The impact of online piracy
According to Deloitte report “Internet Piracy – Losses to the Culture and Economy” the total annual loss for the Polish economy is PLN 3 billion and the State Treasury loses amounts to around PLN 838 million annually as a result of an online piracy (in 2016).
The estimated aggregate income of illegal services as result of Internet content piracy on the studied creative markets, i.e. TV and film, music, book and press can reach PLN 745 million. For this s amount of money one could built 2 Copernicus Science Centres or buy around 33 million of books. Around PLN 30.4 billion is the forecasted total value of illegal content consumption from illegal sources on the Internet in 2017–2024.
„Piracy has become a well-organized ecosystem which due to lack of relevant legal protection mechanisms negatively affects not only the legal market but also our local economy and the consumers’ wallets. This area, often beyond any juridical control, is more frequently the source of problems related to data security or a malware software” – noted Teresa Wierzbowska, the President of the Board of Sygnal Association.
Although an offer of legal content providers has become much wider and more accessible the Internet users prefer to choose the illegal sources which are cheap and can be easily and quickly accessed. Lack of intensification of legislative action within the framework of legal market and content protection despite the obligation to adopt the national law to the EU provisions has also become a serious problem.
The data come from the report “Internet Piracy – Losses to the Culture and Economy. Analysis of the Internet Piracy Impact on the Polish Economy on Selected Cultural Markets” commissioned by Stowarzyszenie Kreatywna Polska and prepared by Deloitte Advisory Sp. z o.o.