By Steven Wise
The damage done to the music industry by illegal file sharing is incontrovertible. The release of Napster in 1999, followed by other file sharing platforms, had a crippling effect on the ability of music labels to profit from the sale of recorded music.
The implications of illegal file sharing on movie content are not as cut-and-dry, considering the film industry seems to be thriving. 2015 was a record year for North American box office revenue, which exceeded US$11bn, a nine per cent increase year over year.
Notwithstanding the healthy ticket sales at the box office, it’s likely that video piracy has had some impact the industry. However, the influence is not as measurable or predictable as content producers would hope. It’s also possible the industry is being affected in ways more complex than just lost ticket sale opportunities.
Piracy takes various forms
Research corroborates there are far more watchers of pirated content than there are distributors. According to the study Copy Culture, published by The American Assembly at Columbia University, about one out of five adults in the US engage in some informal copying of DVDs or downloading of movies or TV files for free. However, the same report found that only eight per cent of Americans adults watch movies and TV from illegal streaming sites and a scant one per cent of are heavy copiers of movie and TV content.
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