Does piracy hurt sales?

[tiscooler]

the pirates counter this by saying that even if a person had the money they wouldn't buy the game, so no loss in sale. No one's really quite sure.

That is like stealing a couch and saying the same thing.

I didn't mean there was NO loss of sales. The question is, how much is lost per piracy? Full value, because they stole it? No value, because they wouldn't have paid anyways? That is where the question lies. There is definitely some loss of sales, some people would have paid, and something was taken.

However, its a bit more complicated then the couch metaphor. A couch when taken is a definite loss of profit, the materials are gone, merchandise has left inventory, and the value of those materials has absolutely and objectively been stolen. The problem with the piracy is that there are no physical, touchable, materials in piracy, just data, which means the company is not out the materials of the "couch". which demands the question, how much is lost per piracy? Both sides, the companies and pirates, claim complete polar opposite claims, and logic says that neither can be simultaneously right.

I don't advocate a side, and I don't say that the argument for piracy is logical or is anything beyond a rationalization. I'm just saying this is a major modern debate. We truly live in exciting times.

 

[MagicMouse]

It all depends, there is no yes or no answer.

Piracy is BAD when the publicity gained by it is outweighed by the loss of sales to pirates.

Piracy is GOOD when the sales due to publicity outweigh those lost to piracy.

THEN it gets even more complicated. Sometimes we WANT piracy to be "bad". As in when a bad product is found out due to piracy and gets bad publicity, thus losing reputation AND losing ignorant buyer's money.

It is my opinion that piracy(in moderation) will cause GOOD products to flourish and BAD products to fail.


Honestly I think we need a conclusive study by a non-biased source before we can start throwing around legislation like we are now.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Well, it obviously does. Any copy of a movie that's pirated is one copy that wasn't paid for. I'm sorry, but this seems really, really, obvious to me.

 

[teqrevisited]

*Snip mindmelting video*

Yes. I don't need to say more, really.

I think I just lost a third of my I.Q.

On topic, I do sometimes 'test' software before I buy anything. And I usually do because the pirated software tends to have some features missing or bugged. That and I like to have a legitimate copy if it is something I like, because I hoard stuff like that.

 

[Antari]

Well considering I've been wishing for EA to die for the past 12 years, and they've been complaining about piracy for roughly 12 years .... I'd say no .. either way they are still here. It can't be hurting them enough. Give Indies a chance!

 

[gl1koz3]

If the pirated stuff is worthy, vote for it in the store. Otherwise it's kinda like a black box you're buying...

 

[Zhukov]

Yes, somewhat.

Some of the people who pirate stuff would buy it if they had to.

But not as much as the publishers/developers like you to believe though.

 

[starkiller212]

Like more than enough people above me have said, it can both add to and detract from sales, although it probably does hurt most products overall to some extent.
That's partly because of how many more people are legitimately buying them than stealing them (usually). If piracy became rampant enough, then there would be a huge problem for companies--maybe not the end of the computer age, but still. As I see it, they are fighting to prevent the current situation from getting worse; if everyone realized that they could take what they wanted without consequences, or if the process became any more convenient, then piracy might occur enough to truly cause problems.
It reminds me of the "Tragedy of the Commons" concept, where each individual is motivated to act for his own gain at the slight expense of everyone else. You're never going to completely prevent that, but if everyone does so then the system becomes unsustainable. So I avoid stealing and piracy and try to encourage as many others as I can to do the same, in the (admittedly naive) hope that it might contribute to better or cheaper products in the future.

 

[BonsaiK]

So I ask... Does piracy truly hurt sales or is it overrated?

It depends who is selling what.

Something like "Avatar", no, not really.

Some tiny film produced on a shoestring budget, absolutely.