你盜版嗎

也許經常聽音樂的你已經發現了，現在越來越多的網絡音樂媒體或網站已經不再提供免費下載服務，這讓你覺得反倒沒有以前便利了。在疑惑的同時，你是否思考過，免費下載傳播音樂就是對的嗎？你可知道自己以前的行為其實就是盜版？

“等一下！”奧利維婭喊道，“別點那個鍵。”

“為什么？只是一張唱片而已。”我回答，光標就放在下載鍵上。隨著我的手指輕擊鼠標，我違反了版權法。也許這也曾發生在你身上。如果發生過的話，你可能知道一張唱片不費吹灰之力就可以在不到一天之內變成20張。盜版音樂是不對的，你本不應該違反法律來欣賞自己鐘愛的音樂。雖然這樣又快又容易，但是對你的錢包來說那后果可不會是件小事。

許多人會通過網絡違法下載音樂，這并不是什么秘密。有些人是明知故犯，有些人則是不了解或沒有這方面的意識。你也許覺得沒人會發現，又或者認為可能整個音樂行業不會注意到，許多人都愿意這么想。從1999到2002這三年間，制作成片的音樂從11.6億張唱片的銷售量下降到了8.6億張，下降了26%。這對美國唱片業協會（RIAA）也不是什么秘密。20世紀90年代以前，所謂共享音樂最多也就是跟你的朋友分享一張CD。快進到今天，全球有400多個經過授權的數字音樂服務網站，提供超過1200萬首歌曲。盡管如此，你還是很容易發現人們在諸如MediaFire和Megaupload等媒體分享網站上分享他們的音樂文件。你也許會問“這能有什么害處？不過是幾首歌而已……”或者“為什么要為自己喜歡的東西付錢？”如果音樂是你鐘愛的東西，你就不該介意為它付錢。沒錯，音樂行業是賺很多錢，行業里的人可以說是泡在錢堆里。即便如此，音樂人也應該得到他們用正當方式賺到的錢。這也就意味著，如果他們沒能拿到應得的每一分錢，那盜版音樂就是偷竊。

當今社會盜版的情況如此惡劣，你可能都會好奇相關方面會采取哪些措施。美國唱片業協會一直在向青少年宣傳盜版的嚴重后果，這一做法頗有成效。一旦在信箱里發現美國唱片業協會寄來的寫有你或你父母名字的信，你就知道你有麻煩了，那是他們起訴你未經授權使用了受版權保護的資料。如果你被抓到侵犯版權，版權擁有者可以起訴你侵害版權并/或要求賠償經濟損失。一次侵害版權的行為可要求賠償15萬美元，雖然被這么起訴的概率不大，但在某些案件里，你可能還會面臨鐵窗生涯。另外，線上盜版音樂跟線下偷竊沒什么不同。也許你的一些朋友曾慫恿你把CD偷偷帶出商店。雖然你可能覺得這沒什么大不了，但這其實不是小事。許多違法下載音樂的人根本不敢從商店里偷東西。但兩者其實沒什么不同。盜版對于那些花錢購買音樂的人來說非常不公平。平均每個青少年在他們的iPod或音樂播放器里都有約800個非法下載的音頻。以前我也并不在意自己下載的是什么，或者是從哪里下載，但是了解了事實后，這就有點可怕了。不論有什么借口，沒有付錢就下載音樂是不可以的。雖然人們覺得許多唱片公司已經超級有錢，但音樂盜版也對很多個人造成了傷害。音樂行業是由很多人組成的，其中包括詞曲作者、技術人員、唱片制作人，還有廣告商，這些人很可能像你和我一樣有家人要供養。這些人可以選擇他們的職業，但卻選不了那些他無法改變的事情。詞曲作者沒法控制最新一輯CD的定價，但是他們仍然會因音樂盜版而受到影響。

“數字盜版幾乎完全摧毀了歌曲創作這個職業，現在還在慢慢摧毀整個音樂行業。每一家大型音樂出品公司都解雇了至少一半（有時是全部）的專業詞曲作者。據美國勞工統計局調查，僅在2003至2006年間，詞曲作者的收入就下降了32% （這是對于那些還有工作的少數幸運兒而言）。”美國詞曲作者協會主席里克·卡恩斯如是說。

總之，我認為盜版音樂是不對的。不僅因為這一行為會傷害那些用正當方式賺錢的音樂人的利益，還因為人們不值得冒著被起訴或進監獄的風險去干這事兒。我相信許多人都會同意這一點。所以下一次也許你該想想：“這么做值得嗎？”

"Wait！" Olivia yelled. "Don&apos；t click that button."

