, narcotics trafficking, and other very serious crimes. Criminals are looking at piracy as a crime that is worth committing because the risks are very low, but the reward is extremely high. Pirates and counterfeiters can make more money than drug dealers and do not face the same risks. The United States of America is known for Hollywood and the music industry. If piracy continues to grow, these industries will fail to exist as we know them today.
Piracy operations
There are two types of pirated product. The first type of pirated product is what we call “pressed” product. Pressed product is made on multimillion dollar replication machines and is usually very high
quality. The pressed product will normally come with high quality packaging that was professionally printed and will almost appear to be legitimate. The pirates go to great lengths to make the pressed
product appear to be authentic.
Your typical replication facility will normally be housed in a large warehouse type building. The equipment utilized in these operations is very sophisticated and requires a great deal of knowledge and expertise to operate. The photos below depict the types of machinery utilized in the operations:
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