Film and TV piracy cost Italy €686m in 2016
June 6, 2017
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Film and TV piracy in Italy cost the entertainment industry €686 million in 2016, according to an Ipsos study for the Federation for the Protection of Audiovisual and Multimedia Content (FAPAV).
The phenomenon involves an estimated 20 million Italians, or 39 per cent of adults and 51 per cent of adolescents.
The study estimates that almost 669 million acts of piracy were committed in 2016. Movies are the most commonly pirated content and by the largest number of people: 33 per cent of the adult population. Despite being widespread, movie piracy is down 4 per cent compared to six years ago.
However, piracy of TV series and programmes has sharply increased since 2010, from 13 per cent and 11 per cent of the population, to the current 22 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively.
The most popular type of piracy is digital, which 33 per cent of the Italian population partake in, and has grown consistently or 6 years. Since 2010 there has been a 78 per cent increase in digital piracy, while physical piracy dropped by 81 per cent (purchases of illegal DVDs) and indirect piracy was down by 50 per cent (loaning DVDs to friends).
The typical profile of an Italian pirate is male (55 per cent), employed (54 per cent), often in autonomous or managerial positions, with a high-school diploma (62 per cent).
One of the main conclusions of the study is that the strategy in combating piracy should not be concentrated only on blocking piracy sites (around 1,000 were closed in Europe), but also to expand the online distribution offer (currently 480 are available globally).