Piracy vs. Copyright Infringement
Piracy and Copyright Infringement have often been referred to as one and the same. From a legal perspective, these terms have apparently been used interchangeably by the courts. However since the advent of the digital era, much has changed in the areas of piracy and copyright infringement that has lent itself to the distinguishing of these two illegal acts from each other.
In the section “What Is Piracy” The KIAA defines piracy as “the unauthorized and intentional act of copying, selling, distributing, acquiring or the transferring by any method, means or manner, sound recordings that are not in the public domain or subject to “fair use”, regardless as to whether the rights holder in the underlying work (musical composition) is the same as the rights holder in the sound recording”. While this definition does not rely on any indiscernible definitions as may be viewed upon by the courts, as a practical matter, a distinction is necessary in order to succeed in accomplishing our “Anti-Piracy Initiative”.
If a KJ, karaoke company or consumer is found to have unauthorized content in their library, it does not necessarily indicate that the KJ is a “pirate”. As explained in the “What Is Piracy” section, the KJ or consumer could very well be the innocent victim of a scam, or even have obtained this content unaware that their method of acquisition was unauthorized. The operative word in the KIAA definition is the “intentional” execution of these acts and from the KIAA perspective, is what distinguishes piracy from copyright infringement. An act of “copyright infringement” does not require an element of “intent”, and as such are still “infringements” regardless as to the intent.
As noted in the “What Is Copyright” section, copyright infringement is a “strict liability”, and as such is one reason for viewing it somewhat differently than music piracy. In contrast with regard to piracy, if a music label copies, uses or otherwise distributes a copyrighted work of a rights holder, regardless as to if these actions were executed unknowingly or unintentionally (in legal terms, “un-wilfully”), the music label using these works is still considered to have “infringed” on the copyrights of the rights holder, and would still be subject to either “statutory damages” or the profits from sales for the use of the copyrighted work in question. However, in cases of “un-willful” infringements, the defendants may not be liable for the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees.
Nevertheless as previously stated, in cases where these infringements are “willful” the KIAA still considers these activities to be on par with acts of piracy. Intentional acts of this nature such as the producing and selling of karaoke music without obtaining a license or paying any royalties, imposes economic hardships on karaoke labels and producers alike as well as creates a competition disadvantage. This eventually affects everyone else in the supply chain and at the performance level as well.
Taking everything into consideration, the criteria that defines pirated music is quite straightforward as opposed to copyright infringement. The number of variables and different licensing arrangements are many, while the criteria used in determining copyright infringement is constantly being challenged in the courts making this a complex issue that needs to be addressed separately. As such, the KIAA is also developing an “Anti-Infringement” policy that will be help to establish a fair and equitable business environment for all labels and distributors.
