http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...music_piracy_dc
By Emmanuel LeGrand
LONDON (Billboard) - One out of every three physical recordings sold in the world is a pirate product.
Based on street value, international trade body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) estimates the global pirate music business was worth $4.5 billion in 2003. This figure is based on an estimated 1.1 billion pirate optical discs sold in the world last year.
"Overall, pirated products are the most serious threat to our business," IFPI chairman/CEO Jay Berman says.
Piracy levels were at 17% in 1999; they are now at 35%. The growth rate for sales of pirated products has doubled in the past five years, but Berman says 2003 saw the growth rate slowing down.
"We've been at work -- seizures are up and some governments have taken action," Berman says. IFPI-originated action has resulted in the seizure of 56 million optical discs last year, up from 13 million in 2001.
The IFPI presented a comprehensive overview of its actions against piracy in the 2004 Commercial Piracy Report, unveiled Thursday in London.
The two main sources of pirated products are CD pressing plants and CD-R burning operations. The former is what Berman calls "a trans-borders business" while the latter is mainly for local consumption.
For example, IFPI has identified in Russia 20 plants out of the existing 31 that "are involved in piracy," according to IFPI head of enforcement Iain Grant. In Pakistan, IFPI has identified eight pressing plants with a yearly capacity of 160 million CDs per year.
"What we are dealing with is not amateurs -- these are professional criminals," Grant says. He adds that there is serious concern within law enforcement agencies such as Interpol that part of the profits from this business could help finance terrorist groups.
Berman presented the IFPI's 10 priority countries, as it did last year. The main piracy offenders are Brazil, China, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine.
"These are the countries that failed to live up to their responsibility," says Berman, who called upon the governments of these countries "to take firm action against commercial music piracy."
Reuters/Billboard
Pretty crazy article, I never realized that many were being sold.
By Emmanuel LeGrand
LONDON (Billboard) - One out of every three physical recordings sold in the world is a pirate product.
Based on street value, international trade body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) estimates the global pirate music business was worth $4.5 billion in 2003. This figure is based on an estimated 1.1 billion pirate optical discs sold in the world last year.
"Overall, pirated products are the most serious threat to our business," IFPI chairman/CEO Jay Berman says.
Piracy levels were at 17% in 1999; they are now at 35%. The growth rate for sales of pirated products has doubled in the past five years, but Berman says 2003 saw the growth rate slowing down.
"We've been at work -- seizures are up and some governments have taken action," Berman says. IFPI-originated action has resulted in the seizure of 56 million optical discs last year, up from 13 million in 2001.
The IFPI presented a comprehensive overview of its actions against piracy in the 2004 Commercial Piracy Report, unveiled Thursday in London.
The two main sources of pirated products are CD pressing plants and CD-R burning operations. The former is what Berman calls "a trans-borders business" while the latter is mainly for local consumption.
For example, IFPI has identified in Russia 20 plants out of the existing 31 that "are involved in piracy," according to IFPI head of enforcement Iain Grant. In Pakistan, IFPI has identified eight pressing plants with a yearly capacity of 160 million CDs per year.
"What we are dealing with is not amateurs -- these are professional criminals," Grant says. He adds that there is serious concern within law enforcement agencies such as Interpol that part of the profits from this business could help finance terrorist groups.
Berman presented the IFPI's 10 priority countries, as it did last year. The main piracy offenders are Brazil, China, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine.
"These are the countries that failed to live up to their responsibility," says Berman, who called upon the governments of these countries "to take firm action against commercial music piracy."
Reuters/Billboard
Pretty crazy article, I never realized that many were being sold.