Global piracy has given new life to the 16^th century phrase “going rogue.” While there may very well be a few vagrants, tramps, scoundrels and scamps lurking in the modern-day definition, they usually do their dirty work under the protection of the internet, a safety net that grassroots organization Creative America is working to remove.

Piracy is a rather sticky subject. Many of the rogues that endeavor in digital looting of movie, music and television media believe they are just “sharing” what they have with people who cannot afford to purchase their own copies. Buying a CD or DVD does not give you ownership, however, but the privilege of being entertained or informed. Technically speaking, you are considered an intergalactic pirate if you add to your booty by selling copies of someone else’s creative work without their consent.

Despite the sparkling aura that has encircled the Hollywood name since its early 20^th century genesis, the majority of workers in the entertainment industry are middle class, earning less than $55k a year. These are the workers that are hit the hardest by website trafficking of stolen film and TV content. “I don’t think most people realize that jobs are put at risk. My job and the jobs of our entire crew,” “Today” show production manager Grace Yavana said in a recent CBS press release.

Backing the anti-piracy efforts of Creative America is a plethora of entertainment unions, guilds, studios and networks. The team is up against a formidable opponent: 150 million daily visits to websites offering stolen media. This statistic poses the question of whether the importance of creativity in American culture is beginning to dwindle.

“Content theft has already resulted in 140,000 jobs lost to the U.S. economy alone,” said Creative America’s Communications Director Craig Hoffman. “It has cost $5.5 billion in wages and drains the revenue that residuals, health funds and pension plans depend on.” The broad effects of content theft trickle into the lives of consumers as less money for entertainment industry workers equals less of the shows, movies and music we love.

Creative America is currently knee deep in a plan, called the Protect IP Act, which will authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to track internet service providers (ISPs), search engines, payment processors and advertisers of foreign websites that are illegally distributing stolen movies and TV. The legislature will give a boost to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) team whose current jurisdiction for fighting stolen creative content is limited to the US.

Earlier this month, a slew of ISPs including Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and Time Warner Cable announced their own “six-strike” plan in conjunction with the Center for Copyright Information. The White House-backed initiative gives ISPs the right to enforce punishments on online pirates such as bandwidth throttling, temporary suspension of service, and copyright reeducation.

Overall, entertainment industry workers benefit from the legal distribution of digital content on multiple platforms.

To learn more on how you can help to stop creative content theft, please visit Creative America.