Lenka Hrivnáková, Author at The Association of Commercial Television

PRIMA REMAINED FIRST IN 15+ IN OCTOBER, CZECH TV GREW WITH YOUNGER VIEWERS

The Prima TV group maintained its highest viewership in the broader over-15 audience group in all-day viewing in October.

The Prima TV group achieved an aggregate share of 28.89% in October and remained the strongest group in the wider 15+ audience group in all-day viewing. It improved by 0.79 percentage points year-on-year. Czech Television and TV Nova followed close behind. This is according to the official ATO-Nielsen measurement data.

The Nova group still achieves the highest viewership in the 15-54 and 15-69 audience groups, as well as in prime time in all main viewing categories.

Czech Television has achieved higher shares in prime time compared to the same period last year and also significantly in the younger audience groups 15-54 and 15-69. For example, in prime time it improved by more than 4 percentage points in the 15-54 group. It was helped to improve year-on-year by the slight growth of the main channel CT1, in particular the inclusion of StarDance, and by the increase in the share of CT Sport (by around two percentage points year-on-year, also thanks to the Rugby World Cup).

The shares of both Nova and Prima groups decreased year-on-year in prime time in all main audience groups. This is also true for all-day broadcasting, with the exception of TV Prima in the 15+ audience group, where its share increased.

In the year-on-year comparison, the thematic stations Nova Action, Nova Fun, Nova Gold and Nova Lady performed well. The Prima Group managed to increase the share of the main channel year-on-year and Prima Love and especially Prima Krimi also performed better than last October. Prima Cool and CNN Prima News improved very slightly.

Atmedia and Televize Seznam continued to grow their share of the TV market in October.

Source: mediaguru.cz

MAJOR PIRATE SITES SHUT DOWN IN GEORGIA

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) says it has worked closely with the country of Georgia’s Ministry of Finance to shut down two of the nation’s largest illegal streaming sites, adjaranet.com and imovies.cc.

Over the past two years, adjaranet.com amassed 140 million visits, while imovies.cc has attracted nearly 64 million visits.

Both sites were among the most widely viewed in the country, often ranking in the overall top 10 most visited sites.

The action follows extended collaboration between ACE, the Georgian government, the National Communications Commission, the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance and Sakpatenti (The National Intellectual Property Centre of Georgia).

Commenting on the development, Jan van Voorn, executive VP and global content protection chief of the Motion Picture Association and head of ACE, said: “The global fight against piracy is a team effort, and this case underscores the immeasurable value of ACE’s collaboration with government agencies worldwide.

“ACE appreciates the hard work of the Georgian Ministry of Finance and the Anti-Piracy Centre of Georgia in the successful closure of these two criminal operations that undermine jobs and growth throughout the Georgian creative sector. Our partnership with Cavea Plus, a key member of ACE in the Caucasus region, has helped ensure a coordinated approach to protecting copyright”.

Zurab Bezhashvili, executive director of the Anti-Piracy Centre of Georgia, added: “I’d like to thank ACE for defending the intellectual property rights of content owners throughout Eastern Europe and beyond.

“Over the years, AdjaraNet and imovies were motivated by commercial financial gain. They hindered the success of many Georgian films, limiting the Georgian film sector’s potential growth and its job market. ACE and the Anti-Piracy Centre share a common mission to fight digital piracy. Together, we have achieved an important milestone and showed the world that a joint effort truly makes a difference”.

Bezhashvili confirmed that the two websites are completely offline.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

DIGITAL PIRACY IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS, ACCORDING TO A STUDY ON ONLINE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The internet – as a virtually infinite space for sharing personal opinions and visions, corporate products and copyrighted works of all kinds – carries a high risk of illegal activities. This is partly due to the certain anonymity of the environment, and partly due to the highly developed technologies to which virtually everyone has access. Illegal activities in the digital environment include, but are not limited to, copyright infringement. According to the EUIPO study on online copyright infringement in the European Union, socio-economic factors also have a significant impact on the illegal use of copyright content.

Drivers of pirated content consumption

This year’s study Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union conducted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) examined data on online piracy at the national level from 27 Member States. The aim of the research was to uncover the factors that cause differences between countries. The study is based on a large dataset on accesses to sites providing copyright-infringing content for the period 2017-2022.

The results of the study show that various factors have a significant impact on digital piracy:

Socio-economic variables: income level, education, inequality, unemployment
Demographic variables: population structure, proportion of young people in the population
Market-related characteristics: overall market size, extent of internet infrastructure, number of legal offers for different types of content, perception of intellectual property rights and societal attitudes towards infringement

Socio-economic factors

In terms of socio-economic factors, the biggest influence on the consumption of pirated content seems to be the level of per capita income and the level of inequality. That is, high per capita income and low levels of income inequality are associated with lower levels of illegal consumption.

It is often assumed that individual consumption of pirated content is related to household income, as households with higher income can afford to pay for legal content. In addition, this could be supported by the fact that richer countries tend to have more efficient IP protection systems and that consumers in these countries have more resources available to consume all goods, including legal digital content.

Income inequality can have a negative impact on the consumption of pirated content as music, films and TV programmes consumed by higher income earners are also of interest to lower income earners for whom knowledge of this content is a factor of social interaction. Thus, low-income individuals who are not in a position to pay for legal content may seek illegal ways to access digital products that they cannot afford or are unwilling to pay for. Moreover, in societies where there is strong pressure to own expensive digital products, there may be a greater temptation to use pirated content as a way to present oneself in the best light in one’s social bubble.

Another manifestation of economic inequality is the youth unemployment rate. It is therefore one of the factors that can have an impact on the level of digital piracy.

Demographic factors

According to the 2023 EUIPO Intellectual Property Perception Study, 33% of respondents aged 15-24 admitted having access to pirated content. This is much higher than for older age groups and more than double the total EU average of 14%. These results suggest that younger consumers are more likely to deliberately access pirated content. This suggests that countries with a higher proportion of younger people may also have a higher per capita consumption of illegal content.

Attitude to piracy

Culture and social norms in different societies can influence the way digital piracy is perceived. In some societies, piracy may be considered normal, while in others it may be unacceptable. According to an EUIPO study on IP perceptions, consumers in some countries have a more tolerant attitude towards IP infringement than in others, regardless of income level or other socio-economic variables. The study showed that there are significant differences in attitudes towards piracy between Member States. Consequently, countries with more benevolent attitudes towards illegal consumption of copyright content have a higher per capita consumption of pirated content.

Market size

Earlier studies of software piracy (Gopal & Sanders, 1998) and music piracy (Ki et al., 2006) found a negative relationship between market size and piracy rates. The exact nature of the mechanism is not clear. The 2006 study reported that in countries with large music markets, people tend to recognise music as a social value, leading to greater copyright compliance. Based on these findings, it can therefore be concluded that the larger the market, the lower the per capita consumption of pirated content.

