Sharing is caring
File-sharing — a process whereby users avail their files, including music, TV shows and movies, to other users for downloading — is not necessarily tantamount to piracy, according to a recent study of P2P (peer-to-peer) users in the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, the act of uploading copyrighted music and movies is against the law. Most unpaid downloads consist of officially licensed promotional content.
Research commissioned by the the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs studied the behavior of the country's estimated 14.5 million web users (87.8% of the population), differentiating between paid and unpaid downloads and investigated file sharing, avoiding the word "illegal." (See the report in Dutch.)
In the past year, only 2.3% of Dutch internet users paid for music, movie, or game downloads — but overall, some 6.5% have made purchases from iTunes (which recently changed its pricing structure). 2.9% bought digital music from Amazon.com. (Amazon's MP3 download business is technically exclusive to the US.)
The findings suggest that a number of so-called "pirates" use legal file-purchasing routes in addition to illegal file-sharing ones, writes Arstechnica.
Free music downloads are far more common than those of movies or videogames: A large percentage (35%) downloaded music without paying for it, and an estimated 1.5-2 billion songs (or 7.5 songs for every one sold) go unpaid for.
Unlike movies, music apparently benefits from the "sampling" effect. That is, someone is unlikely to pay for a movie s/he has already seen it for free may buy a song in anticipation of listening to it multiple times.
The movie industry was arguably the hardest-hit by peer-to-peer file-sharing, having suffered a considerable decline in DVD-rentals — but sales may have increased along with the total number of moviegoers, argues Arie Jan Stapel on tweakers.mobi (NL). PC games are also widely copied, but console games much less so, meaning the game industry is also safe. (Studies also suggest "freeloading" videogame players are better customers: they tend to buy more overall than those that do not download games from file-sharing networks.)
The report recommends that the entertainment industry find a way to coexist with file-sharing networks instead of demonizing them. If running a business based solely on recordings is no longer profitable, other sources of income should be prioritized — such as concerts, merchandising, and sponsorships.
What's more, the net economic effect of P2P is purportedly positive. Consumers save more money, and as a result have the discretionary income to buy other things — often tribute purchases of albums by artists they admire, or copies of beloved films and games they have already downloaded.
The music industry has been engaged in a lengthy witch hunt in both the US and Europe, using the legal system to demand often exorbitant amounts from file-sharers.
But the changing times suggest persecution of file-sharers may soon come to an end. The Record Industry Association of America, representing major record labels, said in December that it would stop suing people that illegally share songs protected by copyright. (The lawsuits apparently cost more than what they ultimately received in damages.)
Earlier this year, two unlikely partners joined to create a possible solution to the problem of legal versus "illegal" downloading — an application that intercepts pirates as they search for content and gives them the option to buy files through their ISP.
