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The pandemic has receded, but illegal content is gaining momentum again.
Internet piracy in the European Union is showing rapid growth after the pandemic. The latest semi-annual report of the European Intellectual Property Office sheds light on current trends in copyright infringement.
Data provided by the British company MUSO suggests that the decline in traffic of pirate sites observed for several years stopped at the beginning of 2021.
The report highlights that more than half of pirate activity (48%) is due to illegal viewing of TV content, with 58% of users preferring streaming sites, and 32% downloading episodes of their favorite TV shows via torrents.
For the first time, the report published data on piracy in the field of live sports broadcasts, showing an increase of 75% for the period from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2022.
Music piracy, on the other hand, is not showing an increase — the industry's efforts to combat illegal content distribution seem to have been very effective.
The Cinematographers Association previously suggested that the pandemic contributed to an increase in piracy, but MUSO data shows a decrease in pirate activity during the toughest lockdowns, especially in the cinema segment. This is also due to the transition of users to legal platforms for viewing content and reducing spending on street entertainment.
Interestingly, in some countries, the expansion of the supply of legal streaming services has helped reduce piracy activity. The report also highlights economic factors that influence the popularity of piracy, including per capita income, income inequality, and youth unemployment.
Although the level of Internet piracy is now below the peak values of 2017, the question remains whether the inevitable increase in prices for streaming services will not lead to a new surge in this phenomenon.
MUSO's data is based on monitoring of pirate sites and official statistics, including from EUROSTAT and EUIPO's intellectual property perception surveys. However, the report does not take into account IPTV piracy, which is gaining popularity, and perhaps if it had been taken into account, the figures would have been much higher.
Internet piracy in the European Union is showing rapid growth after the pandemic. The latest semi-annual report of the European Intellectual Property Office sheds light on current trends in copyright infringement.
Data provided by the British company MUSO suggests that the decline in traffic of pirate sites observed for several years stopped at the beginning of 2021.
The report highlights that more than half of pirate activity (48%) is due to illegal viewing of TV content, with 58% of users preferring streaming sites, and 32% downloading episodes of their favorite TV shows via torrents.
For the first time, the report published data on piracy in the field of live sports broadcasts, showing an increase of 75% for the period from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2022.
Music piracy, on the other hand, is not showing an increase — the industry's efforts to combat illegal content distribution seem to have been very effective.
The Cinematographers Association previously suggested that the pandemic contributed to an increase in piracy, but MUSO data shows a decrease in pirate activity during the toughest lockdowns, especially in the cinema segment. This is also due to the transition of users to legal platforms for viewing content and reducing spending on street entertainment.
Interestingly, in some countries, the expansion of the supply of legal streaming services has helped reduce piracy activity. The report also highlights economic factors that influence the popularity of piracy, including per capita income, income inequality, and youth unemployment.
Although the level of Internet piracy is now below the peak values of 2017, the question remains whether the inevitable increase in prices for streaming services will not lead to a new surge in this phenomenon.
MUSO's data is based on monitoring of pirate sites and official statistics, including from EUROSTAT and EUIPO's intellectual property perception surveys. However, the report does not take into account IPTV piracy, which is gaining popularity, and perhaps if it had been taken into account, the figures would have been much higher.
