The Facts

1 in 3 Australians see piracy as stealing or theft but they regularly do it by burning, buying or downloading illegal copies of films or TV programs.

Sycamore Research

Australian research into piracy attitudes and behaviour

In September 2009 Sycamore Research and Newspoll were commissioned by IPAF to conduct quantitative and qualitative research on attitudes towards piracy in Australia. The national survey involved 1,372 respondents aged between 18 and 64. We’d like to share the key findings of the research:

53% of Australians participated in some form of piracy activity in 2009

72% see piracy as stealing or theft…

BUT:

76% don’t think they contribute to the problem

The Sycamore research segmented the respondents into four distinct quadrants according to their behaviour and attitudes towards piracy. The research found that:

Sycamore Research

Those one in three Australians represented in the final quadrant known as “Blind Actives” form the target audience for the new film and television awareness campaign. This group is most likely to be susceptible to anti-piracy messages, as they are pirates more by accident than design. To describe this disconnection between people’s actions and beliefs, IPAF coined the phrase ‘Accidental Pirate’.

A majority of young people are involved in piracy:

69% of 18-24s have pirated in some way

Over half of 18-24 year olds:

52% have used file-sharing software specifically to pirate films and television shows

Increasingly online

Piracy activity is increasingly moving online (while offline, or hard goods piracy still remains a problem):

26% use file-sharing software. Up 6% from 2008
24% allowed someone else to copy a DVD they bought or rented. Down 8% from 2008
20% admitted copying a DVD someone else bought. Down 8% from 2008

Eroding traditional channels

Piracy is eroding traditional channels. After watching a pirated version:

86% do not go on to watch the film at the cinema
78% do not rent or buy the original
94% do not buy a pay-per-view for the film on subscription TV

Quick Facts

   • Australia’s copyright industries are the 3rd largest contributors as a percentage of GDP in the world, second only to the US and UK.

    • In 2006/07 they contributed 10.3% GDP to Australia’s economy [up 66% since 1996], represented 8% of our employment and generated 4.1% of total exports.

    • The film and TV industry in Australia alone contributed $5.3 billion to GDP and supports 50,000 jobs, including small businesses under threat from movie and television piracy, and independent cinemas, video rental stores and film and television producers across the country.

    • In 2007, the film and TV sector contributed an estimated $1.8 billion in tax to the Australian Government.

    • In 2009, State and Federal Police conducted 69 raids involving movie piracy and seized 194,233 pirated DVDs. They also seized 749 burners capable of producing over 18 million pirated DVDs a year with a potential street value of over $94million.