Mikael Hed, CEO of Angry Birds’ parent company Rovio spoke at the annual Midem music conference in Cannes today.

There, he told a cre w of music insiders that not all pirates are pigs.

“Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day.”

Hed was particularly critical of the methods in which the music industry has chosen to approach piracy in the past.

“We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy.”

Instead of going after all unlicensed products, Rovio only goes after those that are of inferior quality, as these hurt the brand.

“We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans,” he added

“If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow.”