British Music Industry: A Case Study In Music Piracy

Abstract

The case study is about loss of business due to piracy and file-sharing in the music industry in Britain.  According to a survey by Ipsos Inc. (2006), CD piracy cost the industry £165m in lost revenue in 2005 - nearly 10% of total sales.  The survey found that 37 million pirated CDs were sold in Britain in 2005.  The piracy of music in Britain has pinned the British Music Industry (BMI) and the music artists against the internet service providers, the government and the consumers.  The BMI is blaming the Internet Service Provider (ISP) firms for not policing illegal downloads of music and asked them to disconnect people who ignore requests to stop sharing music.  The ISP firms do not see their role as policing the piracy problem and do not agree with BMI.  The BMI is pressuring the government to legislate copyright offenses related to music downloads in Britain.  Also, the BMI wants the consumers engaged in copyright offense of music piracy to be prosecuted for criminal offense in addition to civil offenses.  The consumers disagree with the BMI.  The case study discusses the current actions of the BMI, ISPs and the British Government.