Piracy in Australia
An independent report indicates that movie piracy cost the film industry in Australia in excess of $200 million in potential revenue in 2005. The illegal distribution of unauthorized copies of movies rose from 4% in 2000 to around 11% of the legitimate market in 2005. Discs seized by police comprise mostly DVD-R copies made in Australia as DVD-R technology has increased its share of the pirate optical disc market. In addition, Australian Customs seized more than 40,000 pirate DVDs imported into Australia in 2004, a 185% increase compared to the 14,000 seized by Customs in 2003.
Police jurisdictions recognize organized crime involvement in film piracy. Organized crime links to movie piracy in Australia were first uncovered following a raid on Malaysia-linked movie pirates in 2002.
Piracy worldwide
A major survey undertaken by the MPA and LEK, a strategy consulting firm, has found that the major U.S. motion picture studios lost $6.1 billion to piracy worldwide in 2005. Eighty percent of those losses resulted from piracy overseas, twenty percent from piracy in the U.S. Sixty two percent of the $6.1 billion loss result was from piracy of hard goods such as DVDs, while thirty eight percent was from internet piracy. Piracy rates (calculated as legitimate revenue plus estimated revenue lost to piracy in each market) are highest in China (90 percent), Russia (79 percent) and Thailand (79 percent).
The worldwide motion picture industry, including foreign and domestic producers, distributors, theaters, video stores and pay-per-view operators, lost $18.2 billion in 2005 as a result of piracy. The survey found the typical pirate is age 16-24 and male.
Illegal motion picture and television piracy is a thriving international enterprise. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) estimates that its member companies lose approximately US$1.2 billion each year in potential revenue in the Asia-Pacific region alone, and US$6.1 billion globally. In many countries, MPA member company losses are far outstripped by production, theatrical exhibition, home video distribution losses to local industry, as well as losses to governments in uncollected tax revenues. Consumer spending losses on filmed entertainment worldwide are estimated at US$18.2 billion.
In 2006, the MPA's operations in the Asia-Pacific region investigated more than 30,000 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting nearly 12,400 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 35 million illegal optical discs, 50 factory optical disc production lines and 4,482 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation of more than 11,000 legal actions.
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