A new consumer study carried out by UK-based Futuresource Consulting has revealed that around one third of all DVD consumers are guilty of illegally copying media content from purchased, rented or borrowed discs.
New study reveals one third of consumers pirate their DVDs. Image: Blmurch/Flickr.
The Consumer Home Piracy report, which was commissioned by entertainment marketing specialist Macrovision Corporation, has been amassed following an industry focus on protecting DVD revenue growth by better understanding the impact of home copying while also implementing effective ways to deter such actions and explore alternative methods of distribution.
According to the results garnered from the US and UK study, Futuresource discovered that approximately one third of all those polled across both sample regions admitted to having made copies of pre-recorded DVDs over the last 6 months. That admission figure equates to a rise of around 8 percent against a similar study carried out in 2007.
In terms of the age and sex demographic most likely to copy pre-recorded DVD content, the study concluded that 18-to-24 year old males bear the biggest brunt of responsibility (as was the case in the 2007 report), while those seeking to copy material are seemingly equally reliant on using both digital and analogue methods.
Across both the US and UK, copying is largely executed from conventional DVD players to a connected DVD recorder, or by using a PC software application to burn the DVD copies to blank discs. Respondents in the UK showed a marked increase in recording television content down to DVD.
Futuresource notes that, in the last six months, those copying DVDs in the US have taken an average of 12 multiple-genre titles, while those in the UK have taken 13 multiple-genre titles. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is newly released movie titles that are targeted more heavily than existing library releases.
More pointedly, when provided with a rundown of 40 recent blockbuster movie releases, more than half of the US participants and more than one third of those in the UK admitted to having successfully made copies of the listed titles.
Although the majority of people are copying from their own purchased DVDs in both the UK and USA, a significant proportion of people are copying from rented and borrowed titles.
In answer to Macrovision’s core marketing and revenue question, 77 percent of those polled in the US said they would have purchased all, some, or at least a few of their DVD titles even if they didn’t have the facility to copy them. The number dropped to 63 percent across the UK respondents.
“As studios’ revenues from DVD are in decline, protecting revenues is even more vital than 12 months ago,” concluded Futuresource. “The vast majority of these copiers admit they would purchase at least some of the titles on DVD if they had not been able to copy them -- clearly indicating the significant levels of lost revenue due to home copying.”
Futuresource’s online survey was conducted in May of 2008 and included consumers based in both the United States (3,613 respondents) and also the United Kingdom (1,718 respondents).
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