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Piracy of Intellectual Property

Piracy of intellectual property refers to the unauthorized use, reproduction, and/or distribution of protected material such as computer software, video games, music, or movies. Piracy has become an increasing concern in recent years because of the rise of the Internet and the speed with which copyrighted material can be distributed globally to a large number of people.

What is labeled piracy is literally the infringement of intellectual property rights—that is, copyright, patent, and/or trademark infringement. Piracy literally refers to robbery and other crimes committed at sea, where prey are more vulnerable in the absence of conventional law enforcement mechanisms. The term piracy is used in connection with intellectual property infringement, particularly with regard to electronic and audiovisual materials, because of the similar difficulty in detecting and preventing this sort of inappropriate behavior and the mass scale on which it can occur.

The use of the term piracy is, however, controversial. Unlike theft on the open seas, accompanied often by violence, loss of life, and permanent loss of property, intellectual property infringement does not have the same sort of victims. Whereas it can be argued that the piracy of intellectual property devalues the protected intellectual property (by making it more readily available) and deprives the owners of potential sales, it does not inherently involve violent crime or complete theft. Holders of patents, copyrights, and trademarks still retain their rights; they just lose the exclusivity of those rights.

The harm imposed by intellectual property piracy actually extends beyond the emotional and financial damages to the holders of patents, copyrights, and trademarks. In fact, piracy threatens the system of protected rights that encourages individuals and organizations to invest in the development and distribution of intellectual property. Furthermore, it jeopardizes the marketplace trust that attaches meaning to recognized expressions of ideas.

Patent Infringement

Intellectual property infringement has been a concern as long as intellectual property rights have been protected. In fact, instances of patent infringement were documented in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution, when American law did not grant reciprocity to intellectual property developed in other countries. Early manufacturing in the United States was based on technology patented in Britain, without any compensation being paid to the legitimate foreign patent holders. At the time, this was condoned by the government in the United States.

Patents are granted to protect the opportunity of individuals and organizations to recoup their investment in inventions. Patent infringement occurs when the creator or user of an invention refuses to acknowledge the priority of the patent holder. The high cost of enforcing patents deters many holders from pursuing legal action, and many pirates take advantage of this.

Trademark Infringement

Trademark infringement occurs when products are manufactured or sold under the trademark of another company without that company's permission. The widespread distribution of counterfeit products—fake purses, knockoff watches, and so on—has turned this into a serious problem. Trademark infringement began about 20 years ago, with the men on 5th Avenue in New York standing around with suitcases full of knockoff Rolex watches that they sold for $10 apiece and the storefronts in Chinatown openly selling counterfeit handbags by Coach, Louis Vuitton, and so on, for a fraction of the retail value of the originals. In fact, vendors were so bold and the supply was so great that many would hand customers catalogs from which to choose their purchase.

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