Legal offer of copyrighted content

It is generally considered that the availability of legal content offers has the effect of reducing piracy. In the EUIPO study on perceptions of intellectual property, 26% of respondents indicated that they considered it acceptable to resort to online pirated content when no legal alternative was available. This suggests that the wider the legal supply of content, the lower the per capita consumption of pirated content.

Measures need to be implemented at all levels

It is therefore clear that digital piracy is a complex problem that is influenced by a combination of social and economic factors. Sub-social factors may also play a role:

Low perceived risk: some people may perceive digital piracy as harmless because they do not consider it likely that they will be caught and punished. If they perceive low risk, they may be willing to take the risk and download illegal content.
Collective behaviour: sometimes digital piracy can be considered normal or common behaviour in society. If people around an individual practice piracy, the individual may feel less guilty and be inclined to engage in the same behaviour.
Social interaction: social media and online community platforms can also play a role in the spread of pirated content.
Lack of knowledge about copyright: Low awareness of copyright and the legal implications of digital piracy can lead to people not being sufficiently informed that their activities are illegal.

Successfully reducing piracy requires action at all levels, including improving the availability of legal content, pricing policy, consumer awareness of copyright and the legal framework for combating piracy.

In this respect, it is necessary to keep pace with technological progress. The rapid development of technology makes it easier for pirates to carry out their illegal online activities by making it easier to share and distribute illegal content. It is therefore necessary not to fall behind and to make the most of cutting-edge technology to better protect copyright – both by protecting digital content against illegal copying and distribution and by monitoring possible pirate activities.

No doubt the legal framework and related enforcement and effective (preferably widely publicised) penalties for digital piracy are also crucial in the fight against piracy and can deter pirates from illegal practices.

Source: euipo.europa.eu

BREAKFAST WITH NOVA AND PRIMA. TV CEOS ON CZECHFLIX AND LICENCE FEES

Two CEOs of billion-dollar media houses at the same table: the head of Nova, Daniel Grunt (right), and his counterpart from Prima, Marek Singer, care about your entertainment and agree that we are living in the golden age of TV. Only this acronym no longer stands for television but for total video.

This meeting was special for at least two reasons. Both because of how rarely they sit down together so early, and because of how different it was from the previous occasion. “Do you know the last time we had breakfast together? After the conference in Lisbon. That’s when we almost went from dinner to breakfast, wasn’t it?” Daniel Grunt smiles.

And Marek Singer immediately counters, “We came straight from dinner!” Now we are in the centre of Prague, in the lounge of the Andaz hotel, where, as an allusion to one of the most famous TV shows in the Czech Republic, breakfast with Nova and Prima is taking place.

The two CEOs determine the mood of millions of Czechs: the content their stations and news websites serve, and how they are changing audiovisual production by investing heavily in so-called SVOD platforms.

This acronym stands for Subscription Video on Demand, paid content available anytime, anywhere. That is what Netflix, HBO, Amazon and other global giants do. In the Czech Republic, the service is called Voyo in Nova and Prima+ in Prima.

Hundreds of millions of crowns are going there because television is not like it used to be and there is a need to keep attention in the online environment. And the two men are in charge.

“Are you asking whether the old TV model a decade or so ago was the simplest, therefore low-cost, and also amazingly profitable in times of properly set advertising prices? Well, of course it was. But that’s like saying horse-drawn railways were a good business model. It doesn’t matter now, it’s gone,” says Singer over a freshly served Eggs Benedict.

Singer has been running Prima for fifteen years and has built the former “third in the back” into a player who is fighting an equal battle with Nova in the field of commercial television. Grunt was promoted to the head of Nova last December, but he has also been in the media for a long time, having built up digital activities at Prima between 2012 and 2020.

This is also why there are no more hostile lightning bolts flying over double espresso and green tea as there were a decade ago. Back then, the bosses of the two biggest commercial TV stations in the Czech Republic, just in a different line-up, hated each other’s guts. The rivalry in business remains, but on a personal level both directors play fair.

“We meet and have discussions, it’s logical, we have the same types of media, we have to deal with similar things,” says Singer. That is why one of the central topics of the double interview is the planned increase in licence fees, which, according to Grunt and Singer, could fundamentally distort the market in favour of Česká televize (ČT, Czech Television).

Have the CEOs of rival commercial TV groups become friends? How long have you known each other?

Marek Singer: Dan and I have been through a lot, we know each other really well.

Daniel Grunt: I think of it like going to a basketball game with your friends. I always want to win there, then we go for a beer together.

MS: Exactly. When we go out for a beer, it’s different from looking at the figures. I don’t picture Dan behind them. (laugh)

Anyway, such a human relationship between the CEOs of Nova and Prima is a change, isn’t it?

MS: It helps if people have known each other for 12 years. It’s easier to discuss various topics, and the truth is that there are many. It’s not just about television, the field where we meet is wider. We don’t think of ourselves as television, we think of ourselves as media houses, which is why we are talking more and more about regulatory issues that need to be addressed and ideally coordinated. Even the state authorities always tell us to come as the Association of Commercial Television with one common solution, not three. From what I remember, when I joined the firm, there really wasn’t much contact between my predecessor and Dan’s predecessor at the time. We know each other, so communication is easier, and our discussion is to the point.

DG: And it’s also about some refinement and education of the market. A decade or so ago, the push and pull between the digital and TV worlds began, where suddenly apples and pears were being compared. One of the reasons to start the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) was to show how the metrics differ. That a started stream does not equal average viewership on TV and other things.

MS: Which still not many people know. That’s why we’ve been like this for so long. Not that we text and call each other every day, but when something happens, we keep in touch. We fight for the interests of the commercial media, our association is the younger sibling of the ATO (Association of Television Organisations, which includes ČT). Because sometimes our interests are different, as we see right now.

You have known each other for many years, how do you get on with the new head of ČT, Petr Souček?

MS: We don’t know each other at all yet, I didn’t go to Brno much. We have an appointment.

DG: We had a short lunch to meet each other, but that was a meeting at a personal level.

ČT and licence fees will be discussed soon, but before that: how is your business doing? Times are difficult not only in the media, is this also true for TV?

MS: It depends on which country you’re looking at. Yes, it’s a relatively healthy, growing business here. If you cross the German border, it’s different.

DG: It’s also about the point of view. One thing is advertising money, and another is how people consume TV and premium video content. That’s been changing fundamentally and terribly fast in recent years. The big players in the west are flying from right to left. One day they call: nothing but SVOD. Next time they say SVOD is a mistake and everything needs to go back to TV, to cinema. Further development is a big question.

