Pay TV between football series and damage from piracy: almost 320 million euros of lost tax revenue for the State
How much money could be “recovered” by the state without illegal piracy? “The estimated turnover lost by all Italian economic sectors, due to audiovisual piracy, reaches 1.7 billion euros, which implies a loss of GDP of around 716 million euros and almost 320 million euros in lost tax revenues for the state”. Federico Bagnoli Rossi, President of FAPAV – Federation for the Protection of Multimedia and Audiovisual Industries and Contents, explains it to Affaritaliani.it. What measures do you expect to be able to make a breakthrough in the fight against piracy? “The key word is timeliness. Intervention to block illegal streaming within the first 30 minutes of its presence on the network is essential for effective action in the fight against piracy”. How many more jobs could be created if piracy were tackled more effectively? “The estimates of the latest research conducted by Ipsos for FAPAV speak of almost 10,000 jobs lost in 2021 due to audiovisual piracy”. And pay attention to the phenomenon of illicit IPTV: “It has doubled in the last two years. If in 2019 it was 10% of the adult Italian population who had used this method of piracy at least once, in 2021 we reached 23%”.
Piracy and pay TV, the interview with Fapav president Federico Bagnoli Rossi
Piracy and pay TV, how much does this phenomenon affect Italy compared to other major European countries such as France, England, Germany or Spain: or rather, is it contrasted more or less effectively in other countries than we are? Is there any lesson we should learn by looking outside our borders?
The incidence of audiovisual piracy in Italy, with reference to films, series, fiction, television programs and live sports, reached 43% in 2021. It is always difficult to make a comparison with other countries but based on the latest EUIPO report a provision, “Online copyright infringement in the European Union, 2017-2020”, in 2020, the typical internet user accessed content that infringed copyright 5.9 times a month. The frequency of visiting these sites by Latvian users was two times higher, almost 14 times a month, while Polish users accessed less than 4 times a month.
Italy is slightly below the EU average, with a frequency of accessing pirated content equal to 5.5 times a month. Even if these data could be perceived as insignificant compared to other European countries, it is still an alarming phenomenon because it is growing. In particular, the data on the phenomenon of illicit IPTV has doubled in the last two years. If in 2019 it was 10% of the adult Italian population who had used this method of piracy at least once, in 2021 we reached 23%. As far as law enforcement activities are concerned, the English model of blocking illicit sites that broadcast Premier League matches in particular is often cited. Specifically, Internet Service Providers are obliged to block servers hosting illegal streams as soon as they receive a notification directly from the rights holders. This is a measure considered particularly effective by virtue of its timeliness of action.
Federico Bagnoli, president of Fapav
What is being done concretely at the moment in the fight against piracy?
In Europe, at least two Directives have been approved in the recent past that touch on our issues, the so-called Copyright Directive and the Directive on audiovisual media services, both already implemented in the Italian legal system. Last July, then, the European Parliament approved the Digital Services Regulation (DSA) which will soon become operational in all Member States. Italy has been showing itself for years as a leader in Europe in the fight against piracy. In fact, next year we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the “Regulation on the protection of copyright on electronic communications networks”, issued by AGCOM in 2014. Some countries have emulated it because it has proved to be a lean and effective tool, as well as ductile. In fact, in recent years the Authority has made some changes that keep it always in step with the times. The public consultation launched by AGCOM to implement new measures in the Regulation aimed at speeding up the process of blocking illegal sites in the case of live sporting events or similar content has recently concluded. At the legislative level, it is known that, at the beginning of this legislature, two bills aimed at combating piracy were presented to the Chamber again and have already merged in recent days into a unified text.
There is great expectation for a law on the subject in Italy: what measures do you expect to be able to make a change in the fight against piracy?
Timeliness is once again the keyword. Intervention to block illegal streaming within the first 30 minutes of its presence on the net is essential for effective action in the fight against piracy, especially for live sports content and for cinematic and audiovisual first releases. This measure is present in the bill which is proceeding with a very rapid process and which is also the result of bipartisan collaboration. We now await the completion of the process with the opinion of the Commissions assigned in the consultative forum. The next step is the arrival in the Chamber, which should take place around mid-March, given that the Bill is already included in the program of the next Chamber works. We can only be satisfied and hope that there are no hitches along the way because piracy runs fast and we need to expand the range of tools at our disposal as soon as possible in the light of market evolutions in recent years.
Lapresse photo
How many more jobs could be created if piracy were tackled more effectively?
The estimates of the latest research conducted by Ipsos for FAPAV speak of almost 10,000 jobs lost in 2021 due to audiovisual piracy. These are alarming data which should make us reflect because the damage caused by the illegal phenomenon can be found not only at an economic level, with potential damage to the audiovisual industry deriving from piracy which has almost reached one billion euros (€940 million), but also on a social level. In fact, we believe that the loss of jobs has an impact above all on the new generations, while a more effective contrast would certainly have a positive impact on the entire sector.
And how much money could be “recovered” by the state without illegal piracy?
The estimate of the turnover lost by all Italian economic sectors, due to audiovisual piracy, reaches 1.7 billion euros, which implies a loss of GDP of around 716 million euros and almost 320 million euros of lost tax revenues for the state. Therefore, not only damage to our cinematographic, audiovisual and sports industries, but also further damage that affects our country’s related industries.
In a year, the current ban on Serie A TV rights will expire (10 games each round in Dazn, 7 of which exclusively and 3 together with Sky in the current format): in the last three years, around 930 million were sold, a minimum figure which are also expected to be collected for the period 2024/2027. In an ideal country, free from piracy, how much do you think the TV rights of the Italian championship could be worth?
The phenomenon of piracy, as confirmed by FAPAV/Ipsos data, has a significant impact on the economic and industrial system of our country: a cinematographic, audiovisual product as well as a sporting event requires significant investments and those who work in these sectors must protect a supply chain also made up of great professionals. The issue is not so much imagining an ideal scenario, but understanding that piracy concretely erodes resources that could be invested in research and development, aiming for ever greater competitiveness of our industries and offering products and services increasingly in line with consumer demands . The hope, therefore, is that with all the contrasting tools existing today, pending the approval of the new anti-piracy law, it will be possible to reduce illicit access to audiovisual and sporting contents, thus allowing for further development in the long term. The institutional initiatives put in place, the essential role of AGCOM together with the bills under discussion in the Chamber of Deputies and ever closer collaboration between the sectors of the audiovisual sector are proof that it is possible to introduce actions capable of countering the phenomenon, and to do so effectively and in a timely manner.
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