Liebowitz (2006a)

Source Details

Liebowitz (2006a)
Title:	Economists Examine File-Sharing and Music Sales
Author(s):	Liebowitz, S. J.
Year:	2006
Citation:	Liebowitz, S. J. (2006). Economists examine file-sharing and music sales.Industrial organization and the digital economy, 145-174.
Link(s):	Definitive ,
Key Related Studies:	Liebowitz (1985) Watt (2004)
Discipline:	A10: General K: Law and Economics O3: Technological Change • Research and Development • Intellectual Property Rights Z1: Cultural Economics • Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology
Linked by:	Bhattacharjee, Gopal, Lertwachara, Marsden and Telang (2007), Danaher, Smith, Telang and Chen (2012), Depoorter and Walker (2013), Handke (2012b), Hennig-Thurau, Henning and Sattler (2007), Herz and Kiljański (2016), Leung (2009), Liebowitz (2018), Liu (2015), Mateus and Peha (2008), Shang, Chen and Chen (2008), Thomes (2013), Van Eijk, Poort and Rutten (2010), Waldfogel (2009), Watson, Zizzo and Fleming (2016)

About the Data
Data Description:	Data includes a literature review of various recent studies and analyses examining the impact of file-sharing on record sales.
Data Type:	Primary and Secondary data
Secondary Data Sources:
Data Collection Methods:	Qualitative Collection Methods Document Research Qualitative content/text mining
Data Analysis Methods:	Qualitative Analysis Methods Textual Content Analysis Discourse Analysis Grounded Theory
Industry(ies):	Film and motion pictures Television programmes Sound recording and music publishing
Country(ies):
Cross Country Study?:	No
Comparative Study?:	No
Literature review?:	Yes
Government or policy study?:	No
Time Period(s) of Collection:	Prior to 2006
Funder(s):	Not stated

Abstract

NA

Main Results of the Study

• The theory underlying the analysis of file-sharing has not received the attention it deserved. It has always been clear that some possible aspects of file-sharing would harm copyright owners, such as the substitution of copies for the purchase of originals.
• What has not been understood is that the use of file-sharing to sample products is also likely to lead to harm to copyright owners. Theoretical conditions under which file-sharing might be beneficial to copyright holders seem farfetched.
• A broad analysis of the various theoretical factors at work supports a view that file-sharing is likely to cause serious damage to the owners of copyright materials that are shared.
• Empirical examinations need to meet a higher hurdle than normal before they might be considered to over tern the expectation that the birth of file sharing leads to the subsequent decline in CD sales.
• The political arena is impatient in its search for an answer and for academics to reach unanimity. In any case, it seems that file-sharing hurts copyright owners and that it is responsible for most, if not all, of the recent decline in sales.

Policy Implications as Stated By Author

More empirical studies are needed to fully understand the impact of file-sharing.

Coverage of Study

Coverage of Fundamental Issues

Issue	Included within Study
Relationship between protection (subject matter/term/scope) and supply/economic development/growth/welfare
Relationship between creative process and protection - what motivates creators (e.g. attribution; control; remuneration; time allocation)?
Harmony of interest assumption between authors and publishers (creators and producers/investors)
Effects of protection on industry structure (e.g. oligopolies; competition; economics of superstars; business models; technology adoption)
Understanding consumption/use (e.g. determinants of unlawful behaviour; user-generated content; social media)

Coverage of Evidence Based Policies

Issue	Included within Study
Nature and Scope of exclusive rights (hyperlinking/browsing; reproduction right)
Exceptions (distinguish innovation and public policy purposes; open-ended/closed list; commercial/non-commercial distinction)
Mass digitisation/orphan works (non-use; extended collective licensing)
Licensing and Business models (collecting societies; meta data; exchanges/hubs; windowing; crossborder availability)
Fair remuneration (levies; copyright contracts)
Enforcement (quantifying infringement; criminal sanctions; intermediary liability; graduated response; litigation and court data; commercial/non-commercial distinction; education and awareness)