One thing is advertising money, and another is how people consume TV and premium video content.

Daniel Grunt

And where are advertisers moving?

DG: We need to adapt to how fundamentally modern technology will change the way people consume content. We both have SVOD services and linear content to go with it, we need to think about this so that we don’t “cannibalise” within one media house and instead have as much reach as possible. No one knows in advance what the right recipe is. TV advertising is the core of what still feeds us, and I believe it will be our main source of revenue for at least the rest of the decade. And I have to say that this year has been positive. It’s looking good.

MS: Our capacity is filled up nicely. So much so that we’ve just announced that we want 22 percent inflation in advertising prices for next year. That’s the answer.

So your financial performance is growing?

DG: It is too early to assess the whole year, the two strongest months are ahead of us.

MS: That’s like asking a retailer how Christmas will turn out. It’s too early.

DG: But going into detail, year-to-date through September, we see growth in the single-digit percentages.

MS: So do we.

I guess the price of advertising will never go any lower, won’t it?

DG: Logically, no.

MS: It is a question of supply and demand. Television advertising is still a very effective tool in the Czech Republic to reach a lot of people quickly. We were catching up with the slump of 2008 and 2009, which is why I ‘love’ the simplification that ČT is poor, that it has been getting the same money for years – we lost thirty percent back then, and it has taken ten years to dig out of that. Yet each of us has a bigger viewership than ČT. But back to your question – yes, it looks like the advertisers have money and want to invest it.

From Strašnice [where Prima is seated] you cannot see Kavčí hory [Česká televize], but from Barrandov [Nova] you can. The forthcoming amendment regarding the increase in licence fees is expected to bring the public broadcaster up to CZK 1.8 billion a year more. And at breakfast with Nova and Prima, one can sense the disappointment, even annoyance, of the heads of the commercial stations.

“No one from the commercial entities was invited to discuss this, they even told us to our face: Don’t deal with this, it’s not on the agenda, we’re not going to deal with it in the government,” Grunt says. And Singer, in contrast to his usual quick cadence, is suddenly choosing his words more judiciously so as not to speak in emotional terms.

“We had a working group on the Czech Film Fund (SFK) for a year and everyone who just fleshed past the Fund was involved. It’s not that the ministry can’t do it, it can do it if it wants to. Here they have completely bypassed the entire market on purpose and prepared something that has absolutely no context.” They frequently talk about the lack of any conceptual model.

“When I look at it as a businessperson, I would first try to understand the problem, analyse it, figure out what actually needs to be done, see what impact it will have on the market – and based on that, come up with a model to solve it,” Grunt says.

And you don’t think that happened.

DG: Suddenly, the proposal comes with a blank cheque for up to 1.8 billion, which is in no way related to what ČT is supposed to do with it. Petr Dvořák has long talked about the fact that his budget lacks roughly CZK 300 to 500 million a year. So, you have a much smaller problem, you pour in huge amounts of money and there is no impact study prepared on what this will do to the entire media market. That is an approach that surprises me.

MS: Why does it bother us so much? ČT’s production capacity is something like 2.2 billion. Excluding news. They won’t add everything to their programming, but let’s say a billion crowns. I could build another ČT1 for a billion. Do we need it? That’s the question. Has anyone thought about what good it does? I realise that we probably need to add some money, Petr Dvořák talked about the fact that otherwise, he would have to start saving substantially, but almost two billion is different from 500 million.

What impact on the market do you expect?

DG: We’re already talking about the market being so saturated that creative professions can make a choice and it’s driving up the price. And another thing: If I’m sitting at ČT and I don’t have a clear instruction and somebody’s pushing me that they want a big share, I’m going to put the money into commercial formats, I’m going to buy more sports rights – things that I think are outside the scope of what ČT should logically be doing.

Is this a fundamental problem for you?

DG: We ask what they should do with the money and why there should be so much of it. I am convinced that it can skew the market quite substantially in favour of public television. Let us not forget that the proposal does not address the fact that they should not receive money from advertising or sponsorship, for example. What could happen is that a dominant position would be artificially created for ČT.

MS: But it’s not just TV, there’s also Český rozhlas (Czech Radio) and both have a strong online presence. That really has an impact on the whole market. On us, on you. There will be a state-subsidised medium, even if we call it public service – and a tax that will force us all to pay for a public service medium that has no defined requirements to fulfil. Well, that’s great!

DG: The most common argument is that the fees have not increased for a long time; but look at the commercial entities. In 2009, all media took a brutal hit, there was another one in 2012, then Covid-19. Commercial entities had to deal with it, no one gave them more money. In terms of the amount of advertising, the TV market is only now returning to 2008 levels. And we have to streamline, look for other ways. I don’t know if this debate took place in ČT. I believe that Petr Dvořák as a manager has covered a lot of things, but is it really necessary to pour 1.8 billion into ČT now?

What do you think would make sense?

MS: I also don’t see what is effective and what is not in ČT. Petr Dvořák who was the CEO for twelve years was the best person to see this. He was asking for an extra CZK 300-500 million, and there was probably a reason and a logic to that. This is certainly a good starting position without anyone doing an in-depth analysis. And let’s do that analysis!

DG: Moreover, there is no rush, they have nearly two billion on their account, so it is time to take a good look at what ČT really needs and what to spend the money on. There’s no hysterical pressure that if it’s not done, TV will collapse.

MS: Other things don’t make sense to me either. For example, that they are going to target mainly the young, while in this country there is a large group of viewers that you and I don’t target at all, a net zero: people over 54 on Nova and over 69 on Prima. There’s free space. And ČT will invest in the young instead? And give the old people ČT3, which means the archive? That’s the essence of the whole discussion. Maybe 1.4 billion crowns are right. But what should we do with the money to provide a real public service?

Another competition, on the other hand, is already underway. And the commercial TV stations are coming out of it well. Forbes recently described the story of Michal Reitler, the biggest star among Czech creative producers, who moved from ČT to Voyo.

The ambitious video library aims to have one million subscribers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by 2026, and as Grunt reveals, they have already exceeded 650,000. “Voyo has become a flypaper for talent,” the head of Nova says, describing how quality work, or even artwork, has long been created not just in Kavčí Hory [ČT].

Prima+’s plans are identical in this respect, although Singer admits that the competition has a head start. The proof is that the prestigious Serial Killer festival was dominated by a Czech work for the first time this year, the series Metoda Markovič: Hojer produced by Voyo.

“I’ve seen it, and it looks amazing, it deserves to be in a multinational platform,” says Grunt, and we are thus flexibly moving from the Czech market to the global one. In fact, Voyo and Prima+ are fighting other battles besides local competition. They are competing with Netflix and similar giants.

It has often been said that we are living through a golden age of television. Is that still true?

