ABOUT PIRACY KILLS*

Does piracy kill? The slogan "Piracy Kills" has frequently been used in the entertainment industry's campaigns over the years. In the 1980s they argued “Home-taping is killing music", and in 2007 the Norwegian record industry started the Anti-Piracy Campaign "Piracy Kills Music". The purpose of Piracy Kills, part 1, is to visualize illegal file sharing. As a video artist, I wanted to focus on the availability and the scale of the downloading, and the opportunities that come with the bit torrent technology. Further, the project is a comment to the file sharing debate that got great attention in connection to the trial against The Pirate Bay in 2009. Today file sharing is mainstream, and many legal alternatives to the illegal pirate activities are becoming popular. The Norwegian industry's latest campaign, "Dele – ikke stjele” (“Share – don’t steal") from 2009, finally shows signs of rethinking and a new strategy that implies a collaboration with the consumers, rather than criminalization.