Today the EUIPO’s Observatory released a report on Online copyright infringement in the European Union.
The report is based on a rich set of data on access to pirated music, film and TV programmes in all Member States, from January 2017 to September 2018. Such data cover both fixed and mobile devices, as well as the main access methods: streaming, downloads, torrents and stream ripping.
To this report overall access to pirated content declined by 15% (access to music at 32%, to film at 19% and to TV at 8%). However, piracy remains a significant problem, more so in some Member States than in others. The report seeks to explain those differences among the Member States. Specifically, among the socio-economic factors, the level of income per capita and the extent of inequality seem to have the greatest impact on consumption of pirated content: high per capita income and low degree of income inequality are associated with lower levels of illicit consumption. The overall size of the market, as measured by the number of internet users in a country, also matters: the average consumption of pirated content is lower, all other things being equal, in larger Member States. A higher acceptance of digital piracy is also associated with a higher level of consumption of pirated content.