Piracy or Copyright infringement

Piracy or Copyright infringement copyright violation is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.

Copyright infringement of music The unlawful downloading of copyrighted material and sharing of recorded music over the internet in the form of MP3 files and other audio files is more prominent now than since before the advent of the internet or the invention of MP3, even after the demise of Napster and a series of infringement suits brought by the American recording industry. Promotional screener DVDs distributed by movie studios (often for consideration for awards) are a common source of unauthorized copying when movies are still in theatrical release, and the MPAA has attempted to restrict their use. Movies are also still copied by someone sneaking a camcorder into a movie theater and secretly taping the projection (also known as "camming"), although such copies are often of lesser quality than copied versions of the officially released film.

Sample Troll "Sample troll" is a little used neologism. Recently, certain companies have been purchasing portfolios of old music copyrights for the express purpose of enforcing those rights when a musician samples said old music for a new composition. These companies have been referred to by the pejorative term "Sample Troll." Their role in copyrights is seen to be analogous to the role of so called patent trolls in the patent arena.

Worldwide collaboration to fight copyright infringement Servers enabling internet-based copyright infringement are often based in countries with less strict copyright laws or enforcement history. BPI spokesman Matt Phillips has said the lax copyright laws in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet countries made it hard to crack down on copyright infringement there. Copyright holders are collaborating to fight this activity, through lobbying governments and other means.

Russia agrees with U.S. request to shut down allofmp3.com. China signs Memorandum of Understanding to help fight online copyright infringement with US Media Association. See Music copyright infringement in the People's Republic of China.