Entertainment Pirates: understanding piracy determinants in software, music and movie industries.

This study is aimed at understanding piracy determinants in the software, music and movie industries as well as examining policy issues in the fight against this phenomenon. The authors base their search for determinants on a threefold model – legal, socio-economic and cultural – supported by the theoretical and empirical literature. They show the joint impact of the three factors through an in-depth quantitative analysis. The results suggest a multi-causality approach to the phenomenon with all three factors having an impact on piracy levels. Consistent with the literature, intellectual property rights (IPR) were found to enjoy a higher level of protection in richer, more developed countries. Protection of IPR lessens the impact of piracy on sales. Moreover, the piracy phenomenon is closely connected to a country’s particular cultural traits. Non-hierarchical societies characterized by collectivism show higher piracy levels. Illegal copying is less widespread in the face of high education levels, strong institutions and strict law enforcement.