Piracy cost German music industry $660 million in lost revenue last year – study

Piracy cost the German music industry $660 million (524 million euros) in lost revenue last year, according to a new study.

Backed by the Berlin-Brandenburg Medienboard and the German video game association G.A.M.E, the study encompassed a number of German media industries and was carried out by Berlin-based House of Research. It looked at academic papers dealing with the illegal download or streaming of copyright-protected works and the possible impact on sales.
House of Research’s figures estimate that users in Germany illegally streamed or downloaded 185 million films last year and that damage as a result of piracy accounted for around 6% of overall revenues for the year costing the industry nearly $200 million.

Medienboard managing director Elmar Giglinger said: “One can argue about the numbers but that (piracy) damages the industry is undeniable.

“We now have to find reasonable solutions. As has so often been the case, hardliner positions on both sides has prevented a constructive debate.”

The project also looked at several studies that found that online piracy had a slight positive impact on music and film sales, but the House of Research concluded that, while a small number of users use illegal downloads to sample works they later acquire legally, the overall impact of online piracy is negative.

The impact of piracy on the games industry was also included but researchers said there were not a sufficient number of academic surveys available to give an accurate estimate of the financial damage to video game sales caused by online piracy.

Source: Billboard