Anti piracy law leading to increased music sales?

The music industry has been widely criticised for their tough approach on piracy. The debate between those that want to fight piracy and those in favour of free music continues today. One of the approaches that has been proposed is to cut of users of pirated content from the internet.

The chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment said Monday the U.S. should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films. CEO Jim Gianopulos said Internet piracy is the single biggest threat to the film industry worldwide, and independent films are the hardest hit. “The bad news is that the Internet is big, and it’s anonymous,” Gianopulos told a news conference in Athens. via Fox CEO wants US to join France on Internet piracy by AP: Yahoo! Tech.

Sweden and Denmark have been hotbeds of illegal copying with the Pirate Bay and even a party focussed on abolishing copyright. After years of declines in music sales in Sweden they have now gone up significantly. The music industry points to the passing of anti-piracy laws as a reason for this improvement

Record labels are pointing to the dramatic rise in music sales in Sweden, just months after the country introduced anti-piracy laws, as evidence of what a similar crackdown in Britain could do to the flagging market. Figures from the record labels association IFPI Sweden show revenues rose 18% in the first nine months of this year, a significant reversal from seven consecutive years of decline. Much of the rise came after April’s implementation of an anti-piracy law and a ruling against the operators of The Pirate Bay, the filesharing site. via Sweden sees music sales soar after crackdown on filesharing | Business | guardian.co.uk.

Picture: Stock exchange | Pirate | vilen001