The majority of Kodi pirates look for legal sources before obtaining copyrighted content through illicit means, new research suggests.
According to a survey of 1,000 adults in the UK, 83 per cent of people illegally streaming or downloading music, TV and movies make an effort to do so through legitimate platforms.
London-based anti-piracy group MUSO, which carried out the survey, believes the problems with piracy are just as much about availability as they are an unwillingness to play by the rules. MUSO says content rights holders are missing out on potential customers by writing off pirates.
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“The entertainment industry tends to envisage piracy audiences as a criminal element, and writes them off as money lost – but they are wrong to do so,” says Paul Briley, CCO of MUSO said (via Torrent Freak).
“The reality is that the majority of people who have gone through the effort of finding and accessing such unlicensed content are, first and foremost, fans – fans who are more often than not trying to get content legally if they can.”
Pirates are the best customers?
The research sits alongside previous indications that pirates are among those paying the most for their digital entertainment. However, the massive range of subscription streaming services on offer means it’s difficult for customers to access everything they want, while keeping their monthly outgoings reasonable.
“There is a prevailing myth that streaming services have killed piracy, but unfortunately this just isn’t the case,” Briley added.
“While streaming services have made huge amounts of content more readily available, it’s still siloed. The results of this survey demonstrate that if the show consumers are looking for isn’t available on their particular on-demand service, they will turn to unlicensed alternatives because it is too expensive to subscribe to every single service.”
As more providers look to launch standalone, over the top streaming services, this is a problem that’s unlikely to go away soon. If there’s a single piece of content you want to watch on a particular streaming service, it’s difficult to justify handing over the money for a monthly subscription.
Perhaps providers could offer more affordable access to single shows, in order to improve availability to non-subscribers? How would you solve this piracy pickle? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
