What the Online Piracy Data Tells Us About Copyright Policymaking
Contents
Source Details
| What the Online Piracy Data Tells Us About Copyright Policymaking | |
| Title: | What the Online Piracy Data Tells Us About Copyright Policymaking |
| Author(s): | Smith, Michael D. |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Citation: | Smith, M. D. (2023). What the Online Piracy Data Tells Us About Copyright Policymaking. Hudson Institute. |
| Link(s): | Definitive , Open Access |
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| About the Data | |
| Data Description: | “This policy memo summarizes the peer-reviewed empirical research into the impact of online piracy on the marketplace for creative works, drawing heavily on similar reviews of the literature my colleagues and I have produced in papers, testimony, and book chapters.” |
| Data Type: | Secondary data |
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| Cross Country Study?: | No |
| Comparative Study?: | No |
| Literature review?: | No |
| Government or policy study?: | No |
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Abstract
The impact of online piracy on creators, consumers, and society has been debated for years. This paper reviews empirical research on the effects of piracy. Studies overwhelmingly find piracy negatively impacts creators by reducing income. Piracy also harms society by decreasing incentives for investing in creative works. However, legislative interventions worldwide have successfully reduced these detrimental effects. The peer-reviewed literature clearly shows piracy is harmful economically, but appropriate anti-piracy laws can reverse the damage. This paper summarizes the empirical evidence on the impacts of online piracy and the effectiveness of policy responses.
Main Results of the Study
“In short, there is a broad consensus in the peer-reviewed academic literature that online piracy does exactly what one would expect: it makes it harder for creators and rights owners to make a fair market return on their investments in content creation and dissemination.” “Thus, there is significant empirical evidence in the academic literature that online piracy decreases the revenues available to creators of copyrighted works, and that this reduction in revenues has harmed consumers by reducing both the quantity and quality of creative output that would have occurred absent piracy.” “The right legislative interventions can have a significant impact—one that lessens the harms of piracy to creators and consumers alike. This is true whether the interventions address the demand side of piracy by targeting consumers or the supply side of piracy by targeting providers. Moreover, the data shows that policymakers should not be deterred by the claims from some advocates that the availability of legal alternatives alone will solve these problems.”
Policy Implications as Stated By Author
The study does not make any explicit policy recommendation. However, the author acknowledges the effectiveness of anti-piracy policies and speaks to policymakers that “while online piracy has a demonstrable negative impact on our creative economy and our culture since it disincentivizes creativity, the empirical evidence shows that concrete legislative steps can be taken to avoid some of this damage. The good news for policymakers is that they can confidently use government regulation to reverse these harms.”
Coverage of Study
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