Piracy costs the Music Industry and the Government millions of rupees each year. Not only does India rank among the top 10 countries affected by piracy, it loses an astounding sum of nearly Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) to pirated music. Apart from adding nothing to the creative process, pirates evade payment of royalty, excise duty, sales tax and the promotion and publicity costs.

	CONSUMERS suffer when they discover that they have bought a poor quality product, and supported theft of intellectual property. Also due to poor quality of CDs, the CD player is also affected.
	ARTISTS and other right holders suffer since pirate recordings do not earn them any royalties. When revenue from top selling hits is lost to piracy, companies cannot afford to invest in specialist areas and offer consumers a wider selection of music.
	GOVERNMENT suffers as pirates do not pay taxes. It is estimated that piracy results in loss to the exchequer to the tune of some Rs. 190 millions in Sales Tax, Excise duty and Income Tax, in 1997.
	PIRATES alone gain. When a pirated copy is sold, money goes to criminals, not to the artists, other right owners, Music Companies or the Government.