MS: I would put it another way. We are both part of the European association of commercial media houses and there is no longer any discussion about television as such. TV doesn’t mean television, it means total video. That’s what it’s about. The golden age of total video, I agree. The transformation is already underway and will take place everywhere, there’s just no telling what exactly it will look like.

DG: Total video, that’s right – it’s the golden age of quality video content. I don’t think there was ever that much of it.

MS: Certainly not in the Czech Republic.

DG: Nor in the whole world. All the big studios are going full speed ahead, except for the strike that is now going on in Hollywood. The big platforms have certainly helped, they’ve shown people that they can put more content on the market.

MS: It almost scares me as a traditionalist because people have to make time for this. And there are social media to add to the time spent on total video, which means lots of hours. That’s good news for us; whether it’s good news in general, I don’t know.

Do you have enough people for that content?

MS: The number of people is not growing as fast as the demand.

DG: I think you’ve hit on a fundamental problem. The demand is huge and it’s not just me, Marek and ČT that are filming, there are a lot of foreign productions being made here. The demand for quality creative professionals is extreme. Firstly, you have to get them – and secondly, you have to pay for them.

Are they motivated by making so-called quality TV?

DG: By being able to choose more, they logically go for projects that they enjoy more and have a nicer output. I can see it on Voyo. We give them free rein to showcase themselves and room to publicise it on our platform. We have started to bring in creators who haven’t worked with us before.

MS: Interesting new talents and fresh ideas are emerging. Let’s be realistic, it’s not going to happen that the whole nation wants to watch Czech House of Cards or Czech Fauda, you still have to have a broader portfolio. But the portfolio is more diverse today. And it’s moving up in quality.

DG: The Covid-19 period has made people more willing to pay. They’ve had more time, they’ve seen more, now they’re prepared to pay, and the quality has expanded as a result.

MS: It also made them watch. Suddenly, they have accepted things they wouldn’t have been willing to admit before, such as subtitles. They got a broader perspective.

That’s enough about global trends. We repeatedly hear that the key to success is being local.

DG: It is also a logical defence of local players against multinational platforms.

MS: And the question is whether that’s their business model. Stranger Things is a fantastic thing, but only for some people. Yet around the world. That’s the business model.

DG: That’s right. If one of us put this on prime-time TV, it would do next to nothing, our local shows would beat it.

MS: We tried Narcos, ČT tried House of Cards, the results were very bad. And logically – the people who wanted to see it had already seen it on Netflix. And the mainstream will say: That’s weird.

When does your series happen to be on Netflix, on Disney Plus or elsewhere?

MS: The question is whether we want it there. We’re competitors, so why help them with local content?

DG: Exactly. That’s why we invest so much money in quality local work, to differentiate ourselves and draw attention to ourselves. Yes, we can talk about the fact that the stuff we have for Voyo could be on Netflix or on a similar platform outside of Europe, outside of our region. That may happen in the future. As for quality, I think we are clearly there.

What about the so-called Czechflix, the big common domestic platform? Do you take it into consideration?

DG: Popular topic, isn’t it? Say what you think, Marek.

MS: Under certain circumstances, it would make sense. But I think if we go back to that, it’s going to take some time. At the moment, we all have our own plans for how to do it going forward, and we all feel we are able to replicate our success from linear TV in the Czech market for the time being. So, for me, Czechflix is not on the agenda.

DG: We are in a situation where all market players have to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. To discuss things together, and that makes you stop while you need to move forward quickly. Why is Voyo successful? Because it stepped in early and full force. And then there are a lot of practicalities. As much as Marek and I like each other, we’re competitors and it’s hard to fight for every percentage point in a linear environment and do a common platform on top of that.

In purely business terms, how crucial is it that you are owned by Czech capital? I mean PPF and GES GROUP?

DG: This is absolutely crucial for both of us. We are facing a period where we don’t know what will happen and we are trying to set the right path, so we need a long-term view and a patient investor or owner. The big platforms are jumping from right to left precisely because they have to keep presenting new stories to shareholders on a quarterly or semi-annual basis at investor calls, so they are flying to extremes. We don’t have to. It’s more important to build a long-term sustainable strategy. I can’t imagine doing it without those owners.

MS: I agree. And that’s why there will be further consolidation on the international front. Investor pressure will force them: when you don’t have your own story, you team up with someone. In New York, I’ve heard this from several CEOs of major US media houses. They said they had a strategy for three years at most and didn’t need it beyond that because someone else would own them.

How long do you have it for? And is it feasible?

MS: This is the right question, our reason is different. Leaving aside AI, the underlying trends are clear – but what is not predictable is the extent of those trends. We had a plan for how the adoption of paid services would go, but Covid-19 totally changed that. This is what you can’t predict. It’s about having a clear idea of what you want to do and being fast and flexible enough.

DG: I totally agree. It’s important to have a company set up so that your processes and organisational culture allow you to react very quickly to major changes. And you have to have a vision.

How do you do that?

MS: It’s hard to do! But we have to do it and want to do it to succeed.

DG: When I joined CME three years ago, Didier Stoessel launched a huge vision that Voyo would have a million subscribers in five years. I’m convinced that these visions are absolutely necessary to move the company fundamentally, otherwise you can’t change the way people work. You have to show the beacon that will make people do things differently. And then you need to have a cheerleader that convinces people that it can be done.

The system needs to be set up so that you identify and kill the bad things quickly and move on.

Daniel Grunt

What else is key?

DG: That you won’t run away. It’s better to set a strategy and keep going down that road, even if it is only eighty percent right, than to fly from side to side. I also see from the Voyo example that it’s better to stop worrying about leaks and be more open with people in the company so they understand the context and know why they should do something; then they’ll come up with a much better idea of how to do it. Next, have a clear focus on the most important things. And a culture of people not being afraid to make mistakes. That’s maybe the most important thing. That they are not punished for doing something new and it might fail – because otherwise they never do anything new. Rather, you need to set up the system so that you identify and kill the bad things quickly and move on.

MS: I totally agree, and I would add one thing: you need people in key positions who are hungry for success, who want to win. It sounds automatic, but especially in successful companies it is hard, people get used to success. The best general vision has to have some personification, look around the world: it’s either the founder or strong leadership. That’s the fourth element for me.

So no routinists?

MS: No, wait, you need those too, but you need them in the right place. You need to do a lot of routine things, but the leader won’t do those because he’ll get bored.

DG: You still need to have a stable core business that will fund you. You can’t “break it up” for the sake of new things.

Or “voyo it up”.

MS: That was good!

