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Piracy is the popular term for the illegal activity that is more correctly known as copyright infringement. Software piracy involves the violation of license agreements and occurs when you download, copy, fileshare, install, or distribute digitized material in the form of computer software programs and entertainment media without authorization from the owner/creator.

License Not Ownership. The purchase of a computer program or any form of entertainment or artistic expression on any type of media that includes, but is not limited to, CD, DVD, mp3 file, video, or audiotape, simply gives you a license to use your personal copy; purchase does not constitute ownership of the “intellectual property” on the media. The U.S. Copyright Act expressly protects the intellectual property contained on these media and grants the creators exclusive rights to copy, adapt, distribute, rent, and publicly perform and display their works.

Reasonable people would agree that shoplifting any of these products in stores is theft, yet some don't extend that logic to digitized formats. But when you use your personal copy for any purpose beyond what is expressly permitted by the license, you could be committing a federal offense and may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution (see below) as well as university disciplinary action.

Hidden Costs. The rationalization that “just one copy can't hurt” multiplies exponentially if thousands or millions of people think that way. When you pirate any creative material, you are stealing more from the manufacturers than the cost of a single copy. Consider the resources that go into producing intellectual property. Companies invest millions to employ creative teams, manufacture, distribute, advertise and market product. Anyone employed at any stage along the line, including the retail store clerk, loses when you copy or share illegally.

Punishment. If the negative impact on the economy and fellow workers isn't enough reason to stay legal, keep in mind that some companies in the entertainment and computer software industries have prosecuted individual offenders in civil courts and sought monetary damages. The U.S. government can impose fines or imprisonment, or both. So the next time you're tempted, ask yourself, “is it worth it?” Resolve to purchase a legal copy instead.

The following information describes relevant trade groups and their perspectives on the various media products that are piracy targets.

Audio Entertainment
RIAA Recording Industry Association of America , the trade group representing U.S. sound recording companies, is the force behind the prosecution of individuals for copyright infringement through downloading or uploading of music through illegal peer-to-peer networks and CD piracy. The RIAA ask consumers to support the industry by downloading music from legitimate sites such as those on the list at musicunited.org instead of engaging in piracy.

musicunited.org is a web collective that includes the RIAA and industry companies involved with artists, writers and musicians. Musicunited.org states that “whether you're…using peer-to-peer services like Kazaa to 'share' digital music files with millions of people on the Internet or…compiling a collection of your favorite songs and then using a CD burner to make copies for all your friends, copying and distributing copyrighted music without permission is illegal and it's a drag.”

Video and Film Entertainment
MPAA Motion Picture Association of America works to prevent piracy of film and video products. The MPAA estimates that piracy of video content costs the industry more than $3 billion annually in potential revenue in the U.S., not including Internet losses, which are difficult to calculate. The MPAA lists many types of materials subject to pirating: Optical Disc, which includes Laser Discs (LD), Video Compact Discs (VCD) and Digital Versatile Discs (DVD); Internet, videocassette and broadcast; downloadable media; hard goods; streaming media; circumvention devices; camcording; screeners; back-to-back copying; signal theft; and public performance.

Computer Programs
BSA Business Software Alliance, which describes itself as the voice of the world's commercial software industry, estimates that the U.S. has lost billions of dollars annually in wages and tax revenues, and thousands of individuals have lost jobs. The BSA describes the following scenarios for software piracy:

• using one licensed copy to install a program on multiple computers
• copying disks for installation and distribution
• taking advantage of upgrade offers without purchasing a legal copy of the version to be upgraded
• acquiring academic or other restricted or non-retail software without a license for commercial use
• swapping disks with others
• downloading software from various Internet sources such as pirate websites, peer-to-peer networks, and auction sites that offer counterfeit software

The BSA also notes that pirated computer software doesn't save you much when you consider the problems associated with illegal copies: defective software, little or no documentation or technical support, no warranties, a greater exposure to viruses, and ineligibility for software upgrades.

More information on software piracy:

• Ohio State document on Virtual Legality written by the university's legal counsel


• Ohio State's Policy on Responsible Use of University Computing Resources


• U.S. Copyright Law Office


• Software and Information Industry Association (SIAA)

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Piracy involves the violation of license agreements and occurs when you download, copy, fileshare, install or distribute computer programs and entertainment media without permission

Your purchase of a computer program or CD, DVD, video, mp3 and similar media, licenses use of your personal copy; you do not own the intellectual property that it contains

Consider alternatives, such as downloading music from legitimate web sites