A Behavioral Model of Digital Music Piracy

2006

Music piracy has evolved from a minor concern in technology magazines to a major issue discussed almost daily in the media. The industry claims potentially billions of dollars are at stake and we seek to determine why extensive anti-piracy strategies don't appear successful. We propose a Model of Music Piracy and, using a survey, test and validate a section of the model using SEM. The majority of propositions were upheld, but contrary to expectations, age was not significant. All users are well aware of the law, prominent cases, and penalties incurred, however these deterrents do not change behaviour or attitudes to piracy. They feel online anonymity affords some protection, and there is safety in numbers (music companies cannot catch everyone). Our work and other studies suggest a certain level of music piracy is efficacious, and further research should confirm this notion and determine whether an optimum level exists.

Deviant Behavior, 2008

2010

Abstract: This article reviews recent theoretical contributions on digital piracy. It starts by elaborating on the reasons for intellectual property protection, by reporting a few facts about copyright protection, and by examining reasons to become a digital pirate. Next, it provides an exploration of the consequences of digital piracy, using a base model and several extensions (with consumer sampling, network effects, and indirect appropriation). A closer look at market-structure implications of end-user piracy is then taken.

2014

It has been estimated that three out of four songs are downloaded illegally. The practice has become increasingly popular as the number of online services that allow individuals to obtain music free of charge has grown, and the illegal activity has become a socially embedded practice. Given the threat of legal consequences, individuals continue to engage in illegal music sharing practices. The purpose of this study is to identify statistically significant predictors of music piracy. We have begun our study by conducting a multiple regression analysis in order to examine the impact of several demographic indicators as well as several self-reported usage and knowledge indicators. We find that the number of music files owned and self-reported knowledge of music piracy are highly significant indicators of music piracy. This study will be extended to examine the impact of economic, legal, social, risk and ethics factors on music piracy.

Piracy, generally defined as the illegal reproduction of copyrighted works for sale, presents a classic economic problem of market failure arising from asymmetric information between buy side and sell side agents and technological changes that digitized media and transformed it into a public good available over the Internet. This paper focuses on physical music piracy, which is defined as piracy on CDs and other recordable delivery devices.

Information Economics and Policy, 2006

Digital products can be copied almost at no cost and are subject to non-commercial copying by final consumers. Because the copy of a copy typically does not deteriorate in quality, copies can become available on a large scale basis -this can be illustrated by the surge of file-sharing networks. In this paper we provide a critical overview of the theoretical literature that addresses the economic consequences of end-user copying. We analyze basic models of piracy, models with indirect appropriation, models with network effects, and models with asymmetric information. We discuss the applicability of the different modeling strategies to a number of industries such as software, video and computer games, music, and movies.

Social learning theory has been proven to demonstrate much explanatory value in the study of software and music piracy that occurs over the Internet. As a multifaceted predictive framework, though, the salience of some of the theory's individual components has yet to be empirically measured. Answering the call of recent research to do just that, the current study seeks to identify the differential impact of offline and online peer influences on participation in music piracy. Results based on data from a sample of approximately 2000 university students indicated real-life peers had the strongest effect, after controlling for individuals' demographic characteristics and Internet capabilities. To a lesser degree, though, online peers and online media sources (e.g., chat rooms) were also found to significantly predict participation in music piracy. Suggestions for policy stemming from these findings are discussed in conclusion with the intent of sharpening response efforts to reduce intellectual property theft in cyberspace. Although intellectual property has become a salient topic in economic and political circles, it has generally escaped the attention of criminologists. Such negligence is unwarranted. It is time to grant that intellectual property is as valuable as customary forms of property, that its infringement is as significant as burglary and robbery, and that its violation and protection merit careful investigation. (Luckenbill & Miller, 1998, p. 116) The availability of digital music in the form of MP3s has completely revolutionized the way that individuals experience music. This technology – and the software and hardware boom that stemmed from its creation – has allowed for songs and albums to be easily compressed into manageable digital file sizes while maintaining very high audio fidelity. Millions of individuals across the world have created MP3s by 'ripping' music albums into digital files of this format and made them available to others in cyberspace. Millions of others have searched for and downloaded these tracks without having to go to a bricks-and-mortar retail establishment and purchase them on CD, and have shared them widely through online transfers and by burning them on recordable CDs. Even multinational businesses and global cultural phenomena (such as the iPod) have been borne from the digital music revolution as the private sector capitalizes on the desires of consumers to obtain and enjoy the songs they want in a simple, convenient process.

2000

Recently sales of physical music media have declined along with music industry revenues - the reasons are complex and poorly understood. We present three models exploring claims made in the conversation over piracy and the music industry's future. We model stakeholder perspectives rather than the full industry to identify their assumptions and the implications of their views, including: (1) Music

Routledge eBooks, 2018

The chapter adopts a broad approach, situating music piracy in a wider context of how and why people listen to and engage with music, given that questions concerning music piracy engagement hinges on understanding why people listen to music in the first place. Technology has changed how we choose and listen to music, and recent music psychology research explores the cultural as well as commercial impact of the digital revolution on contemporary music listening practices. Working from a social psychological perspective, this chapter provides an overview of why individuals choose to engage in music piracy, encompassing a discussion concerning the personality and individual differences of so-called music pirates. Acknowledging the wide-reaching impact of the digital revolution and music piracy on music listening practices, this chapter discusses the impact on the live music sector as well as the emerging omnipresence of streaming services. Discussion follows which unpacks the different functions which particular music formats satisfy, working from recent empirical data; the implications of which pertain to why people choose one format over another, as well as whether they choose to pay for music or not. Lastly, the chapter concludes by proposing directions for future research based on the findings from recent empirical work.