IMSTA'S APPROACH IN FACING SOFTWARE PIRACY: Why Do We Educate When We Could Litigate?

Why educate when you could litigate? Many people ask this question of IMSTA and its officials. This news letter is an excellent place to shed some light on the benefits of “Piracy Education”.

So why does IMSTA not take part in litigation and other enforcement options? IMSTA was formed to raise awareness and to change end user behavior over time through education. “But education takes too long. We need to raise fear amongst end users so that they don’t use pirated material”, some people reply.

Let’s quickly examine the recording industry’s attempt to eliminate illegal music downloads through litigation. According to an article in “The Washington Post”, when the “Recording Industry Association of America” started its user litigation campaigns in 2003, 20% of all US internet users 13 years and older downloaded pirated music. Today that number is 19% which represents a marginal reduction of 1% despite all their efforts. According to the same article, since 2003, US record labels have filed more than 28,000 lawsuits against file sharers and sent over 6,000 pre-litigation letters to college and university students around the country. However, the demand for pirated music is still as high as it was in 2003.  

As an important part of its educational campaigns, IMSTA will warn the public that they could face litigation should they continue to use pirated music software. However, IMSTA management and most IMSTA members and supporters would like IMSTA to stay away from enforcement and to continue with education. Without education, ten – fifteen years from now, music software companies will look back and wish they had started the voluntary behavior change process long before it appears routine, especially with the younger software users.

Although each IMSTA member company has the right to protect its intellectual property through litigation, IMSTA will not be taking part in any court proceedings. The music software industry and the music industry are two sides of the same coin. Many music software developers are musicians themselves and have friends in the music industry. The last thing they need is to initiate conflict and leave a bad taste in their peers' mouths. However, through education, IMSTA strives to highlight this close connection between the two industries. For starters, music software has decreased costs associated with music production, recording, mixing, and mastering. Thanks to music software, there are now many more independent artists, production companies, and record labels that have emerged and prospered. These artists and companies themselves face diminishing revenues as a result of piracy. They don’t like it happening to them. So why do it to others? This is the message that IMSTA tries to get across to as many music software user as possible. We engage software users on a moral and intellectual basis.

To lose its focus on education and pursue litigation, IMSTA will not help the end cause by any means. It will just acquire many enemies within the music industry who would not want to listen to its educational messages anymore. Each organization has a focus area which it is good at, and for IMSTA that is “piracy education”, not litigation. Therefore all efforts have to be placed on being the best educators on subject of piracy. For that, we need the help of all our members and supporters, even those who do wish to pursue legal action too.

by: Paul Fattahi

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© Copyright IMSTA 2008