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25 November 2020TrademarksMuireann Bolger

Young people's understanding of IP concerning: EUIPO study

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.

According to the report, European Citizens and Intellectual Property: Perception, Awareness and Behaviour 2020, released today, November 25, the subjective understanding of IP remains high at 80% across all age groups in the EU, an increase of 2% since 2017. However, the youngest respondents (aged under 24) showed the least subjective understanding of IP (71%).

The survey, now in its third edition, was conducted throughout the 27 EU Member States in summer 2020, and surveyed 25,636 residents aged 15 and over.

According to the report, the proportion of Europeans who admit to having intentionally bought counterfeit goods during the last 12 months has declined slightly, from 7% in 2017, to 5 % in 2020.

However, younger people are more likely to admit having bought counterfeits intentionally—10 % of those aged between 15 and 24 admitted this—double the average across all age groups surveyed.

Buying counterfeits and accessing pirated online content are related, with 30% of those who intentionally accessed pirated content online having purchased counterfeit goods, said the report.

Justification for purchasing counterfeits

The report also revealed that young people are more likely to agree with justifications for purchasing counterfeit goods, with 30% agreeing or tending to agree that it is acceptable to buy counterfeit luxury products—double the average.

Furthermore, 37% of this demographic believe it is acceptable to buy counterfeits when the price of the original product is too high, compared to 24% of all the people surveyed. There was also an over-representation of young people among those who bought counterfeits because they were misled—12% compared to the 9% average.

"Young people continue to be the biggest group that buy counterfeits and download illegally, showing there is more work to be done here, especially since this group comprise the heaviest users of the internet,” said the report.

Awareness of IP is considerably below average among those who intentionally bought counterfeit goods (70%) or accessed pirated online content (73%), suggesting that those with a low understanding of IP are more likely to infringe it, the report added.

Drop in online piracy

Overall, the study showed a gradual but encouraging change in understanding and attitudes to IP, following the previous surveys by the EUIPO in 2013 and 2017.

The proportion of respondents who intentionally engaged in piracy dropped from 10% in 2017 to 8% in 2020, while the perception of the purchase of counterfeits as harmful continues to rise—up from 12% to 17% .

The value of protecting IP is recognised across Europe, said the study. The vast majority of those surveyed (98%) agreed that it is important that inventors, creators and artists are able to protect their rights and be paid for their work, as was the case in the previous 2017 study (97%).

Similarly, the view of the role of IP in economic stability remains stable with 73% agreeing that if there was no longer any IP protection, there would be economic chaos.

The economic argument against buying counterfeits continues to hold weight, with 83% in 2020 agreeing that buying counterfeit goods ruins businesses and jobs. Only 15% of Europeans surveyed  ‘totally’ or ‘tended to’ agree that it is acceptable to buy counterfeit luxury products.

Views holding that it is acceptable to use illegal sources to access digital content for personal use are on the wane, with 27% of respondents believing it is acceptable to get online content illegally if it is for personal use, compared to 37% in 2017.

Paying for online content from legal sources has become far more widespread, said the report. More than four out of 10 Europeans (42%) have paid to access, download or stream copyright-protected content from a legal service on the internet, a very significant 17% increase since 2017.

These findings “reflect a rise in the consumption of online subscription services, a development that only appears to have been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the report.

“This EU-wide study confirms that the vast majority of citizens agree that it is important that those who invest time and money in innovation have their rights protected and are paid for their work,” said the report. “This time, there is a particularly large increase in respect for artists and creators. In addition, people are gradually saying that they have a better understanding of IP rights, which is an important finding, given the evidence that those who understand these rights are less likely to deliberately infringe them.”

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