Should people be prosecuted if they violate copyright law?

Answer 1

Yes, BUT there needs to be a better distinction between accidental, one-time infringements, and willful, systematic infringement. For example, a movie studio angry about a downloaded film should concentrate their legal efforts on the uploaders and distributors, rather than the comparatively small-potatoes individuals. Yes, it was wrong for little Johnny to watch that movie online for free rather than paying $12 to see it in the theater, but that represents a loss of $12 from the revenue stream of the rightsholder if little Johnny would actually have gone at all; whereas the uploader may represent a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Answer 2

Absolutely. In fact, for all the FBI warnings on things, it's much more likely to be the rightsholder suing you directly than law enforcement knocking on your door. Most copyright holders will simply want you to stop infringing on their rights, and possibly pay them actual damages; statutory fines vary from country to country, but are $750-$30,000 in the US.

Answer 3

I personally think so, because in the big picture, IP laws benefit users as well as creators and inventors. Taking the laws entirely for granted ultimately limits choice in the marketplace. That being said, I am also of the opinion that fines should be capped at real damages: if I illegally download a song and avoid paying 99 cents for it, you may absolutely sue me for 99 cents. My bad, I owe you that. It's when penalties get entirely out of line that people stop seeing the good that IP laws do, and only see them as tools for patent and copyright trolls.

Answer 4

In the US, you can go to jail for up to five years, but the vast majority of penalties are handled in fines.