Finally, a college student who gets it
Three cheers for Duquesne’s Julian Routh, a freshman journalism major. When it comes to criminal acts of intellectual property theft, Routh shows he gets it.
In his Duquesne Duke column, Routh writes that for those college students who illegally download music, the mindset is one of entitlement, calling the crime disrespectful to artists.
“It’s a shame that even though the practice of pirating is illegal and is a violation of every copyright law in the United States, people continue to do it. Stealing the creative works of your favorite artists is also a disrespectful act.
Equally shameful are some of the obvious contradictions that surround the idea that piracy contributes to society in a meaningful way.”
Routh also cites IPI’s 2007 publication, “The True Cost of Sound Recording Piracy to the US Economy,” writing:
"The artists who rely on album sales as their only income are suffering. The workers and owners of the few remaining CD stores in each city also suffer. Piracy has given people a lazy alternative to supporting small businesses because of the little effort and money it requires to sit at home and download. As a result, record store owners are forced to close up shop, a fact verified by the Institute for Policy Innovation’s report that suggests that because of sound recording piracy, the economy loses 26,680 jobs that would have been added in the recording industry or in downstream retail industries.
Because of piracy, the music industry is in a downward spiral. And when the time comes for our favorite musicians to pack up their instruments and cancel their tours, we will look at each other, dumbfounded, wondering what could have caused such misfortune to manifest. We will blame the labels. We will blame iTunes. We will demonize Justin Bieber and denounce greed."
Read Routh’s column at the Duquesne Duke here.