Next-Generation Piracy: How Search Engines Will Destroy the Music Business

Abstract

This Comment seeks to address the problems that search engines create for the music business in our ever-evolving digital society. Piracy costs are now measured in billions, encompassing lost revenue and job cutbacks. As the world becomes even more dependent on the Internet for entertainment, piracy can only get worse. Although in the United States piracy has been addressed with respect to P2P file sharing services, record companies are coming upon an era where search engines will enable effective, quick, and simple piracy. This evolution has already taken hold in China, a country where 99 percent of music files are estimated to be pirated, and copyright infringement is as easy as typing a song name into a specialized search engine. The problem is slowly starting to be felt domestically. Although Supreme Court precedents have addressed the issues of P2P file sharing, current statutes and decisions are unequipped to deal with the next generation of search engines. This Comment argues that although search engines might be held responsible for some of their contributions to piracy through the court system, ultimately, the fundamentals which make up the business model of music companies must change. Statutes, court decisions, and society are comfortable allowing an open and unrestricted Internet, ensuring that search engine capabilities will not be curbed As the digital age progresses, recording companies will bleed money until they are faced with a choice: adapt or die. This Comment proposes that to survive, recording companies must delve deep into alternative revenue streams, leaving behind their pursuit of pure music in the process. Ultimately, pure music as an art form will vanish.