The UK’s Intellectual Property Office recently published its latest Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report, revealing notable trends in digital piracy. Among the findings is a substantial uptick in illicit consumption of movies compared to previous periods. Additionally, the report highlights a surge in infringement related to live sports, a new category rapidly climbing the infringement tables.

Interestingly, the report identifies a significant decrease in hardcore piracy, suggesting a shifting landscape in online copyright infringement behavior. Factors such as increased availability of legal

streaming options, enhanced anti-piracy measures, and evolving consumer preferences may be influencing this trend.

Overall, the report offers valuable insights into the state of online copyright infringement in the UK, providing essential data and analysis for rights holders and policymakers navigating the digital landscape.

The Intellectual Property Office’s Online Copyright Infringement Tracker offers a detailed analysis of online consumption habits in the UK, covering various content categories including music, film, TV, video games, software, and live sports. However, it’s essential to approach the findings with caution due to potential biases in respondent reporting.

Instead of directly asking about illegal activities, respondents were provided with a list of options, with categorization done internally. Notably, individuals who accessed content for free from the internet without being sure of its legality were excluded from the illegal/legal calculations, potentially affecting comparisons to previous years’ results.

The report indicates that 25% of online content consumers accessed at least one illegal source in the previous three months, a figure that has remained steady for three years. However, there have been notable shifts in specific content categories. Film piracy, for instance, saw an 8% increase, reaching 27% of online consumers, while music piracy remained stable at 20%.

In contrast, TV and video game piracy experienced declines, dropping from 23% to 17% and from 16% to 6%, respectively, within a year. The introduction of the live sports category revealed a significant proportion of infringers, with 34% accessing pirated sports content, while the e-publishing category, broadened to include various digital content, showed a jump from 13% to 35%, making it the most-infringed category overall.

These findings underscore the complex landscape of online copyright infringement, reflecting changing trends in consumer behavior across different content types.

While the headline infringement figure has remained static and some categories show significant shifts, the report notes there are encouraging signs in respect of consumers who can be considered hardcore pirates, i.e those who do not consume from legitimate sources at all.

“Across most categories, it is encouraging to note that between 2018 and 2019 there was a decrease in the proportion who only used illegal sources. Where overall infringement levels remained the same, this proportion seemed to migrate towards using at least some legal sources,” the report notes.

Films, for example, where the 8% increase in some infringement may be considered a setback by the movie industry, the number of hardcore pirates plummeted from 11% down to just 2%. The actual growth in infringement was to be found among people who use a mix of legal and illegal sources, up from 7% in 2018 to 17% in 2019. Similarly, hardcore music pirates fell from 11% to just 2%, TV pirates from 14% to 2%, and video game pirates from 10% to 1%.

When the entire UK population is considered, the report estimates the following numbers of infringers: 5.7m for film, 5.1m for music, 4.4m for TV, 4.1m for e-publishing, 2.4m for live sports, 2m for software and 600,000 for video games.

Men were more likely to pirate music, films, TV shows and video games, but women come out on top when it came to live sports, software and e-publishing.

The report delves into VPN usage, revealing that respondents who used VPNs were more likely to engage in copyright infringement across all categories, with the most significant differences observed in film, TV, software, and music piracy.

Additionally, the report explores potential consumer behavior changes if pirate sources were eliminated. In the case of video games, a substantial 68% of pirates stated they would shift to paid sources. Similarly, for films and TV, 57% and 46% respectively indicated a willingness to subscribe to services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, while a significant portion would seek out free legal options such as YouTube or BBC iPlayer.

Regarding music, 34% of pirates expressed a willingness to migrate to paid services like Spotify or Apple Music, while 61% preferred free options like YouTube. For live sports, nearly half of infringers (49%) said they would transition to premium services, with a notable percentage (31%) still opting for free legal alternatives.

The report identifies three primary drivers leading individuals to access content illegally, even when they may already pay for content. Firstly, the abundance of free and easily accessible illegal content encourages occasional usage, especially when desired content isn’t readily available through legal channels. Secondly, concerns about overspending drive some consumers to seek free illegal methods to access content without exceeding their budget. Lastly, the simplicity and convenience of accessing illegal content, compared to navigating multiple legal platforms, make it an attractive option, potentially saving time and effort.

These insights highlight the complex interplay of factors influencing consumer behavior in accessing digital content, underscoring the need for improvements in legal content accessibility and affordability to effectively combat copyright infringement.