File Sharing and Copyright; A Response to Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf

File sharing takes up approximately 25% of internet traffic. The great majority of these files are connected with violations of authors’ and related rights. The revenues of the recorded music have shrunk to approximately 40% since their highest levels in the second half of the 90’s, while at the same time file-sharing has been expanding globally. The audiovisual and publishing industries, which stand next in line, appear even more vulnerable in their losses, since they actually lack any ‘complementary sources of income’, such as the live performances in the music sector. The present text starts with an analytical critique of the article with the same title by F. Oberholzer-Gee and K. Strumpf (2010) and of the relevant argumentation regarding the absolution of file sharing in its economic consequences, while at the same time it doubts the positive causal relation between file sharing and social welfare, that the two authors note by observing a production increase. Presenting new data and assessing the relative sources, it aims to contribute to the open discussion of the subject