DG: I hope we didn’t voyo it up. (smile)

Source: forbes.cz

EU STUDY: TV PIRACY ACCOUNTS FOR ALMOST HALF OF ALL DIGITAL PIRACY

According to a new study by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the downward trend in piracy from previous years has reversed and started to rise again. Television content is the main target of digital piracy. The most commonly exploited content includes TV shows, series and on-demand films, anime, live sporting events and specialised sports channels.

The study Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, a follow-up to the 2019 and 2021 study, focused on the consumption of infringing content in the 27 EU Member States, covering TV, music and film between 2017 and 2022. For the first time, the study also covered publications and software for desktop and mobile devices.

In the EU, the general rule is that authors’ rights are protected during their lifetime and for 70 years after their death. The protection afforded by related rights lasts for 50 years after the publication of a performance, film or broadcast and 70 years for sound recordings or performances kept on sound recordings.

The economic aspects of copyright are complicated. They reflect trade-offs between the interests of creators, distributors, performers, and consumers. The general objective of the system is to ensure that creators and other right holders are adequately compensated, as without this it would be impossible to maintain a socially optimal level of creative activity. At the same time, there is a need to ensure wide public access to creative works.

Types of copyright infringement

By using copyright-protected works without the copyright holder’s permission, digital pirates commit copyright infringement and deprive creators of the profits they need to cover the high costs of producing their works. Copyright infringement can take many forms:

Infringement involving physical communication media:Illegal copies of optical discs (LD, VCD, DVD) and inexpensive copying using optical media and decryption software.
Online piracy: Unlicensed use of works on the internet to distribute and provide access to films, music, TV, software and publications to other internet users.
Signal theft:Receiving cable TV or radio system or satellite signals without authorisation or piracy through the supply to consumers of illegal cable decoders or satellite descramblers.
Broadcast piracy: On-air broadcasting of a programme, from a legitimate or pirate copy, without permission from the copyright holder.
Unauthorised public performance: An institution or commercial entity showing a programme to its members or customers without permission from the copyright holder.

Unauthorised access to online content includes streaming, downloading, ripping and torrenting. 58% of piracy in the EU occurs through streaming and 32% through downloading.

Digital piracy is a major problem, which is why it was the subject of the EUIPO’s study Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, which analysed the illegal online consumption of copyright-protected TV, music, film, software and publishing content in EU Member States and the UK over the period 2017-2022. Let’s take a closer look at the evolution of TV piracy.

Current availability and offer of legal TV channels

Overall, the legal supply of TV channels, films and music has increased significantly in most EU Member States since 2018. The availability of TV channels has increased by around 2.5% in the EU.

However, developments vary considerably from country to country. According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Italy has the highest number of TV channels in the EU, despite a decrease from 2,701 in 2018 to 2,274 in 2023. In the Czech Republic, the number of channels will increase from 1,310 in 2018 to 1,588 in 2023.

According to the study, TV content accounts for half of piracy

According to the study, TV content is the most common target of online piracy in the EU. It saw an increase in 2021, with the figure levelling off in 2022. In 2022, pirated TV content increased by 15%. Among the genres most often targeted by digital piracy, TV shows, series and on-demand films lead the list, followed by anime productions (series and films), live sporting events and dedicated sports channels. TV piracy accounted for almost half (48%) of all infringing access in the EU in 2022.

Among the types of TV piracy, streaming leads

The average number of accesses to TV content in the EU27 is around 5 per internet user per month, well below the 2017 level but 20% above the 2020 floor. By comparison, the total piracy figure was 7 accesses per internet user per month.

The structure of pirated TV content consumption is similar in most EU Member States, although in a few countries there are significant differences between them and between months.

Seasonally adjusted evolution of piracy in the EU27 (accesses per capita/month); Source: EUIPO

Streaming is by far the most common way of consuming pirated TV content, accounting for up to 95% of cases.

Average monthly accesses to TV per country, with split per access method (2022); Source: EUIPO

Desktops still have a slight edge

Access from desktops is still the most common way to exploit TV content, although the use of mobile devices is also on the rise. Desktop computers account for 50-60% of the total. The split between mobile and desktop piracy varies quite a lot from country to country.
As shown in the figure below, the Czech Republic is one of the countries where mobile devices are used for piracy (compared to other countries) to a low extent (61% desktops, 39% mobile devices). The use of mobile devices is lowest in Hungary (33%) and highest in Italy (49%).

TV piracy with breakdown per device type and country (2022); Source: EUIPO

The situation is complex and there are not many options

The phenomenon of internet piracy is a serious problem that requires a deeper understanding of the nature of piracy, the motives of pirates, socio-economic factors and the ways in which copyright works are illegally consumed.
The study Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, conducted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), provides important insights in this regard, which help stakeholders to understand the issue and can also be a starting point for public education, which could contribute significantly to addressing the problem.

Source: euipo.europa.eu

ACE AND DAZN SHUT DOWN PIRATE INDIAN LIVE SPORTS SITE

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), working closely with the global sports streaming service DAZN, has shut down the live sports piracy site Watchwrestling.ai and its associated domains, which were being operated out of India.

ACE identified and confronted the site’s Uttar Pradesh-based operator, who transferred watchwrestling.ai and all associated domains to ACE. The sites now redirect to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page.

Over the past year, watchwrestling.ai and its associated domains have reached more than 253 million visits. Most of the traffic originated from the US, tUK, India, and Canada.
Commenting on the shut down, Jan van Voorn, executive VP and chief of global content protection at the Motion Picture Association and head of ACE, said: “The shutdown of watchwrestling.ai marks an important victory in our ongoing campaign against the piracy of live sports programmes.

“The use of piracy sites to view live sporting and pay-per-view events is impacting the sustainability of live event programming. Legal services provide premium entertainment content that is reliable and legal. Piracy funds crime groups and puts consumers at risk of malware infection. This case should serve as a warning to illegal piracy operators everywhere that their days are numbered”.

Ed McCarthy, COO of DAZN Group, which is a member of ACE, added: “DAZN has invested significant amounts in building a successful business around combat sports, helping fund the development of MMA and boxing, as well as providing the best quality content and service for fans.

“To continue to invest, DAZN has to be able to protect its intellectual property. The enforcement work ACE undertakes, as part of its joint Sports Piracy Task Force initiative, is a critical element of this work. It is particularly pleasing to see a criminal endeavour of this size being effectively tackled, and the positive outcome that potential subscribers will be redirected to legitimate providers of content such as DAZN”.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

EU STUDY: DOWNWARD TREND IN ONLINE PIRACY REVERSED LAST YEAR

The Internet is a phenomenon that makes our daily lives easier. However, besides the positive aspects offered, it also has its darker side. The negative features undoubtedly include digital piracy, which is the subject of a new study, Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union.

