Piracy and InfringementBy Svetlana Popova

What is Piracy?

The unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material

The operation of an unlicensed, illegal radio or television station

Nowadays, when we hear the word “piracy” we no longer think of ship robberies. In modern world piracy is

a huge threat to intellectual property; software, TV shows, music, films – these can easily get stolen and

reused. Piracy also has a slight connection with plagiarism; there have been cases of unauthorized use

and distribution of stolen material.

What Is Copyright Infringement?

Use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display, perform copyrighted work etc.

Make derivative works without copyright holder’s permission

Copyright infringement is closely linked with piracy. However, while piracy may be unintentional (ex. a kid watching a movie

online), copyright infringement is a rather intentional misconduct that is aimed at gaining profit illegally.

Reasons Behind These Violations:

Pricing (why pay if I can get it for free?)

Unavailability (not yet launched there, already withdrawn from sales, never to be sold there, geographical restrictions on shipping, etc)

Usefulness (DVDs vs. stream video)

Anonymity (BitTorrent trackers don’t require personal information, while online stores do)

Illegal Downloads All Over The World

Threats in Social Media

Just like on any other website, social media users can also suffer from piracy. Even though the content posted on Facebook, for example, seems to be protected, hackers can easily access source files and illegally download a copy.

Videos on YouTube are also not that safe: there are various applications available for free that allow downloads of songs/videos

Spotify, an app designed to legally listen to music is also vulnerable: a few lines of code can allow hackers download hundreds of songs for free

How To Protect Your Data?

Try to include samples instead of actual content: it may protect your content from being stolen

Music and other audio files are much safer on iTunes rather than on web stores

Store your images on flickr: you can disable unauthorized downloads of your photographs/digital drawings

Keep an eye on bittorrent trackers and contact website’s administration as soon as you notice unauthorized usage of your content

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

References

En.wikipedia.org

Statista.org

Blog.mtiks.org

Piracy.web.unc.edu