savannah used our newssubmit to tell us that research shows that most Americans feel file trading is not wrong. In the last month almost one-fifth of the American population over 12 has downloaded music and of these people only 21% feel that free downloading hurts the artists:
The recent TEMPO research also reveals that nearly three-quarters (73%) of U.S. downloaders report their motivation for doing so is to sample music before making a purchase. Further, U.S. downloaders believe their actions to be okay, with few agreeing that downloading free music off of the Internet is wrong (9%), and only one-in-five (21%) agreeing that free downloading and peer-to-peer file-sharing hurts artists. |
Only 16% believe that record labels are justified in shutting down file-sharing services, such as Napster and Audio Galaxy, and two-fifths (39%) agree that making copies of music to give to friends is okay.
'With recent efforts underway to redefine the role of copyright and fair-use in the digital age, this data clearly shows that current U.S. downloaders are interpreting both the motivations and legality of their actions on their own terms," continued Kleinschmit. 'This suggests that copyright enforcement efforts are unfortunately being misinterpreted by these consumers, and additional education and awareness on the importance of intellectual property rights in this new era of content distribution may be necessary."
Perhaps it's time for the record industry to stop seeing file-trading as a threat and more as a marketing tool. You can read the complete article here and the full TEMPO study here.
Source: MP3 Newswire
