Why Is It Ethical To Buy Bootlegged Products
Is it ethical to buy illegal copies of music CD's and movies from street vendors. Especially when you know that by buying these copies, the record companies, movie production companies, actors, artists and others involved in their production do not get a profit from the sale. This is the dilemma I had as weather or not I should buy bootlegged products because while they are cheaper, it is depriving the legitimate profits that companies who produce the music and movies would receive along with the actors and artists involved. The situation that I encountered was while I was walking around New York City with friends. Everywhere I went, I saw street vendors selling various music and movie titles, including titles were not yet released on cd
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According to Kant's view of ethics, he would ask would ask not about the outcome that is achieved by the purchasing the pirated copies, but what is the motivation behind purchasing them. The motivation for most people weather buying or selling these cd's is money. The people selling them want to make some money easily, while the purchaser wants to save money by purchasing a cheaper product. If there were something cheaper, many people would buy that product even though it might be illegal as compared to a legal copy that costs several dollars more. Using Kant's view then, if the only motivation for the purchase is to save a few dollars, then he would not look upon the purchase or sale of such product in a favorable ethical light. According to Kant, one should "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." If this is such, I doubt he would want the purchase of illegal copies to save a few dollars to become wide spread and as he called it a universal law. Nor would he want the sale of such copies to become ramped depriving the people who produce the legal cd's and movies to be deprived of their fair compensation for the work they
According to Kant's view of ethics, he would ask would ask not about the outcome that is achieved by the purchasing the pirated copies, but what is the motivation behind purchasing them. The motivation for most people weather buying or selling these cd's is money. The people selling them want to make some money easily, while the purchaser wants to save money by purchasing a cheaper product. If there were something cheaper, many people would buy that product even though it might be illegal as compared to a legal copy that costs several dollars more. Using Kant's view then, if the only motivation for the purchase is to save a few dollars, then he would not look upon the purchase or sale of such product in a favorable ethical light. According to Kant, one should "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." If this is such, I doubt he would want the purchase of illegal copies to save a few dollars to become wide spread and as he called it a universal law. Nor would he want the sale of such copies to become ramped depriving the people who produce the legal cd's and movies to be deprived of their fair compensation for the work they