History of the concept of piracy

The word ‘piracy’ has a distant Indo-European root. Originally, the word had a completely different meaning. It meant an attempt, an endeavour or an experience. The word ‘peiratos’ referred to a coastal sea warrior. The current meaning of “sea thief” is therefore not too far removed from the original meaning. In ancient times, pirates were also seen as violators of order. According to the society of the time, their main characteristic was that they did not respect any property ownership generally accepted by society.

It is not surprising that the term has come to be used figuratively to refer to the theft of intellectual property, which now takes many forms. One of these is digital piracy, associated with the illegal use and dissemination of copyrighted content via storage and streaming platforms.

Negative impact on creators’ profits and content quality

Online piracy has a significant negative impact on creators and the entertainment industry, depriving them of the revenue needed to offset the high costs of production, whether it is for series, films, music, software, or publications. Another major problem is that illegal distribution undermines the quality of content. Pirated copies often do not provide the same quality and security, which affects the whole industry – and especially end users who are at risk of malware and poor-quality content.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has been dealing with the phenomenon of online piracy for a long time and has recently published a new study entitled Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union. The study focused on the analysis of illegal online consumption of protected TV, music, film, software and publishing content in EU Member States and the UK over the period 2017-2022. One of the points of the study was the general evolution of piracy.

General development of piracy since 2017

The last report concluded by saying that online piracy has slowly declined over the years until the end of 2020. According to this year’s study, piracy declined continuously from 2017 until early 2021, when the positive trend reversed. This is true not only for the European Union as a whole but also for most Member States. In 2022, piracy (in EU27) accounted for around 7 accesses per internet user per month. The good news is that this is still low compared to the peak level in March 2017.

Share per type of content in the total piracy

There are clear differences between individual types of digital piracy. The share of TV piracy has increased over the years, from around 59% to 73%, while the share of music piracy has decreased from 20% in 2017 to 9% in 2022. The share of film piracy has seen a slight decrease from 20% to 18% over the same period. The shares of each type are shown in the figure below.

Source: EUIPO

Annual piracy rate per capita: music content deviates from the trend

The total annual piracy rate per capita (i.e. the value for all content types) was -17.5% in 2018 and, after a continuous further decline during 2019-2021, it saw an increase of +13.3% in 2022. This overall growth rate of +13% is mainly driven by TV piracy, although film piracy has also contributed, albeit to a lesser extent.

The most significant decline in the annual per capita piracy rate for all types of content occurred in 2020, after which the decline moderated and then reversed in 2022.

Television content saw a decline in the annual per capita piracy rate of -10.7% in 2018, a slightly smaller decline of -9.1% in 2019, another significant decline of -22.9% in 2020, -6.9% in 2021, and a significant increase in the total per capita piracy rate is evident in 2022, with the study indicating +15.3%.

The annual per capita piracy rate for film was -20.3% in 2018, the decline continued at a more moderate pace in 2019, ending at -11.0%, the decline was even more pronounced in 2020 at -28.3%, and slowed to -18.0% in 2021. In 2022, the tide turned, and film content saw an increase of +17.2% in terms of annual per capita piracy rate.

Music content bucks this trend. It is the only type of content that has not seen a reversal in 2022. In 2018, there was an apparent significant decline of -34.5%, and this decline increased in subsequent years. It was -36.6% in 2019, -37.9% in 2020, only -3.7% in 2021, and the annual per capita piracy rate fell by a further -6.0% in 2022.

For publications and software, only 2022 values are available and are +37.1% for publications and +10.7% for software.

Piracy was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

According to the results of the study, 2020 and 2021 showed significant deviations from all other years, albeit in different directions. While the start of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a 21% drop in piracy, the second quarter of 2021 showed an overall increase (for all content types) of more than 8%.

Comparison of access from desktops and mobile devices

The difference between a mobile and a desktop device is based on the operating system that connects to the pirate website. These devices can be mobile phones, tablets or other devices with a mobile operating system.

The results of the study showed a clear tendency to consume pirated music and publishing content on mobile devices, while in the case of access to TV, users prefer to access from desktops, although access from mobile devices is also significant. The overall ‘balance of power’ between mobile devices and desktops can be seen in the figure below:

Total 2022 EU27 piracy proportion per type of content, with split per device; Source: EUIPO

It is clear that over time, there has been a noticeable shift in favour of mobile devices. The trend observed from 2017 to mid-2020 shows a more significant decline in desktop piracy compared to piracy on mobile devices. However, the decline in piracy on mobile devices continued until the end of 2020. This can be attributed to the measures and lockdowns put in place by Member States during the crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in people spending more time at home. The current situation seems to be very similar to the situation in 2017.

Differences in the type of pirated content and total consumption by country

Both the type of pirated content in individual countries and the total consumption of pirated content per internet user show considerable variation between Member States. The total number ranges from around 25 accesses per internet user per month in Estonia to around 7 in Germany. The four countries with the highest piracy rates are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus, while the lowest rates are in Germany, Italy and Poland. The Czech Republic is roughly in the middle with 43% of TV piracy, 10% of software piracy, 32% of publishing piracy, 6% of music piracy and 9% of film piracy.

Source: EUIPO

Source: euipo.europa.eu

FORUM MEDIA CONFERENCE HAS PUBLISHED ITS PROGRAMME

In just three weeks Forum Media – the largest conference in the Czech Republic focused on media, marketing and communication – will take place. Check out the full programme, it’s worth it!

More than 70 international and Czech stars of communication, marketing and media will perform at Forum Media on 9 November in Prague’s O2 universe on five stages. “This year, we have managed to attract a truly diverse mix of speakers and topics to Prague not only on two international stages, but also on three additional separate stages with a full-day specialist programme. In addition to the expansion of the Effie stage and the Market Tools stage for the whole day, we are also opening a stage for smaller thematic workshops again after last year’s success,” adds Forum Media Conference Programme Director Vladimír Bystrov.

You can take a look at the programme of the 23rd edition of the largest industry conference in the Czech Republic, as well as download it in PDF, here, it’s worth it!

Forum Media is organised by Marketing & Media magazine in cooperation with the most important industry associations. The Association of Communication Agencies (AKA) and the Association of Public Relations (APRA) traditionally participate in the programme, and this year the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) has also been added.

The five stages, whose speakers can be found in the published programme, will be divided as follows: the MAM Stage will feature the best of marketing and media, the Effie Stage will provide inspiration with data and effective projects, the PR Summit will provide an overview of communication trends, workshops and panel discussions await you in the Market Insight Hall, and the Market Tools Stage will feature experts focusing on marketing tools with examples of successful brands.

The MAM editorial team is looking forward to seeing you on 9 November!

Source: mam.cz

PRIVATE MEDIA AT ONE TABLE: THE MAJOR AMENDMENT WILL DAMAGE THE WHOLE MARKET

Representatives of Czech private media gathered for the first time at a joint press conference. They are appealing to the Minister of Culture over the draft of a major Media Amendment.