"Why？ It&apos；s only one album." I said back with my cursor2） over the download button. With the tap of my finger I had just broken the copyright law. Maybe this has happened to you. If it has， you may know that one album can easily turn into twenty in less than a day. Pirating music is wrong. You shouldn&apos；t have to break the law to enjoy music you love. It&apos；s fast and easy， but the consequences won&apos；t be easy on your wallet.

It&apos；s no secret that many people download music online illegally. Some people do it knowing the consequences， some doing it uninformed or unaware. You may think that no one will find out or maybe the music industry won&apos；t notice， and many people like to think that. The amount of shipments3） of recorded music has gone down 26 percent， going from 1.16 billion albums sold to 860 million from just 1999 to 2002； and that&apos；s no secret from the RIAA （Recording Industry Association of America）. Before the 90&apos；s， the closest P2P sharing （person to person） ever got was just by sharing CD&apos；s with your friends. Fast forward to today there are more than 400 authorized digital music services worldwide offering more than 12 million songs. Although， it&apos；s more likely to find people sharing their music files on media sharing sites such as MediaFire4） and Megaupload5）. You may find yourself asking "What&apos；s the harm？ It&apos；s only a couple songs ..." or "Why pay for something you love？" If music is something you love， you shouldn&apos；t mind paying for it. Sure， the music industry makes so much money they practically drown in their own wealth. Even so， the artist has to get the money they rightfully earned. Which means if they don&apos；t get every penny they deserve it is stealing.

This is such a huge issue in today&apos；s society， that you may think what is anyone going to do about it？ The RIAA have been showing scary consequences to teens， and it&apos；s been working. You know you&apos；ve got a problem when you get a letter in the mail with either your or your parents&apos； name on it from the RIAA， suing for the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials. If you get caught with copyright infringement6）， the copyright holder can sue you for damages and/or loss of profits. Suing $150，000 per infringement and， even though it&apos；s unlikely， you could be facing jail time in some cases. Also， stealing music online is just like stealing offline. Maybe some of your buddies dare you to go walk out of the store with a CD. Even if you think it doesn&apos；t matter， it really does. Many people who download illegally wouldn&apos；t even dare to shoplift7）. There&apos；s no difference. Piracy isn&apos；t fair to people who buy their music. The average Teenager has about 800 illegal music tracks on their iPod or music player. I was once someone who didn&apos；t care about what I was downloading or who I was downloading from， but knowing the real facts is a bit scary. Downloading Music without paying is not ok whatever the excuse. Even though many feel that a lot of record companies have way too much money already， piracy causes much harm to many individuals. The music industry is made up of so many people including songwriters， tour mechanics， producers， and advertisers who most likely have families just like you and me to support. These people choose their profession excepting the things they can&apos；t change about it. Songwriters don&apos；t have control over how much the latest CD is， but yet they&apos；re still being affected because of music piracy.

"Digital piracy has almost completely destroyed the profession of songwriting， and is slowly destroying the music industry. Every major music publisher has laid off at least half， and sometimes all， of their professional songwriters. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics， songwriter income dropped 32% between 2003 and 2006 alone （for the lucky few who still had jobs），" said Rick Carnes， president of Songwriters Guild8） of America.

All in all， I believe that music piracy is wrong. Not only does it hurt the people who rightfully earned the money， but it also isn&apos；t worth the risk of getting sued or going to jail. And I&apos；m sure that many people would agree. So maybe you should think next time， "Is it worth it？"