Facts & Research

The goal of this paper is to provide a non­‐technical discussion of what the academic literatures in economics, marketing, and information systems can tell us about how piracy impacts sales of media products. The vast majority of the literature (and particularly the literature published in top peer reviewed journals) finds evidence that piracy harms media sales.

There are many ways to access music safely and legally online. This guide aims to keep parents, teachers and young people well informed on how to stay safe and how to legally enjoy entertainment on the internet or via a mobile device.

Piracy of recorded music costs the U.S. sound recording industries billions of dollars in lost revenue and profits—but that’s not all. This study shows that recorded music theft costs American workers significant losses in jobs and earnings, and also costs the U.S government substantial lost tax revenue.

Digital goods have transformed the way many economic agents interact in markets, especially those in the cultural sector. In particular, digital goods have impacted the music industry—record labels have witnessed a proliferation of the means to circumvent copyright in protected materials. This paper explores the impact of piracy on legal demand.

This paper estimates the effect of music downloads on the probability of purchasing music. A simple comparison of means shows that people who regularly download music online are more likely to buy music.

The battle between copyright owners and copying technologies is a long-running one, and the sharing of sound recordings over the Internet is only the newest chapter. This paper works to provide some context, perspective, and background to the issue by comparing the relatively short history of file sharing to the longer history of record sales.

Recording industry revenue fell sharply in the years between 2000—2003. This paper examines estimates of sales displacement induced by online music downloading, to look at the effect of downloading on sales and welfare.

Has piracy reduced the sale of legitimate music? Have illegal downloads become a substitute to legal CD purchases? This paper analyzes the role of music downloading on the current downturn in CD sales and assesses the potential loss from internet piracy.

The first file-sharing software, Napster, was shut down in 2001, but the copying technology’s impact on the music industry is still passionately debated. Music industry representatives argue that the practice decreases CD sales, while supporters of file-sharing allege the practice could actually increase sales. This study finds support for the claim that file-sharing has decreased sales.