Online piracy has been growing throughout the world for years now. Nearly a quarter of the global Internet bandwidth is used for online piracy. Often considered a victimless crime by the 'pirates', online piracy results in billions of dollars in lost revenue. Besides artists, creators, publishers, and distributors, it hurts the entire media industry. Every year 230,000 to 560,000 jobs are lost in the United States due to online video piracy.
Despite efforts to curtail piracy, it has penetrated every digital media format from television and movies to music, software, video games, and even books. More than 130 billion visits were made to piracy websites in 2020. The United States, Russia, and China contribute the highest number of visits to piracy websites.
Videos (films and TV shows) are the most pirated content on the internet making up more than 66% of all pirated content. According to estimates, the United States loses $29.2 billion in revenue every year due to online video piracy. The latest piracy reports indicate that global film piracy increased by 33% during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Check out the latest online piracy facts and statistics as well as examples of the most pirated content in the infographic below.
Infographic by- GO-Globe Web Design
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Below are some facts-
38% people across the globe acquired or accessed digital content illegally in 2017.
52% of online users watch pirated videos.
59% people are aware that downloading or streaming pirated videos is illegal.
67% of digital piracy sites are hosted in North America and Western Europe
Nearly 24% of the global Internet bandwidth is used for online piracy.
98.8% of data transferred using P2P networks is copyrighted
28 million users download and share files through P2P networks every day.
91.5% of filed available for download on Cyberlockers sites (Rapidshare, Megaupload,etc) are copyrighted
Only 1 out of 10,000 pcs of the most popular content on the OpenBitTorrent tracker is non-copyrighted
Worldwide Visits to Piracy Sites in 2020:
- 130.5 billion visits to piracy websites in 2020
- 357 million visits per day
- 248,287 visits per minute
Breakdown of Visits to Piracy Sites:
Streaming sites: 57%
Direct download portals: 27%
Torrent sites: 12%
Stream rippers: 4%
$9.8 billion in revenue losses in 2018 due to piracy in the music industry.
$29.2 billion revenue losses in the US every year due to online video piracy.
$51.6 billion in economic losses due to online TV & movie piracy by 2022.
$300 million in lost publisher income each year due to e-book piracy.
230,000 to 560,000 jobs lost in the United States every year due to online video piracy.
37% of software running in the world are unlicensed.
$46.3 billion of software running in the world are unlicensed.
2 out of every 5 copies of software running in the world are unpaid.
20% of pirated software are running in North America.
Illegal streaming constitutes 80% of online video piracy.
24% of users download music from illegal sources.
26% of online users download a film or a TV series from illegal sources.
13% of users download an e-book or an audiobook from illegal sources.
21% of users download games from illegal sources.
| Piracy by Region | %age |
| Europe | 45.72% |
| Asia | 16.52% |
| North America | 13.48% |
| South America | 12.27% |
| Africa | 6.97% |
| Oceania | 1.88% |
| Other | 3.16% |
Top 10 Countries for Online Piracy in 2020
| Top 10 Countries for Online Piracy in 2020 | |
| Countries | Visits to Piracy Sites |
| US | 12.5 billion |
| Russia | 8.3 billion |
| China | 6.9 billion |
| India | 5.6 billion |
| Brazil | 5.4 billion |
| Ukraine | 4.3 billion |
| France | 4.3 billion |
| Turkey | 3.9 billion |
| Vietnam | 3.6 billion |
| UK | 3.4 billion |
Most Pirated Items on the Web:
TV shows: 49.4%
Movies: 17.1%
Music: 16.0%
Publishing (books): 11.2%
Software: 6.2%
Top 10 Most Pirated Movies
| Title | Downloads (May 2019) |
| Avengers: Infinity War | 5.29 million |
| Captain Marvel | 4.09 million |
| Aquaman | 3.85 million |
| Shazam! | 3.66 million |
| Ant-Man and the Wasp | 3.49 million |
| Deadpool 2 | 3.49 million |
| Thor: Ragnarok | 3.39 million |
| Justice League | 3.26 million |
| Venom | 2.99 million |
| Spider-Man: Homecoming | 2.98 million |
Top 10 Most Pirated TV Shows of 2020
| The Mandalorian | Vikings |
| The Boys | Star Trek: Picard |
| Westworld | Rick and Morty |
| The Outsider | The Walking Dead |
| The Flash | Arrow |
Top 10 Most Pirated Games on the Web
| Game | Pirated Copies |
| Pokémon Diamond and Pearl | 5.4 million |
| Dissidia Final Fantasy | 5.4 million |
| Phantasy Star Portable 2 | 4. 67 million |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | 4.2 million |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | 4.1 million |
| Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | 3.98 million |
| Mafia 2 | 3.5 million |
| Mass Effect 2 | 3.24 million |
| Sims 3 | 3.2 million |
| Starcraft 2 | 3.12 million |
Most Pirated E-books on the Web
Survival Hacks Preppers Gear Shelter Knots Fire And Traps Guide
Mental Math Magic
Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
Learn C# in 72 Hours for Beginners
The Ultimate Bodybuilding Book
Tartine: A Classic Revisited
Peloton Hacks: Getting the Most From Your Bike
The Smoothie Cleanse: Recipes for Weight Loss
The Urban Sketching Handbook 101 Sketching Tips
Bіtсоіn Standard: Beginners Guide
Top 10 Most Pirated Windows Software
Windows OS (XP, 7, 10)
Microsoft Office
Internet Download Manager
WinRAR
Nero Burning ROM
All Antivirus (Avast, ESET, McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky, Bitdefender, etc.)
Adobe Photoshop (and other Adobe software)
FL Studio
Vegas Pro
AutoCAD
Top 10 Most Pirated Music Artists
| Music Artist | Illegal Downloads |
| Ed Sheeran | 7.46 million |
| Luis Fonsi | 6.29 million |
| Ricky Martin | 4.29 million |
| Charlie Puth | 4.07 million |
| Bruno Mars | 3.61 million |
| Taylor Swift | 2.39 million |
| Arcade Fire | 1.93 million |
| Shakira 1.85-million | 1.85 million |
| Neil Young | 1.66 million |
| Justin Timberlake | 1.64 million |
Global film piracy increased by 33% during COVID-19 lockdown.
Digital piracy soared during the pandemic.
| Country | Increase in Film Piracy | Increase in TV Piracy |
| Italy | 66% | 41% |
| India | 63% | 24% |
| Spain | 50% | 18% |
| Portugal | 47% | 28% |
| Canada | 45% | 12% |
| Germany | 36% | 12% |
| UK | 43% | 30% |
| US | 41% | 12% |
| France | 41% | 13% |
Source Links -
https://www.podcastingnews.com/content/2008/06/average-teens-ipod-has-800-of-pirated-music/
https://www.yalelawtech.org/p2p-law-piracy/envisional-estimates-infringing-use/
https://www.riaa.com/faq.php
https://portal.bsa.org/globalpiracy2010/downloads/study_pdf/2010_BSA_Piracy_Study-Standard.pdf
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