Piracy Is a Danger to Entertainment Professionals

Below is an exerpt from a March 2010 AFL-CIO Executive Council statement

Motion pictures, television, sound recordings and other entertainment are a vibrant part of the U.S. economy.  They yield one of its few remaining trade surpluses.  The online theft of copyrighted works and the sale of illegal CDs and DVDs threaten the vitality of U.S. entertainment and thus its working people.

The equation is simple and ominous.  Piracy costs the U.S. entertainment industry billions of dollars in revenue each year.  That loss of revenue hits directly at bottom-line profits.  When profits are diminished, the incentive to invest in new films, television programs, sound recordings and other entertainment drops.  With less investment in future works comes less industry activity that directly benefits workers:  fewer jobs, less compensation for entertainment professionals and a reduction in health and pension benefits.

Combating online theft and the sale of illegal CDs and DVDs is nothing short of defending U.S. jobs and benefits.

Click here to find out how to LEGALLY obtain entertainment content from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association