When I first arrived in Japan, it was exactly the same as it is now, except that it was blank videotapes and cassettes being sold next to the records and videos for rent.

This actually is a good system considering the fact that people are going to copy things. It's a form of compensation which is in line with the advancement of technology. The notion that artists will suffer is based on the idea that all providers of content should profit ad infinitum from one work. This is a benefit artists had during a certain era when technology gave them the capacity to duplicate their work and distribute it, but it is something that was not the case through much of the history of man. Musicians and performers performed for money. The did not get paid again and again if they didn't keep working. It's a hard fall for those who are used to getting paid for work they did years or even decades to go, but they have to do what the rest of us do and keep working if they want to keep making money. :-p