An EU investigation into piracy from 2013 remained hidden for years, likely because they found no statistical evidence that piracy affects legitimate markets.
The research Estimating displacement rates of copyrighted content in the EU has recently resurfaced and has been published online on GitHub.
https://github.com/vandread666/GhacksFiles/blob/master/files/displacement_study.pdf
The research was designed to answer the following two questions:
How do online copyright infringements affect sales of copyrighted content?
How much are online copyright infringers willing to pay for copyrights?
The study refers to four types of content: music, audiovisual material, books and games. It was also conducted on EU citizens from Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Poland and Sweden who have socio-cultural characteristics of the “EU as a whole”.
Approximately 5000 people participated in interviews in each of the selected countries.
The results
Researchers found that more than half of adults in the EU (51%) and almost three-quarters of minors (72%) have either “illegally downloaded or streamed any form of content”.
Piracy rates are highest in Poland and Spain.
The results do not show “reliable statistics on the displacement of sales caused by online copyright infringements.”.
The only exception may be in the most recent top films according to the researchers, who estimate that the estimated loss reaches 5% of the current sales volume.
For games, research found that piracy had a positive effect on game sales.
For games, the estimated impact of pirated content distribution on sales is positive – suggesting that this illegality leads to increased legal consumption.
This positive effect on game sales can be explained by the industry's success in converting illegal users into paying users.
Tactics used by the online gaming industry include offering games with extra bonuses or extra levels if consumers pay.
Price is of course a key factor.
Survey participants were asked whether they were “willing to pay” for creative content they had accessed illegally.
For movies and TV shows, 80% said current price levels are too high, while for books, music and games there was a “willingness to pay.”
