The violation of a copyright constitutes copyright infringement. Copyrights are a creation of statute and any violation is a legal wrong with legal consequences.

Most record companies etc. would have one believe that the infringement of a copyright violation is tantamount to piracy (with all the connotations of piracy on the high seas) and that it is morally wrong to infringe a copyright without seeming to realize that, among other things, they themselves often invite copyright violations by pricing their products so absurdly that the average person can’t afford them. In India, some companies seem to have recognized this and have made a number of films available at lower prices. For example, the other day, I saw a Moser Baer DVD of the Passion of the Christ being sold for 69 INR. Moser Baer has also made VCDs of some Hindi films available for as little as 28 INR, and at that price, copyright violations obviously become a non-issue. That isn’t how it works for the average DVD though which rarely costs less than 600 INR. In a country where the salaries of young people – or older people, for that matter – are often as low as three or four thousand INR, it isn’t difficult to understand the temptation to buy ‘pirated’ music or films even if it such copies are illegal.

Plagiarism, on the other hand, is an ethical issue although plagiarism of a copyrighted work also constitutes copyright infringement. Plagiarism may sometimes be completely unintentional and, possibly, excusable. However, I don’t think that habitual plagiarism is forgivable.