There is a link between piracy and education, according to a study

Since it is digital content, it has also been transferred illegally. With the advent of the Internet, distribution possibilities increased rapidly. Illegal downloads and streams, everything is relatively easy and accessible without prior knowledge. Video, music and software piracy was a hot topic, especially in the first decade of the new millennium. But how does it look today?

The European Union Intellectual Property Office deals with these questions. The authority examined the state of piracy in a large-scale study involving 22,021 adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24. The results are quite surprising.

Fewer young people obtain digital content illegally

The first is positive for the film, music and software industry: Compared to 2016, the share of piracy fell from 39 percent to 33 percent. That still seems like a lot, but the study figures it out further. Accordingly, 21 percent of the respondents stated that they deliberately consumed illegal content, but there is no exact information about the amount. The remaining 12 percent claim it was an accident.

What is particularly interesting, however, is how education level relates to piracy: Only 15 percent of youth with little or no educational qualifications intentionally acquire digital content illegally, while 21 percent of average-educated youth already piracy. tend to do. . Interestingly, students and college graduates clearly lead this statistic at 28 percent.

It’s also exciting: According to the study, 24 percent of students with regular income use illegal offers, while only 18 percent of those without a job take advantage of the opportunity. In addition, there are significant differences between individual EU countries. For example, in Belgium, around 29 percent of respondents use illegal sources, while in Germany only 12 percent.

What are the causes of piracy?

Among all survey respondents, the main reasons for resorting to illegal offers are availability and affordability. 55 percent cited (high) costs as the reason, and 25 percent cited lack of content.

Too many offers or too wide variety of different streaming services is apparently a reason why some contributors use illegal methods. Editor Alex is also annoyed by the trend towards more and more streaming services.

How do you see this? Did the research’s findings surprise you, or perhaps you suspected such a thing? What do you think are the reasons for illegally obtaining digital content? And how do you handle it yourself? Write us in the comments!