Representatives of the private media sector are calling on the Minister of Culture to first discuss the role of the public media service before making changes to the draft of the so-called major media amendment. Without the discussion, it is impossible to specify how much funding Česká televize (Czech Television) and Český rozhlas (Czech Radio) need for their activities. This is the result of a joint press conference, which for the first time brought together representatives of all the main domestic private media professional associations across media types.

Specifically, the following organisations were represented: the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) whose members include TV Nova and TV Prima, the Union of Publishers on behalf of press publishers, the Association of Private Broadcasters (APSV) representing commercial radio companies, the Internet Development Association (SPIR) and the Association of Online Publishers (AOV) representing online media operators.

They stressed that they were in favour of preserving public service media in the Czech media environment but were surprised by the way Culture Minister Martin Baxa (ODS) approached the drafting of the amendment. Therefore, they again called on him to revise the amendment.

According to Prima’s CEO, Marek Singer, representatives of the commercial sector have already used all options to enter a debate with the Ministry of Culture on the wording of the laws. “This statement of the private media is an ‘emergency brake’. We firmly believe that this is a public appeal, it should be of interest to the Election Committee and the Parliament,” he said.

Representatives of private media did not want to specify their ideas on the amount of the fees. They stressed that the setting of the fees must be based on the definition of the current role of the public service. They do not want advertising money for the private and public sectors to be mixed and therefore oppose advertising and sponsorship on ČT.

WHAT WAS SAID AT THE JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE

Marek Singer, CEO of TV Prima

It is not true that the commercial television companies were consulted about the amendment. That would have been the correct process. Moreover, there is a successful precedent – the amendment to the Audiovisual Act.
The proposed amendment will affect all commercial media. It poses a risk in terms of European law. The absolute lack of specification of what the money should be used for may raise concerns about unauthorised public aid.
We have heard from Petr Dvořák, former CEO of ČT, for many years that he needs about CZK 300 to 500 million more. However, in a few months, this is an extra CZK 1.5 billion, without specifying what the money will be used for. You cannot write a blank cheque and then wait to see what it is spent on. Now is the time to discuss the role of the public service media.

Daniel Grunt, CEO of TV Nova

It is not true that the increase in fees makes up for the situation where there has been no increase in fees since 2008. Commercial television was hit hard by the economic recession in 2009 when the entire advertising market fell by one-third and it has lasted almost until now while ČT has operated with a generous pre-crisis budget.
The new definition of a licence fee payer introduces a mobile phone tax. This may be addressed more elegantly through a specific approach to the iVysílání online service, which is also something ČT’s new CEO wants to do.
There is a real fear of destabilising the entire media market. ČT operates with a relatively significant production budget. Any increase in the budget will restrict production capacity, substantially increasing the prices of all production activities.
We perceive the preservation of advertising and sponsorship on Czech Television as problematic.

Jiří Hrabák, CEO of Rádio Impuls, Radio Section of APSV

Czech Radio’s revenues are now double those of the entire private radio market, while the reach of listeners attributable to Czech Radio and the private sector is 27% and 73%, respectively. This shows the economic ratio in the whole radio broadcasting.
We are not declaring war on public radio. It is more of a fight with a certain arrogance of the Ministry of Culture. A year ago, Minister Baxa stated emphatically that the licence fee would not be increased, and after a year he changed his mind without giving any justification. We have not seen any economic analysis or information on what the money is to be used for. The process should have been the other way around.
In 2023/2024 it is time for the public service debate to begin in the Czech Republic. The public service media has a role to play in our space, but we need to look again at what role it should play, and we need to see if we can specify what public service is. What resources they are supposed to use, and how many programmes they are supposed to have. There is also the issue of competition. In radio, it is manifested in competition for listeners, we also compete for advertising (in limited quantities), and we are together in the labour market, which we have felt more intensively in recent years. We are in the same job market as the public media. With the estimated increase of CZK 600 million in ČRo’s budget, we have no chance to compete for any job position. Secondarily, we also compete in the marketing and media partnership market.

Daniel Sedláček, CEO of Media Bohemia

In terms of overall market share, our media group is similar to Czech Radio; we have 300 to 400 people, half of whom are salespeople, which ČRo does not have. The discussion about the increase should have been preceded by an audit of the financial management system. We achieve the same share as ČRo with 20% of the staff and 20% of the costs. One has to ask, is the service delivered by ČRo so valuable and different from the service we provide?
The transposition of the German media law also deals with the financial management of public service media and stipulates that the same thing should not be produced at a much higher cost. This should concern us before the question of fee increases is raised.
For me, the amendment is a call from the public service media: give us money, we don’t know what for yet, but we want to keep our influence. The media market is changing, mobile phones are not involved by chance, but my children have never tuned into ČT or ČRo on them.

Michal Hanák, Chairman of the Executive Board of SPIR, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mafra

The amendment also fundamentally affects online, which the ministry probably does not think. Licence fees were originally created to help with the dissemination of a specific programme in a limited environment. However, the online environment is not like that at all. In the free market, we find public service media competing with us not only for listeners or viewers but also for staff and advertising revenue.
We are concerned that the amendment expands exemptions for online advertising and does not attempt to define what the money will be used for. ČT also produces online content that is not delivered in linear broadcasting but is only used on the internet. Unequal competition deserves professional discussion, it is not a philippic against Czech Television and Czech Radio. We wish to have a confident public service media, but presenting bills in secret does not help.

Libuše Šmuclerová, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Union of Publishers, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of CNC

None of us can remember a lineup across media types coming together at one table. Numerous reasons for this are common to all of us. None of us want to question the role of the public service media in any way but the amendment on the table has a number of flaws. The role of ČT and ČRo is treated very narrowly in the draft amendment but in fact, it has implications in other sectors. It is not just about linear or terrestrial broadcasting but also about online.
If we want ČT and ČRo to be good managers, there must be a discussion about what the requirements are for public service media in a given media type. As no requirements have been defined, they cannot be specifically fulfilled. What is the concept that we are going to implement? What are the requirements and concepts?
The third question is what the public service media will use the funding for. The standard lawmaker should look at the whole market, which has not happened. That is why we want there to be a debate and we want limits to be set and basic obligations to be imposed on the public service media.

Ondřej Neumann, Association of Online Publishers, Editor-in-chief of Hlídací pes.org

The expansion of ČT and ČRo into online platforms is a potential risk and a big warning for the future. On the internet, both public service media are producing specific programming, competing with us and displacing us. There is a need to define what a public service is and how much it is needed on the internet. Media pluralism must be preserved.

You can read the full text of the joint statement of the private media organisations in the file below.

