LONDON, July 23 -- PRNewswire/ AsiaNet
- Ten priority countries named for government action
- Illegal music sales valued at US$4.5 billion in 2003
- A record 35% of all music discs sold worldwide are illegal copies
- Traffic in fake CDs grows more slowly, with stepped up enforcement
actions
Global sales of pirate music have hit another record at 1.1 billion discs
annually, but thanks to stepped up enforcement efforts the fake CD trade is
spreading more slowly than in recent years. Music piracy remains a huge US$4.5
billion illegal business driven by organised crime, government apathy and
corruption.
These are the highlights of a new report published today by the
international music industry (IFPI). The report includes a wake-up call to
governments, singling out ten priority countries - 4 in Asia, 3 in Latin
America and 3 in Europe - where wholesale anti-piracy offensives are most
urgently needed.
Global sales of illegal music discs rose 4% in 2003 and the global average
piracy rate increased to a record 35%. The ratio of illegal to legal CDs sold
continues to increase: in 2000, one in five CDs sold worldwide was a pirate
copy; in 2003 the ratio was one in three and rising.
Encouragingly, music disc piracy in 2003 grew at its slowest rate in four
years, indicating that enforcement efforts by industry anti-piracy teams and by
some government enforcement agencies, are now having a significant impact.
There were record levels of seizures of discs and a huge increase in seizures
of CD copying equipment.
The recording industry's Commercial Piracy Report 2004 is published today
by IFPI on behalf of more than 1400 hundred record companies worldwide. The
report makes a 4-point "Call to Governments" asking for:
- Strong and up to date copyright laws
- Proper deterrent sentencing of pirates
- Regulation of disc manufacturing
- Commitment to prosecute copyright crime aggressively
The report names ten priority countries where governments urgently need to
crack down on rampant illegal music sales and outlines new evidence of
suspected involvement in piracy by government, judiciary and civil service
employees.
Notably, a long-awaited official Congressional enquiry in Brazil, a country
near the top of the international piracy rankings, has exposed alleged
widespread involvement in counterfeiting by politicians, judges, civil servants
and thousands of others.
IFPI Chairman and CEO Jay Berman said: "Commercial music piracy dominates
large swathes of the world's music markets, despite an encouraging slowdown in
growth in 2003. This illegal trade is funding organised crime, fuelling
widespread corruption and costing governments hundreds of millions of dollars
in lost taxes. It is destroying artist careers and music cultures and robbing
countries with high piracy rates of billions of dollars of investment they
would otherwise enjoy.
"The responsibility now is for governments - and especially on the 10
priority countries our report names - to act decisively against the problem.
This means proper enforcement, deterrent sentences against pirates, effective
regulation of disc manufacturing and, above all, the political will to make
sure real change happens."
Top 10 Priority Countries
The top 10 priority countries singled out in the IFPI report are Brazil,
China, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine.
These are territories that in IFPI's view are failing to protect and enforce
intellectual property rights and tackle unacceptable levels of piracy.
In terms of pirate sales value, the list is topped by China, with the
largest pirate market (worth just under US$600 million) and Russia, home to a
US$330 million pirate market and a massive international exporter of pirate CDs
to some 30 countries.
Mexico and Brazil also feature prominently as countries that were until
recently among the world's top 10 largest legitimate music markets but whose
music industry, artists and workforce have been decimated by CD-R piracy.
Pakistan has entered the list of top 10 for the first time, having evolved
in the last three years into one of the world's largest manufacturers and
exporters of discs.
For further information please contact Adrian Strain or Julie Harari at
IFPI Communications on tel: +44(0)20-7878-7900 or access the report online at
www.ifpi.org
SOURCE: IFPI Secretariat
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