Piracy Helps the Entertainment Industry

Several studies have shown that file-sharing can have a positive effect on the entertainment industry.  Reports have shown that digital gaming is flourishing, U.S film industry is breaking record year after year, and the publishing record is stable. Bart Cammaerts, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Senior Lecturer said "Contrary to the industry claims, the music industry is not in terminal decline, but still holding ground and showing healthy profits. Revenues from digital sales, subscription services, streaming and live performances compensate for the decline in revenues from the sale of CDs or records." The report has led to the release of a new policy brief by LSE urging the UK government to overlook the lobbying efforts of the entertainment industry on the future of copyright policy.

Over the past couple of years, there have been many research projects showing that file-sharing actually benefits the entertainment industry.  The report provided a few examples of the positive effects of file sharing including the success of Sound Cloud, the promotional effect of YouTube that promoted sales and the fact that file-sharers actually spend more money on entertainment than those who do not share. Despite the Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) claim that online piracy is hurting the movie industry, Hollywood achieved record-breaking global box office revenues of $35 billion in 2012 which is a 6% increase in comparison to 2011. 



With this report in mind, why is the US government banning file-sharing of online content? Instead, the government should look more into the current copyright regulation and at objective data. The creative industry should also fully utilize the opportunity to benefit from online sharing practices of users and innovate ways to generate more revenue in place of making claims that piracy is devastating the entertainment industry.