Sales of pirate CDs are estimated to have risen by 14%,
exceeding one billion units for the first time last year - meaning
that one in three of all CDs sold worldwide is a fake - while the
total value of the pirate music market, including cassettes, was
$4.6 billion, up 7% on the previous year.
The figures mean that the global pirate music market, at $4.6
billion, is of greater value than the legitimate music market of
every country in the world, except the USA and Japan.
Much of the proceeds from music piracy are funding organized
crime syndicates, and the legitimate music industry in several of
the worst-hit countries is threatened with collapse, says the
report on Commercial Music Piracy 2003. The report, naming a list
of top ten priority countries (with China as worst offender).
According to the IFPI's report, enforcement activity seized 50
million units last year, significantly more than ever before; but
this is still only one in 20 of all the pirate discs sold
worldwide.
The report also points to the huge losses piracy causes to
investment, economies, cultures and tax revenues and calls for
government reforms in three key areas: stronger copyright and
enforcement rules; regulation of CD plants; and more aggressive
prosecution of copyright crimes.
