EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all

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PostEU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by KK » Sat Sep 23, 2017 8:19 am

EU withheld a study that shows piracy doesn't hurt sales

The $430,000 study's conclusions perhaps didn't fit what it wanted to hear.

In 2013, the European Commission ordered a €360,000 ($430,000) study on how piracy affects sales of music, books, movies and games in the EU. However, it never ended up showing it to the public except for one cherry-picked section. That's possibly because the study concluded that there was no evidence that piracy affects copyrighted sales, and in the case of video games, might actually help them.

Done by Dutch organization Ecorys, the study might have been lost altogether if not for the effort of EU parliamentarian Julia Reda. She submitted a freedom of information request in July 2017, and after stalling twice, the commission finally produced it. The conclusion? "With the exception of recently released blockbusters, there is no evidence to support the idea that online copyright infringement displaces sales," Reda wrote on her blog.

It's not as though the EU just forgot the study in a drawer. It concluded that one specific category, blockbuster movies, is negatively impacted by piracy, with ten downloads leading to about four fewer cinema visits. Overall, that reduced sales for certain films by about 4.4 percent on average. Two EU Commissioners used those results in a 2016 academic paper to bolster claims that piracy impacts cinema ticket sales, digital rights group EDRi noticed.

As for the other industries that rely on copyright (games, books and music), the study found "no robust statistical evidence of displacement of sales by online piracy." In the case of games, it concluded that unauthorized playing might actually make it more likely users will buy them. None of those results ever appeared in any EU Commission academic studies or to the public anywhere else, however.

This seems to substantiate suspicion that the European Commission was hiding the study on purpose and cherry-picked the results they wanted to publish, by choosing only the results which supported their political agenda towards stricter copyright rules.

Why not? Reda observes that the EU has been trying to force ISPs to install filters that spy on all user-uploaded content, and may have hoped the study would justify such heavy-handed enforcement. "This seems to substantiate suspicion that the European Commission was hiding the study on purpose and cherry-picked the results they wanted to publish, by choosing only the results which supported their political agenda towards stricter copyright rules," EDRi wrote.

Shortly after the information request by Reda, the EU elected to release the study to the public after all. "We understand that the Commission says that it is a complete coincidence that its decision to publish the study, a year and a half after it was finished, happens to coincide with Ms. Reda's freedom of information request," said EDRi.

It's not surprising that piracy may be impacting sales less than before, considering that paid streaming and downloading have made it more economical for consumers to purchase content. That has resulted, for instance, in a music sale boom, with 2016 the best year since 2009, and 2017 looking even better. Yet, blockbuster films are still vulnerable to piracy. "This might be due to the higher price policy for films in comparison to the music, books and games industry," the EDRi says.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/22/eu- ... es-impact/

Time for the return of those Knock-Off Nigel adverts to convince everyone otherwise.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Saint of Killers » Sat Sep 23, 2017 8:27 am

I only ever saw that advert once :lol: Made me think it got broadcast a couple of times before those responsible for it had second thoughts and decided to withdraw it.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Herdanos » Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:52 am

And yet Liam Gallagher whines that no one buys music anymore, as he miserably brews his own tea.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Moggy » Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:00 am

Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:And yet Liam Gallagher whines that no one buys music anymore, as he miserably brews his own tea.


I love that video. :lol:

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Lagamorph » Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:22 am

Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:And yet Liam Gallagher whines that no one buys music anymore, as he miserably brews his own tea.

That's because his music is gooseberry fool and always has been.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Moggy » Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:37 am



:lol:

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Knoyleo » Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:42 am

It's so rock and roll having four other people to make your hot drinks for you

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Moggy » Sat Sep 23, 2017 10:46 am

Knoyleo wrote:It's so rock and roll having four other people to make your hot drinks for you


He said they help his voice, but he should have just listened to Marc Bolan and bought a Rolls-Royce to improve his voice.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Zellery » Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:02 am

Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:And yet Liam Gallagher whines that no one buys music anymore, as he miserably brews his own tea.

Well he's kind of right.

People now spend what they would have on a single album to have a download service allow them access to any song they like each month.

I know they still get paid every time their songs are downloaded/listened to but it's only a matter of pence and I doubt it equates to how album sales used to generate money.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Qikz » Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:11 pm

Knoyleo wrote:It's so rock and roll having four other people to make your hot drinks for you


He says 4, but then describes 3. :lol:

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Knoyleo » Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:15 pm

The fourth is there to tell him how great he is at drinking tea.

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Tomous » Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:31 pm

Zellery wrote:
Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:And yet Liam Gallagher whines that no one buys music anymore, as he miserably brews his own tea.

Well he's kind of right.

People now spend what they would have on a single album to have a download service allow them access to any song they like each month.

I know they still get paid every time their songs are downloaded/listened to but it's only a matter of pence and I doubt it equates to how album sales used to generate money.


Yep. I would be interested to see the breakdown of where bands make money from. I would guess playing tours is the bigger earner.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Slayerx » Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:50 pm

Moggy wrote:

:lol:


He had 4 people making him tea, maybe that's where his money went !

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Moggy » Sat Sep 23, 2017 12:57 pm

Tomous wrote:
Zellery wrote:
Fries. Wedges. Crisps? wrote:And yet Liam Gallagher whines that no one buys music anymore, as he miserably brews his own tea.

Well he's kind of right.

People now spend what they would have on a single album to have a download service allow them access to any song they like each month.

I know they still get paid every time their songs are downloaded/listened to but it's only a matter of pence and I doubt it equates to how album sales used to generate money.


Yep. I would be interested to see the breakdown of where bands make money from. I would guess playing tours is the bigger earner.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41331692

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Knoyleo » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:02 pm

I can't believe Youtube is the most popular way to stream music. :fp:

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Alvin Flummux » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:06 pm

Knoyleo wrote:I can't believe Youtube is the most popular way to stream music. :fp:


Maybe it's the easiest service to use?

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Knoyleo » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:09 pm

Alvin Flummux wrote:
Knoyleo wrote:I can't believe Youtube is the most popular way to stream music. :fp:


Maybe it's the easiest service to use?

It won't even continue playing if you lock your phone.

pjbetman wrote:That's the stupidest thing ive ever read on here i think.
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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Alvin Flummux » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:14 pm

Knoyleo wrote:
Alvin Flummux wrote:
Knoyleo wrote:I can't believe Youtube is the most popular way to stream music. :fp:


Maybe it's the easiest service to use?

It won't even continue playing if you lock your phone.


Maybe it's the easiest service to use on devices that don't lock up?

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by mic » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:34 pm

I knew it! If I didn’t pirate the material, I wouldn’t have bought it anyway. Chances are, if the material is good, I’ll buy the sequel, or even the original on a more convenient format.

And no, I wouldn’t steal a car.

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PostRe: EU withheld $430,000 study that concluded most piracy doesn't hurt sales after all
by Lagamorph » Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:42 pm

Make it easier to stream than it is to pirate and people will pay to stream. Who could've guessed?
Piracy becomes way more tempting as soon as content owners/providers start putting all kinds of bullshit barriers in the way though, so things like platform restrictions/exclusivity, lower quality, geoblocking, etc.

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