tero-vesalainen
9 December 2020CopyrightRory O'Neill

EUIPO reveals most pirated TV, film and music

DC Comics and Marvel productions top the list of the most pirated films in the EU, a new report has found.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has published a follow-up to its November 2019 study on digital piracy, revealing more detail on the most pirated works across the region.

According to the 2019 study, music and film piracy are in sharp decline in the EU, although TV remains the most pirated form of media content.

“The Walking Dead” is by far the most pirated TV show in the EU, having been illegally accessed over 435 million times in 2018.

“Star Trek: Discovery” and “Mr. Robot” followed in second and third place, respectively, with over 250 million illegal downloads each.

The top four most pirated films were produced by either DC Comics or Marvel, with “Justice League” leading the way with almost 43 million illegal downloads. “Thor: Ragnarok”, “Wonderman”, and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” also featured, followed by Christopher Nolan’s World War Two epic “Dunkirk”.

The EUIPO cited research which indicated that piracy could, in some cases, act as a “word of mouth” promotional tool before a film’s commercial release.

The overall effect of piracy on revenues was still negative, impacting admissions by 15%, the report noted.

US-produced content dominates the list of most pirated film and TV works in the EU, although the picture is slightly more diverse in the case of music.

British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was the most pirated musician in the EU in 2018, with his songs having been illegally accessed more than 7 million times.

He was followed in second place by “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi, and his fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin in third. Canada’s Arcade Fire, Colombian pop star Shakira, and Irish band U2 also featured in the top 30.

The most frequent targets of piracy tend to be the most commercially successful works, the report found, although this pattern differs depending on the type of content.

“Of the 30 most pirated television series, only five are among the 30 most popular according to IMBd,” the EUIPO found.

“In music, there is also a relationship between commercial success and piracy, although with a delay: many of the best-selling musicians of 2017 were the most pirated artists in 2018,” the report added.

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More on this story

Copyright
5 November 2019   Half of all citizens in the EU didn’t access any illegal digital content during the last year, while only a small minority intentionally purchased counterfeit goods online.
Trademarks
25 November 2020   Young people aged between 15 and 24 across the EU report a lower understanding of IP compared to other age groups and are more likely to infringe and buy counterfeits, according to a study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
Patents
23 December 2020   Two leading music publishers have unveiled a new, free data platform that displays ownership information for the “vast majority” of licensed music in the US.