Eijk, Nico van, Joost Poort and Paul Rutten, 2010,
“Legal, Economic and Cultural Aspects of File Sharing.”
Communications & Strategies,
Vol. 77, 1st quarter 2010: pp. 35-54.

Nico van EIJK
Institute for Information Law (IViR, University of Amsterdam)
Joost POORT
SEO Economic Research
Paul RUTTEN
University of Leiden

Abstract:  This contribution seeks to identify the short and long-term economic and
cultural effects of file sharing on music,  films and games, while taking into account the
legal context and policy developments. The short-term implications examined concern
direct costs and benefits to society, whereas the long-term impact concerns changes in
the industry's business models as well as in cultural diversity and the accessibility of
content. It observes that the proliferation of digital distribution networks combined with the
availability of digital technology among  consumers has broken the entertainment
industries' control over the access to their products. Only part of the decline in music sales
can be attributed to file sharing. Despite the losses for the music industry, the increased
accessibillity of culture renders the overall welfare effects of file sharing robustly positive.
As a consequence the entertainment industries, particularly the music industry, have to
explore new models to sustain their business.

Enfasi mia.

Full paper: http://www.ivir.nl/publications/vaneijk/Communications&Strategies_2010.pdf

juan carlos