Who Are the Biggest Music Pirates in the Land? United States Trade Representative Releases Latest ‘Notorious Markets Report’

Photo Credit: Monique Caraballo

The United States Trade Representative releases its annual Notorious Markets Report, identifying markets in which widespread piracy is taking place.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual Notorious Markets Report, revealing digital and physical markets where widespread copyright piracy is taking place, and identifying the biggest offenders.

“With the United States co-hosting the FIFA World Cup, we are particularly attuned to sales of counterfeit merchandise and illicit streaming of sports broadcasts,” said Ambassador Jamieson Greer. “Not only do such activities amount to intellectual property theft, they also harm consumers, such as through purchasing substandard goods that can present health or safety concerns or downloading malware when visiting sites engaged in these activities.”

This year’s Notorious Markets List examines piracy of live sports broadcasts and the challenges of protecting copyright in the digital age. USTR calls on trading partners to undertake policy reforms to strengthen intellectual property protections, such as joining and fully implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, which provide key protections for copyright and related rights in the digital environment.

The 2025 Notorious Markets List highlights 37 online markets and 32 physical markets that are reported to engage in or facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy. The Notorious Markets List reveals both widespread and evolving trends in counterfeiting and piracy, and identifies a wide variety of sites, including e-commerce and social commerce sites, as well as “bulletproof” hosting providers, streaming sites, or other piracy-enabling sites for copying and distributing content.

Cyberlockers make up the bulk of the notorious markets on the list, while popular names of old like RapidShare and MegaUpload have been taken down—like a hydra several others have popped up to fill the gaps. Also on the list are several ecommerce sites responsible for creating counterfeit merch and goods, especially on China’s version of TikTok, Douyin.

George York, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Senior Vice President, International Policy, welcomed the report highlighting the pervasive nature of digital piracy and the negative impacts on American music.

“We applaud the focus on music community concerns and urge a close look in the future at emerging challenges presented by AI, including the widespread illegal use of copyrighted sound recordings and artist names, images, and likenesses to generate invasive and unlawful voice clones and deepfakes,” said York.

Specifically, York called out so-called “bulletproof” Internet service providers, cyberlockers, stream-ripping providers, torrent sites, and unlicensed streaming platforms that “imperil the creative sector’s contributions to the U.S. economy and its competitive advantage globally.”