Movie Piracy Hurts the U.S. Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 13

Movie Piracy Hurts the U.S. Economy - Essay Example The estimated loss in millions because of movie piracy cannot be substantiated; it hurts the economy because IP protection costs for firms continue increasing, brand value and sales are lost, consumers get low-quality goods and the government continues to lose tax revenue. The first way that movie piracy hurts the economy is that it results in lost sales and brand value for companies, in addition to the costs incurred for increased Intellectual Property (IP) protection. Guaranteed protection of these companies is possible when the proprietors get limited exclusive rights to the economic rewards provided by the market for creating products. According to a report released by the U.S Government Accountability Office in 2010, there are many negative, economic effects arising from piracy and counterfeiting on the U.S economy (3). However, based on this report, the many claims that piracy has led to the loss of many American jobs and the loss of millions of U.S dollars are not valid (U.S Government Accountability Office 11). It is as a result of this statement that critics argue that perhaps there are little or no negative economic effects of movie piracy on the U.S economy. Today, movie piracy is so common that a person does not necessarily need advanced c omputer skills to gain access to illegal movies. Of course, this is a move that has led to companies looking for advanced ways of protecting their IP, which is known as costly affairs. If movie piracy was non-existent, new copyright companies in the entertainment industries would not lose their creative work without getting paid for their work. Essentially, piracy of movies is part of the reason contributing to lost sales and brand value for so many movies in the U.S. The second way that movie piracy hurts the economy is because leads to consumers getting low-quality goods and their safety risks increase.