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385% piracy spike for Oscar-nominated films
By Colin Mann
While the majority of fans tuning in on February 22nd to see which of their favourite films are successful at the 87th Academy Awards have paid a premium to see these films legally, an increasing number of others chose to pirate those films instead, according to new data from anti-piracy and revenue assurance solutions Irdeto. Irdeto monitored illegal downloads of films in the US and over 200 countries worldwide from January 1st through February 14th. The company revealed that the Academy Awards draws massive consumer interest outside the US, evidenced by a 385 per cent increase in piracy worldwide for nominated films following the announcements on January 15th. While Gone Girl was the early frontrunner after nominations, American Sniper took the lead and is currently the most pirated film in the world post-nomination, according to the data. This global piracy activity can be seen visually in Irdeto’s 2015 Academy Awards Piracy Heat Map.
If the awards were decided based on illegal downloads following the nomination, the category winners on Sunday would be:
Nominated films were pirated from a number of formats including Blu-ray discs, HDTV, CAM (cameras), DVD and other sources. However, Hollywood screeners specifically accounted for a substantial 31 per cent of the total illegal downloads tracked between January 15th and February 14th. Hollywood screeners are traditionally Blu-Ray discs or DVDs (although some studios are now moving to online distribution) given to film critics, awards voters and other film industry professionals for an advanced screening. Six nominated movies currently unavailable for retail purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD, VOD or legal streaming/download sites saw the majority of piracy coming directly from these screeners: American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Wild, Selma, Whiplash and Still Alice. While not every illegal download can be considered a lost sale, Irdeto estimates a potential over $40 million in retail revenue that could have been captured for these six titles, if they had been made available to consumers.
Windowing and Lack of Legal Online Options
“Our data clearly shows that the rest of the world is paying attention to the Academy Awards and there is significant demand for new movies to be available earlier, in more geographies and over more platforms,” said Rory O’Connor, VP Services, Irdeto and the company’s global expert on online piracy and countermeasures. “In the world of internet re-distribution, the window between theatrical release and worldwide market availability may simply be too long, leaving room for pirates to take advantage and offer consumers alternative means of instant gratification. Today’s consumers simply refuse to wait to access these movies through legitimate services.”
While Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood, and Two Days, One Night were released for VoD, streaming, Blu-ray, and DVD through distributors in the United States and select countries worldwide prior to the awards, this did not actually slow down piracy because of the windowing gap between theatrical release and consumer availability. For example, Two Days, One Night leaked on September 28th 2014 and retail release in the US was on October 20, 2014. Some films have already leaked and the window is still quite far out. Still Alice leaked November 27th 2014 and is not scheduled for release in the US until July 2015 while American Sniper leaked January 6th 2014 and no release date is currently scheduled.
Piracy Worldwide
Irdeto found a spike in piracy for almost every country following the January 15 nominations. Outside of the US, the top ten countries that account for the most illegal downloads (totalling over 3 million) are: Russia, Italy, United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, India, Australia, Spain, South Korea and the Netherlands. Alternatively, the countries with the highest percentage of piracy per Internet user population were Australia, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
While legal video content in various formats is often available in the US sooner than the rest of the world, the combined illegal downloads for California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania still accounted for 5.8 per cent of total global downloads. Some people will always choose to pirate as a result of cost, convenience and personal preference, even if the viewing quality of the pirated version is inferior to the legal alternative.
By Colin Mann
While the majority of fans tuning in on February 22nd to see which of their favourite films are successful at the 87th Academy Awards have paid a premium to see these films legally, an increasing number of others chose to pirate those films instead, according to new data from anti-piracy and revenue assurance solutions Irdeto. Irdeto monitored illegal downloads of films in the US and over 200 countries worldwide from January 1st through February 14th. The company revealed that the Academy Awards draws massive consumer interest outside the US, evidenced by a 385 per cent increase in piracy worldwide for nominated films following the announcements on January 15th. While Gone Girl was the early frontrunner after nominations, American Sniper took the lead and is currently the most pirated film in the world post-nomination, according to the data. This global piracy activity can be seen visually in Irdeto’s 2015 Academy Awards Piracy Heat Map.
If the awards were decided based on illegal downloads following the nomination, the category winners on Sunday would be:
- Best Picture – American Sniper (1,389,819 downloads worldwide since January 15t; the top title downloaded in the US as well as over 100 other countries).
- Best Director – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman (796,697 downloads worldwide since January 15th; the #1 downloaded film in both Mexico and Spain).
- Best Actress – Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl (1,252,074 downloads worldwide since January 15th).
- Best Actor – Bradley Cooper, American Sniper (1,389,819 downloads worldwide since January 15th).
Nominated films were pirated from a number of formats including Blu-ray discs, HDTV, CAM (cameras), DVD and other sources. However, Hollywood screeners specifically accounted for a substantial 31 per cent of the total illegal downloads tracked between January 15th and February 14th. Hollywood screeners are traditionally Blu-Ray discs or DVDs (although some studios are now moving to online distribution) given to film critics, awards voters and other film industry professionals for an advanced screening. Six nominated movies currently unavailable for retail purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD, VOD or legal streaming/download sites saw the majority of piracy coming directly from these screeners: American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Wild, Selma, Whiplash and Still Alice. While not every illegal download can be considered a lost sale, Irdeto estimates a potential over $40 million in retail revenue that could have been captured for these six titles, if they had been made available to consumers.
Windowing and Lack of Legal Online Options
“Our data clearly shows that the rest of the world is paying attention to the Academy Awards and there is significant demand for new movies to be available earlier, in more geographies and over more platforms,” said Rory O’Connor, VP Services, Irdeto and the company’s global expert on online piracy and countermeasures. “In the world of internet re-distribution, the window between theatrical release and worldwide market availability may simply be too long, leaving room for pirates to take advantage and offer consumers alternative means of instant gratification. Today’s consumers simply refuse to wait to access these movies through legitimate services.”
While Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood, and Two Days, One Night were released for VoD, streaming, Blu-ray, and DVD through distributors in the United States and select countries worldwide prior to the awards, this did not actually slow down piracy because of the windowing gap between theatrical release and consumer availability. For example, Two Days, One Night leaked on September 28th 2014 and retail release in the US was on October 20, 2014. Some films have already leaked and the window is still quite far out. Still Alice leaked November 27th 2014 and is not scheduled for release in the US until July 2015 while American Sniper leaked January 6th 2014 and no release date is currently scheduled.
Piracy Worldwide
Irdeto found a spike in piracy for almost every country following the January 15 nominations. Outside of the US, the top ten countries that account for the most illegal downloads (totalling over 3 million) are: Russia, Italy, United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, India, Australia, Spain, South Korea and the Netherlands. Alternatively, the countries with the highest percentage of piracy per Internet user population were Australia, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
While legal video content in various formats is often available in the US sooner than the rest of the world, the combined illegal downloads for California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania still accounted for 5.8 per cent of total global downloads. Some people will always choose to pirate as a result of cost, convenience and personal preference, even if the viewing quality of the pirated version is inferior to the legal alternative.