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Movie and Television Piracy statistics for Russia
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Posted by: Khashyar

Hi EVeryone,

I saw this report by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) regarding movie and TV piracy in Russia, and I thought it would be interested to post here:

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Russia

Key Statistics-2002

Piracy losses (US$ millions) $250 million
Seizures (all items) 4.6 million
Piracy level (Video & Optical Disc) 80%

Home Entertainment

Piracy in Russia continues to rise, especially optical disc piracy. Over the past eighteen months, there has been a major surge of large-scale factory production in Russia. In 2002, DVD piracy exploded. In 2001, most of the pirate DVD product on the local market was imported from the Far East. Today, the majority
of pirated DVDs are manufactured in Russia. Domestic pirate DVD production has devastated the legitimate Russian market and is threatening markets throughout Eastern and Western Europe. The Russian market has now become so saturated with pirate DVDs that the pirates have resorted to selling them on the streets by the kilogram.

Russia is now one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of illegal optical media material. According to the Russian Anti-Piracy Organization, or RAPO, local DVD plants have an annual production capacity of over 20 million DVDs (over 10 times the level of legitimate local demand). These DVDs carry
multiple language tracks and subtitles and are clearly being manufactured for export. The explosive growth of illegal optical media plants run by organized crime syndicates with widespread distribution networks further compounds the problem.

Seized Piracy Items:

Number of Seized Merchandise & Equipment (Millions). Items include optical discs, videocassettes, replication hardware, packaging, etc.

1999> 1.88 million
2002> 4.55 million
(increase of 134%)

Source: Motion Picture Association

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, consumer spending growth rates of legitimate home entertainment products have fallen back to pre-1998 levels, despite a large increase in the number of households with DVD players. Although market dynamics play a prominent role in consumer spend trends,
piracy has had a significant adverse impact on growth.

Home Entertainment Sell-Through Market (1997-2002) :

Year Consumer Spend Growth Rates
1998 15%
1999 21%
2000 17%
2001 14%
2002 10%

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

The piracy problem is an epidemic in Russia, and some films are available before their theatrical release in the US. According to the Moscow Times, Russian video pirates are obtaining high-grade pirate copies by duplicating the film right in the projector booths of movie theaters and adding subtitles in many European
languages.

Sales of pirate product outpace those of the legitimate market and are clearly taking a toll on the entertainment industry. According to RAPO, of the estimated 115 million videotapes sold in Russia in 2002, only 20 million were licensed. Out of the estimated 16 million DVDs manufactured, only 450,000 to 500,000 were published legally. Pirate DVDs are sold everywhere including, street markets, kiosks, retail stores and over the Internet. Lax enforcement, in particular, the lack of deterrence in the Russian criminal enforcement system to address persistent commercial piracy, is one problem that needs to be addressed.
Moreover, there is a need for critical legal reforms that will deter commercial piracy.

Television

Television piracy is an on-going problem in Russia. Although the government has made significant progress in regulating the television industry, television piracy outside of Moscow remains a problem. Moreover, outside of Moscow, cable piracy abuses are still rampant.

Piracy Losses

By the end of 2002, economic losses since 1999 to the US motion picture industry due to audiovisual piracy in Russia, are estimated to have reached $1 billion. These losses do not even include the impact of piracy on the local Russian economy.

Russia serves as a manufacturing and distribution center for much of the pirated material around the world. Pirate Russian DVDs have now turned up in many countries across Central and Eastern Europe, and beyond. Last year, the local anti-piracy organization in Poland (FOTA) seized over 17,000 Russian made
pirate DVDs compared to only 481 in 2001. Pirate DVDs accounted for about 40% of Poland’s pirate market last year compared to only 1% in 2001. Other markets that have been negatively impacted by imports of pirate Russian DVDs
are Estonia, Finland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Israel and Turkey. Small numbers of Russian discs carried in travellers’ luggage have also turned up in other territories. Suspected Russian discs have also appeared in Belgium, Germany and Serbia. The over $1 billion in losses
since 1999 do not include the losses suffered in those foreign markets, whose legitimate home entertainment markets are clearly suffering from having to compete with the “black” market.

Posted by: Khashyar

more recent piracy statistics for 2004 (information from the Hollywood Reporter) :

"Across Europe, optical disc piracy alone comprises roughly 20% of the €13.5 billion market, according to estimates from Screen Digest. Britain, the second largest home video market in the world at Ł3.3 billion, is awash in counterfeit DVDs with something close to a 33% piracy rate. Likewise, in Spain, around 6,000 street vendors offer pirate discs of all kinds."

Piracy level in other countries:

South Africa 40% (of all DVD's are pirated)
Cyprus 50%
Russia 80%
Ukraine 90%

So, according to these statistics, 80% of all DVD films sold in Russia are pirated...

I believe that the Motion Picture Association of America stated that many of the DVD's being pirated in Russia are now being exported to other countries.

Posted by: Khashyar

Other piracy stats and information for Russia:

According to a US trade representative, 88 percent of software, 80 percent of DVDs and 66 percent of music recordings in Russia are counterfeit. US producers lost over $1 billion because of piracy in 2003.

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April 5, 2004: German Gref, Russian minister of Trade and Economic Development and author of the article, writes: "Nearly 90% of all intellectual property is counterfeited. So, Russians get their American films, music and computer software mostly through pirated copies. We understand the indignation of industry lobbies. We feel the pressure put on us by the US government. It is high on our bilateral agenda. Copyright owners from both Russia and abroad lose more than half a billion dollars a year of legal income in my country. But the Russian government loses, too, to the tune of about $100 million annually in uncollected taxes."

Posted by: Khashyar

Movie Studios begin to lower DVD prices to fight movie piracy in Russia:

In 2004, 9 out of 10 DVD's sold in Russia are counterfeit copies.

To fight piracy, Columbia TriStar (a division of Sony) will set DVD prices at a maximum of 299 rubles (just over $10), which is less than half the current price for a DVD in Russia.

Warner Home Video has already cut its DVD prices in Russia to about $15.

Vyacheslav Dobychin, general director of Columbia TriStar's licensee in Russia says: "The idea is to get Russian consumers used to buying licensed material, but at a price that most of the population can afford." Columbia TriStar is setting up its own factory outside of downtown Moscow, which later in April 2004 was scheduled to start manufacturing licensed copies of "Bad Boys 2," "Big Fish," "S.W.A.T." and other movies.