The Hollywood Reporter has run a story revealing that digital piracy has increased by more than 40% in the United States and United Kingdom since coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns began. There are even larger increases elsewhere in Europe, with traffic on bootleg streaming and torrent sites up by 50.4% in Spain and 66% in Italy, two of the worst affected countries in the world.
In the US, it's risen by 41.4% and in the UK, it's increased by a noteworthy 42.5%.
The study shared by the site has noted a rise in traffic to piracy sites which corresponds with recent cancelations of sporting and entertainment events. National and regional stay-at-home orders have led to closures of movie theaters, and even though subscriptions to Netflix and Disney+ have also massively increased, it seems many are turning to free content online.
"As more countries enforced lockdown and required citizens to self-isolate, demand for content via piracy grew exponentially," the company that held this study, Muso, told THR.
"Piracy or unlicensed consumption trends are closely linked to paid-for or licensed content," says Andy Chatterley, CEO of Muso. "So, just as Netflix has seen large subscriber gains, we have seen a significant spike in visits to film piracy sites."
Of note is an increase in TV piracy instead of film as people look for content to binge.
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