Numbers, numbers

A Finnish copyright survey tells us that copyright infringement costs the Finnish recording industry more than 355 million euros every year. The yearly sales of the Finnish recording industry are around 100 million euros. If 30% of that is profit — 30% being the profit margin for software companies — they spend 70 million to make the records, get 100 million back in sales and pocket a cool 30 million in profit.

Now, as a result of the copyright infringement costs, the costs of the Finnish recording industry are actually 70 + 355 = 425 million euros. They spend 425 million euros, get 100 million back in sales and end up 325 million in the red. I will expect the whole industry to go bankrupt in three months, if not faster. Every euro they spend is costing them five.