What Is It?
Piracy, or content theft, is the illegal consumption of movies, music, books and other creative materials. It happens every day, all over the world. That's a lot of lost revenue for the film, TV, music and fashion industries. In fact, more than 140,000 jobs have already been lost to content theft.
Why Should I Care?
If you live and work in New York City, there's a good chance you know someone who could be affected by job loss in creative industries: 21 percent of all New York workers, directly or indirectly, in creative professions. Or maybe you're one of the thousands of students working hard toward a degree in film, music, publishing or fashion. Without serious action against content theft now, your future job is at risk too.
What Can I Do About It?
It's really as simple as 'don't do it.' And then tell your friends not to do it, too. Help them understand that watching a pirated movie or downloading free copies of bands' albums is not a victimless crime. It's not just about hurting the artists or the people at the top of the industry; it's about all the people you don't see whose livelihoods depend on creative work being consumed fairly. So don't be a scallywag!
*U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as of September 2010. Both direct and indirect employment data totals apply to the live counties of Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond.
**85 percent of the 14 billion videos downloaded last year were illegal (= 12 billion) – From 2009 InStat Report
***40 billion songs - From 2008 IFPI Report
****$2.8 billion in book sales - Via copyright protection company Attributor