File Sharing: Creative Destruction or Just Plain Destruction?*

@article{Liebowitz2006FileSC,
  title={File Sharing: Creative Destruction or Just Plain Destruction?*},
  author={Stan J. Liebowitz},
  journal={The Journal of Law and Economics},
  year={2006},
  volume={49},
  pages={1 - 28}
}
  • S. Liebowitz
  • Published 1 April 2006
  • Economics
  • The Journal of Law and Economics
The sharing of sound recordings over the Internet is the newest controversy in a long-running battle between copyright owners and copying technologies. In order to provide some context, perspective, and background, this paper examines the short history of file sharing, the longer history of record sales, various explanations for the change in record sales, and some analysis of the economics of copying. Although file sharing has been imperfectly and inconsistently measured, it nevertheless… 
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351 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
27
Background Citations
142
Methods Citations
10
Results Citations
13

351 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

The effect of file sharing on record sales, revisited
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TLDR
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References

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Testing File-Sharing's Impact by Examining Record Sales in Cities
Although previous forms of copying have been found to often have benign effects on copyright owners the rise in file-sharing has coincided with a steep decline in the sale of sound recordings. This…
The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis
For industries ranging from software to pharmaceuticals and entertainment, there is an intense debate about the appropriate level of protection for intellectual property. The Internet provides a…
Pitfalls in Measuring the Impact of File -sharing on the Sound Recording Market
TLDR
The evidence strongly suggests that file-sharing harms the sound recording industry, with the finding that the effect of ‘sampling’ of copyrighted materials can be expected to have a negative impact on copyright owners.
Pitfalls in Measuring the Impact of File-Sharing
This paper surveys the extant literature on the impact of file-sharing. It begins by examining the theory behind the impact of file-sharing. One novelty from this analysis is the finding that the…
Measuring the Effect of File Sharing on Music Purchases*
File sharing may substantially undermine the intellectual property rights of digital goods. This paper concentrates on the music industry. I estimate the effect of music downloads on the probability…
The Impact of Reprography on the Copyright System
This is a report performed for the Canadian government in 1981 on the impact of copying (photocopying) on copyright holders. As far as I know, it was the first theoretical claim that copying might…
File Sharing and International Sales of Copyrighted Music: An Empirical Analysis with a Panel of Countries
Global music sales have substantially fallen in the last four years. This paper uses a panel of country-level data to investigate the extent to which this is a consequence of file sharing. I find…
Measuring the Effect of Music Downloads on Music Purchases
File sharing may substantially undermine intellectual property rights of digital goods. This paper concentrates on the music industry. I estimate the effect of music downloads on music sales using…
Copying and Indirect Appropriability: Photocopying of Journals
  • S. Liebowitz
  • Computer Science
    Journal of Political Economy
  • 1985
TLDR
It is shown that the unauthorized copying of intellectual properties need not be harmful and actually may be beneficial and that photocopying has not harmed journal publishers.
Do Artists Benefit from Online Music Sharing?
Music is an information good, and more specifically, an experience good, whose true value is realized only after its consumption. At its fundamental form, artists create (or produce) the music that…
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