Portugal loses €200m+ a year from piracy
August 17, 2021
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Portugal’s audiovisual industry is losing at least €200 million a year due to piracy. The estimate comes from the director general of the Portuguese Association for the Protection of Audiovisual Works (FEVIPE), Paulo Santos.
According to Santos, the estimates are on the low side and the figure includes the amount that the Portuguese State loses from VAT and duties from royalties.
In an interview for the Lusa news agency, Santos quoted a study by UK-based consultancy MUSO, which shows that the number of visits to illegal websites in Portugal increased by 55 million due to confinement measures.
Movie piracy increased by 47 per cent during lockdown, while illegal access to TV series and other programmes is up by 28 per cent.
He estimates that there are more than 500,000 users of illegal IPTV services, which are “strongly harming” pay-TV operators in the country, including Sport TV and Eleven Sports.
According to Santos, movies and TV series are the most pirated content in Portugal, followed by football.
He noted that Parliament is currently debating a draft law that foresees “efficient and fast mechanisms to fight piracy”, adding that he expects it will be approved after the holidays. Among the various measures foreseen is the blocking of IP flows.