Live sports and e-publications a target for infringers, says report
E-publications and live sporting events saw above-average levels of online copyright infringement over the last two years, according to UK government research.
Some 35% of e-publication users have accessed illegal content over the past three months, while 34% of live sports fans had done the same, according to the Online Copyright Infringement Tracker, published by the UK Intellectual Property Office ( IPO).
Within all categories, 25% of all respondents had downloaded illegal content over the previous three months.
“A key enabler in relation to infringement is the perceived level of accessibility,” said the study. “The process of accessing content via illegal sources is considered to be relatively easy, and the wealth of content available is enticing.”
“Ambiguity is also a problem, and for some content categories, there was uncertainty around whether they were technically illegal or not,” added the report.
Furthermore, many felt that the responsibility for content protection ultimately lies with those who are making the content available, and few downloaders “seem to have a sense of the ramifications of using illegal sources and are, therefore, willing to take the risk”, said the report.
However, the overall level of infringement across all content categories (excluding digital visual images) remained consistent across 2018 and 2019.
Encouragingly, the research also highlighted a number of messages that could encourage infringers to reduce their use of illegal sources, said the report.
“While there were some differences depending on whether they were 'savvy' or 'cautious' infringer, generally, most reacted well to “messages that provided relevant insight into the dangers and consequences of using illegal methods”.
The report is the office’s ninth such annual survey monitoring the impact of new online platforms on infringement behaviours. This year’s research was carried out by researchers AudienceNet.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
Law firm dispute over ‘Emergent’ ends at South Carolina court
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drop ‘Sussex Royal’ TMs
‘Opportunistic’ COVID-19 trademark application ‘likely to fail’
