The year 2024 could be a breakthrough in the standardization of intellectual property protection mechanisms in Europe. Increasing awareness of the value of copyright translates into the implementation of increasingly sophisticated mechanisms for responding to illegal distribution of content online. The European Commission’s recommendations, as well as an ongoing study of their application throughout 2024, are a step toward more effective solutions, including regulatory ones. The Sygnal Association has made an attempt to capture the key issues examined by the European Commission, resulting in a report with conclusions.
The study showed the scale of piracy in terms of multiple infringements of the same content. Between September 2022 and August 2023, more than 6.1 million cases of illegal distribution of audiovisual content, mainly in the form of VOD, were registered for the content sample studied. This means that, on average, each material was distributed illegally more than 3,600 times a year, or 10 times a day.
The mechanisms for reporting violations are not fully effective. About a third of the reports (34%) are so-called “illusory reports,” as content – despite being removed – reappears in places from which it has already been taken down. In the case of violations of distribution rights for live events, as many as 94% of reports yielded no result.
In the case of live streaming, only 5% of reports directed to piracy sites were dealt with within the first 30 minutes of their transmission, which poses a significant challenge to effectively combat the illegal distribution of audiovisual content in real time. This shows how much work needs to be done in Poland to bring the reality in line with the live blocking mechanisms being implemented in Europe, i.e. blocking access to illegal transmissions in an immediate manner of no more than 30 minutes.
Download here: 2024_EFFECTIVENESS OF REPORTING PIRACY