Film piracy increased by 38.6% and visits to piracy websites for TV content grew by 8.8% in 2022 when compared with 2021, according to Muso’s latest report. The data points to the continuation of the rise in digital piracy for film and TV in 2023, fueled by a combination of factors including the increasing volume of content post pandemic, releases being increasingly exclusive to a large number of legal subscription platforms, and global inflationary and economic pressures.
Muso noted that this trend continues to be a major issue for the industry, significantly impacting the revenues and livelihoods of all involved – particularly smaller, independent creators – and damaging the wider economy.
“From a technical perspective, digital piracy is another form of content delivery, because it allows for the distribution of content to a broad audience. However, the difference is that delivery can take place regardless of their geographic location or financial means,” Muso’s report says.
Like legal services, film and TV piracy sites allow for immediate access to content, rather than having to wait for a physical copy to be delivered or for the film to be released in a certain country. This immediate access enables a nearly real-time view of a massive global audience that has previously been unseen or ignored.
“Over the past two decades, this audience has been largely dismissed as not valuable, niche and irrelevant. This is somewhat understandable because the very act of watching a film on a piracy website means it is obtained illegally and for free. However, many studies and surveys have found a correlation between digital piracy and increased spending on legal content,” the report assures.
This, according to Muso, is because many people who pirate content are avid consumers of media. They turn to piracy to access content that is not available in their region or is not affordable at the time, but this audience will still spend significant sums on legal content when given the opportunity. “In fact, it can be argued that digital pirates are amongst the most dedicated consumers. They will go to great lengths to watch the latest movies and TV shows, and they still have the means to consume them with home entertainment systems and fast internet connections,” the report pointed out.
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