... or so we're told, but what is piracy exactly?

When people are profiting by selling bootleg DVDs at Nutt's Corner that's blatantly wrong. When someone downloads a track from a file-sharing network before taking the plunge to by an album, that's maybe questionable (but I for one wouldn't hold it against them). However, when sports fans make up their own lyrics to a song to take the piss out of the opposition, I'm quite sure any right-thinking person would consider that fair use.

Well, maybe not. Apparently this "piracy" stuff is much more widespread than you might think, at least if the latest threat from recording company EMI is anything to go by.

EMI says The Fanatics' Ashes songbook breached copyright because it included altered lyrics to songs such as Go West by the Village People and Daydream Believer by The Monkees.
ABC.net.au

As a result, EMI have threatened legal action. This will cost them a fortune and will, with any luck, be completely fruitless. Of course they will pass the costs on to the consumer and blame it on "pirates," all based on fundamentally false mathematics about what piracy actually costs them.

What this incident makes clear is that it's time the UK introduced some realistic, clearly defined fair-use protections into their copyright laws. UK law currently has very few protections - even parody is not explicitly allowed, so theoretically we could have big corporations here throwing their weight around in a similarly archaic and oppressive fashion. Maybe if we're lucky Tony and friends might find some time between invading middle-eastern countries to remedy the situation before this blight hits our shores. I'll not hold my breath though.