IFPI recently announced a "zero tolerance" crackdown on pirates. Organized
crime groups in China, Russia, Bulgaria and Italy have become major players.
IFPI plans to dispatch several investigators worldwide in the upcoming months.
(Yahoo Headlines/Reuters, September 18, 1997, Giles Elgood)
Bootlegged Sales Continue to Rise
London
Sales of pirated music recordings jumped 6% last year over 1995 to
an estimated $5 billion worth of business, according to figures released
September 18 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
(IFPI).
One in three music recordings worldwide is pirated, according to the
report. The 1996 figure represents unauthorized sales of 1.5 billion
cassettes and 350 million CDs. The number of illegal CDs manufactured
increased by 25% in 1996 from the previous year. This is due, in large part,
to a dramatic increase in the number of CD plants, particularly in Asia and
Eastern Europe.
In Asia, for instance, a huge over capacity in CD manufacturing remains a
problem for the entire region, with the number of CD plants increasing from
100 in early 1996 to approximately 180 now. CD production greatly exceeds
legitimate demand in the region, with China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore,
South Korea and Taiwan all having significant over capacity, according to
IFPI's "Pirate Sales 96" report.
"In 1996, the pirate market was worth $5 billion, far bigger even than the
third largest legitimate music market in the world, [which is] Germany,"
said IFPI director general Nic Garnett.
(The Hollywood Reporter, September 19, 1997, Monika Maurer; "IFPI Pirate
Sales, 1996, September, 1997," IFPI Publication, contact Catrin Hughes,
Director of Communications, for additional information: IFPI Secretariat, 54
Regent Street, London W1R 5PJ, England)
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