Piracy, Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Offenses

In the United States, violation of the rights to intellectual objects is a civil offense. The offender is liable to civil prosecution and remedial sanctions, such as compensation of the victim for the losses suffered. For example, a person who wrongfully uses a patented process, such as a system for producing bacteria that digest crude oil, is liable for civil action; so is a person who wrongfully copies a book's plot and characters or labels a product with a symbol resembling the one used by a company for its product. Forms of copyright and trademark infringement that are willful and oriented toward financial gain are criminal offenses as well; the offender is eligible for criminal prosecution and punitive sanctions, such as imprisonment. The unauthorized reproduction of computer software for financial gain is a criminal violation of copyright law, and the fraudulent labeling of apparel as genuine designer clothes for financial gain is a criminal violation of trademark law.

In some circles, intellectual property offenses constitute a significant problem. This should not be surprising. Intellectual objects have become more abundant and more accessible to people. At the same time, the proliferation of technologies for manipulating these objects has enabled more people to use them in ways that violate the rights of intellectual property owners. Increasing numbers of people appear to be doing so. Such behavior has consequences; for example, it is commonly said that misuse reduces owners' earnings and thus weakens their industries.

Given reduced earnings, producers may cut their investment in the creative enterprise in order to remain profitable, or they may abandon the enterprise altogether. Shrinking intellectual property industries would raise unemployment, lower tax revenues, and increase the trade deficit, as well as diminish the pool of intellectual objects. Understandably, the specter of misuse has generated considerable anxiety among owners and politicians, and has prompted serious efforts to control it.

Although intellectual property offenses have been a subject of great concern in economic and political circles, they have not captured the interest of criminologists. This is so, in part, because these offenses are not viewed as “real” crimes meriting attention. Unlike such traditional crimes as murder, robbery, and burglary, these offenses take place outside the victim's direct or immediate experience; they are frequently committed by otherwise respectable people in the course of legitimate activities; they do not cause clear, tangible harm; and they do not engender fear. Accordingly, criminologists have ignored these offenses in much the same way they have ignored such mundane crimes as speeding and littering.

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