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Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property Rights: Music Piracy and Technology
J.A. Taylor
University of Maryland University College

0902ECON2017983
Dr. Charles Nwaka
May 09, 2009
Intellectual Property Rights: Music Piracy and Technology
The focus of this research paper is to examine the history of Intellectual Property Rights, with an emphasis on the authorized and unauthorized digital downloads of copyrighted music. Intellectual property rights and its relevance in the policing the music industry has been debated by many for years. With the increasing rate of advancements in technology, most certainly outpacing the policing of music piracy, the violation of intellectual property rights will continue on a global scale.
The state of the music industry has drastically changed over the last ten years due to advancements in technology and the prevalent utilization of the internet and the popularity of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Today, the availability of audio and video content is available to the masses. Where consumers used to purchase compact discs of their favorite artist, now with an internet connection and a few clicks of the mouse, they can enjoy the music of their favorite artist without having to leave the comfort of their home. With compression technologies, such as MP3s, electronic distribution of music is quick and easy, legally and illegally, with the later being the case much of the time. The arguments as to how much the music industry has been affected by music piracy are varied but consistently the numbers are large in scale.
To begin, I will provide a brief history of Intellectual Property Rights, discussing its origin. I will then discuss how advancements in technology, specifically the internet, have outpaced intellectual property rights and the protection that they were designed for. There has been much empirical literature on this subject, so I will discuss some of these findings as well. I will then present statistics on music piracy and their...