The recording industry has a problem. They have been trying to figure out how they can make consumers pay for what can be downloaded for free.
As technology advances and the price of faster internet service becomes more affordable, piracy has increasingly become a major source of lost revenue for the recording industry.
Instead of paying for albums, consumers have been using relatively easy to use peer-to-peer file sharing sites to get music. Despite it being against the law, for most the decision to download illegally is an easy one.
That’s why the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is trying a new tactic. One that is intent on sending a message to those who download and share music illegally: if you’re caught, you will be prosecuted.
In one such case, the RIAA sued a Minnesota woman for copyright infringements, and won. She was convicted of piracy and required by a jury to pay more than $200,000 in copyright fines.
In another example of their new approach, the RIAA has indirectly gone after students by taking legal action on state universities. The RIAA sent out 403 pre-litigation settlement letters to 22 universities, according to a press release on their website.
The letters were sent out because of “abuse of campus computer networks for the purpose of copyright infringement,” said the press release.
It is unclear if these approaches will work. And with technology improving, there is very little the record industry can do to protect its products from illegal activities. They have tried other methods but the solution to the problem has escaped them.
For example, in response to file sharing sites the record industry set up digital pay-per-download sites as an alternative to music fans but they have proven to be no match. The record industry still loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year to piracy.
The RIAA has always claimed that it is acting in the best interests of artists. Piracy, they reason, is taking money away from singers, writers and musicians. This could be true, but given the fact that most artists receive little of the profits from record sales, it is mostly likely not the case. The record industry executives are the ones who are losing out. So some artists are taking a more radical approach in combating piracy.
The British group Radio Head released their new album “Rainbows” as a digital download on their website. To the surprise of many, they have left the decision of how much there music is worth up to consumers: pay any amount for the price of the album, and then download it.
Other artists choose to offer full albums on their websites, making it possible for fans to preview their albums before purchase.
While the music industry may not approve of artists taking the sales process (and consequently the profits) out of their hands, it is an intelligent and realistic approach to piracy. People will always want to get music and other media for free. If the music is of good quality, the people will pay for it, even if it is small amount.
The RIAA’s approach of taking legal action may work as a temporary deterrent. But in the end, it will prove to be a costly and ineffective way of dealing with piracy.
One thing can be said for certain, illegal downloading and sharing of music is something that will be hard, if not impossible to stop and the record industry stands to lose even more money if its plan is to sue it away.