New research released this week shines a light on the behaviour and attitudes of Australians aged 12-17 to online film and television piracy.
The Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation (IPAF), an alliance of Australian film and television organisations, commissioned the independent study through Sycamore Research in partnership with Newspoll.
A first of its kind - concentrating on teens – the report showed that pirating isn’t the social norm amongst Australians aged 12-17 despite the anecdotal assertion that “everyone does it” with 76% saying they don’t pirate movies and TV shows.
It also showed:
- Almost half of young Australians aged 12-17 agreed that the internet should be more regulated in order to prevent piracy- only 19% disagreed.
- 55% of Australian adults aged over 18 agreed that courts should be allowed to block websites that profit from pirated content.
- Parental influence is a key factor in the behaviour of Australians aged 12-17. In households where parents are pirating, the children appear likely to do so as well.
- 78% of kids who don’t pirate say their parents have spoken to them about piracy.
Unsurprisingly, the primary motivator for Australians of all ages pirating movies and TV shows is that it is free.
Lori Flekser, Executive Director of IPAF, says this research has identified some of the key drivers of behaviour amongst this generation of digital natives.
“Essentially they pirate because it’s free, easily accessible, nobody is stopping them and they incorrectly believe it is the social norm and that it does no real harm”, says Flekser.
She confirms the new research corroborates IPAF’s previous adult-focused research about the ultimate reason Australians of all ages pirate movies and TV shows – because they can get it for free.
“This is, and should be, of huge concern to our creative industries, which employ significant numbers of people. There is a disturbing trend towards the devaluing of content”, says Flekser.
“Whilst it is good news that 76% of 12-17 year-old Australians are not accessing pirated content, the activity of the almost 1 in 4 who are, has a substantial impact”, says Flekser.
Marc Wooldridge, Managing Director of 20th Century Fox Film Distributors, said that piracy has a massive drain on the film industry.
“It's disheartening and shows a disregard for the time, effort and money that's invested in creating amazing pieces of entertainment that obviously are important to those pirating, because they spend a lot of time engaging with filmed entertainment. They just have a reluctance to pay for it when they can get it for free. I think that that's one of our ongoing challenges.”
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