Piracy has evolved from raiding small villages in the Americas to the modern-day version of stealing information off the Internet, the most common of which is music.

Although some say that this progression seems innocent in comparison to other types of theft, this is not a victimless crime. In fact, piracy is a crescendo of hurt, starting with the music producers, then the artists and then the fans.

Here is the elongated version of this perpetual ring of misdeeds: Hundreds of fans burn albums of their favorite artists, which causes record sales to slump. This in turn causes the record label to reconsider the profitability of the artist, who might lose a contract to produce music.

The theft of music is proof that a few people abusing free samples can hurt everyone. When thieves take a great piece of art, they are punished, but music isn’t treated the same way. After all, what if somebody stole the “Mona Lisa”?

To make a long story short, just buy the album.

— Journal-World Teen Advisory Board member Bart Solbach is a sophomore at Perry-Lecompton High School