Sony’s Singh: ‘Piracy a continuing concern’
September 30, 2014
By Colin Mann
Man Jit Singh, President, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, has admitted that content piracy continues to be an area of concern for the company’s operations.
Delivering a keynote speech at the PEVE Entertainment Business Futures 2014 Conference in London, Singh noted that in certain markets such as Asia and Europe, piracy levels were three times higher than the US. “We all need to stand together, otherwise this problem will continue to grow,” he warned.
He advised that the company’s Nordic markets had suffered a decline as a result of unchecked piracy and noted that when major infringing sites were taken down, there was a resultant decline in piracy of between five per cent and eight per cent. “Combating piracy will be an important part of our strategy,” he declared.
Sony is also a prime backer of the UltraViolet digital content ownership ecosystem, and he admitted there was “room for improvement” in enabling users seamless access to their content. “As studios, we recognise that.”