2023 10 17 Joint Statement FINAL

The major media amendment includes the proposed changes to the Act on Czech Television, the Act on Czech Radio, and the Act on Radio and Television Fee, which aim to increase the television and radio fees to CZK 160 per month for Czech Television and CZK 55 per month for Czech Radio. The proposed changes also include a new definition of the licence fee payer and the application of the fee to users of smartphones or other devices for receiving content. Last week, the inter-ministerial comment procedure on the amendments to the Acts on Czech Television, Czech Radio and Licence Fees ended, and after its settlement, the proposal will go to the government and the Chamber of Deputies.

Professional associations have already taken a negative stance on the draft amendment after it was announced. Shortly after the announcement of the draft amendment at the beginning of September, the Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) said it was demanding its withdrawal from the legislative process. AKTV said that it was unacceptable that it had not been invited to the discussions on the wording of the amendment and that in its current version, the draft undermined the stability of the media sector. The professional associations including the Union of Publishers, SPIR and APSV, representing the private radio sector, have also joined the calls for withdrawal. The Association of Online Publishers (AOV) adds that in view of the new European Media Freedom Act, it demands that conditions be created for the functioning of a pluralistic media market and that fair conditions of competition be set in the online environment.

The press conference can be viewed here.

Source: mediaguru.cz

FACT AND SKY IN JOINT ACTION AGAINST ILLEGAL IPTV PROVIDERS

FACT and Sky are working with regional Police forces to target illegal IPTV service providers across the UK.

The two organisations have identified several operators who have been providing illegal access to premium TV and movies including Sky channels.??The operators were subsequently issued with legal warnings delivered in person, by post, and by email.

The ‘cease-and-desist’ notices instruct those running the services to immediately stop their illegal streaming activity otherwise risk facing criminal prosecution.

Addresses across the UK were visited in person, from London, Dorset, Cambridgeshire, West Midlands, North Midlands, Greater Manchester and to one address in Scotland. While many more notices were emailed or posted.

Over a three-week period, FACT and Sky delivered 47 legal notices. This has led to most of the illegal services being taken down, and advertising removed.

The use of cease-and-desist measures has proven to be a highly effective means of disruption. Just last week, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested a 32-year-old man from Ipswich who had previously received a cease-and-desist notice from FACT for unlawfully selling IPTV subscriptions. A thorough investigation conducted by FACT revealed that this individual had persisted in offering an illegal streaming service to customers. This individual is now facing further investigation and possible criminal action.

This action follows several recent initiatives designed to tackle illegal streaming, including the granting of a new blocking order awarded to Sky and significant enforcement action across Ireland.

Kieron Sharp, CEO at FACT commented: “Illegal IPTV service providers are breaking the law and putting consumers at real risk of malware, data compromise, and identity theft. Consumers who pay for pirate services should also know that they are often funding serious organised crime groups”.

“FACT and Sky remain committed to disrupting these criminal operations and protecting consumers from the many dangers of illegal streaming”.

Matt Hibbert, Director of Anti-Piracy UK and ROI, at Sky said, “We understand the power of working with our partners to tackle the issue of illegal streaming, and we’re grateful to FACT and law enforcement for their support.

“At Sky we are passionate about protecting our content while ensuring consumers can enjoy the content they love, free from risks that illegal streams can pose”.

A new consumer campaign, BeStreamWise.com has also launched across the UK and Ireland. The campaign was formed in partnership with key bodies across the sports, film, and TV industry and is designed to help viewers understand the personal risks of streaming illegally and identify safer options to enjoy their favourite content.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com

EU STUDY: TV CONTENT IS THE MOST FREQUENT TARGET OF DIGITAL PIRACY IN THE EU

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has published a new study entitled Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union. The research, a follow-up to the 2019 and 2021 studies, focused on the consumption of copyright infringing content in the 27 EU Member States, covering TV, music and film between 2017 and 2022. For the first time, the study also looked at publications and software for desktop and mobile devices.

Copyright infringement is a serious problem in today’s digital age, which is rife with technology. The proliferation of the internet has greatly facilitated access to many copyright works and enabled the virtually uncontrolled distribution of copyrighted content through repositories and other platforms whose operators benefit from inadequate legislation. Moreover, illegal behaviour on the Internet has been strongly encouraged by the period of the covid pandemic and related lockdowns.

GROWING PROFIT LOST

The music, television and film entertainment industry is a highly dynamic environment. Companies operating in this sector have had to adapt. They have developed new business models to be able to attract new clients, retain existing customers and ensure their competitiveness in a rapidly evolving market. The production of copyright works is by no means a cheap affair and creators need to offset the high costs involved through profits. However, they are losing these because of piracy.

Moreover, providing access to copyrighted content often involves resource-intensive activities. Pirates can use sophisticated methods to avoid identification and resist or quickly recover from enforcement actions against their services.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Dealing with the phenomenon of Internet piracy is not easy. Indeed, it has evolved alongside technology and is often one step ahead. It is crucial to understand how piracy occurs so that adequate measures can be taken to curb it. That is why the study Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, carried out by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), was created.

Its main objective was to analyse the illegal online consumption of protected TV, music, film, software and publishing content in EU Member States and the UK over the period 2017-2022. The new research builds on a study published in 2021, which was based on data from 2017-2020, and unlike that previous study is broader. It includes software and publishing content, and a new section on piracy at live events has also been added.

More here: euipo.europa.eu

ACE SHUTS DOWN LATIN AMERICAN PIRACY RINGS

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shut down two of Latin America’s largest and most visited Spanish-language piracy rings.

The collective domains – Futbolparatodos.online and Pelisplus.Lat – illegally streamed live sports and a vast library of video content, drawing a combined 150 million monthly visits.

Futbolparatodos, one of the most visited sports piracy sites after the 2022 shutdown of Futbolibre, had a network of more than 20 domains, while Pelisplus.lat recently ranked fourth in Q1 2023 and third in Q2 2023, among the top 25 most visited illegal services in Spanish language.

Commenting on the development, Jan van Voorn, executive VP and chief of global content protection at the Motion Picture Association and head of ACE, said: “Thanks to a tireless worldwide effort involving law enforcement and judicial authorities in several Latin American countries, as well as regional and global ACE teams, two of the most nefarious illegal streaming services in LATAM no longer exist.

“Copyright infringement knows no borders and impacts ACE members regardless of where in the world the operation is based and in what language the pirated content is being streamed. Today’s action is evidence of ACE’s ever-increasing momentum in the LATAM region”.

The domains will be transferred to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page.

ACE is the world’s leading coalition dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market and reducing digital piracy.

The current governing board members for ACE are Amazon, Apple TV+, NBCUniversal, Netflix Studios LLC, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and Warner Bros. Charles Rivkin is chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association and chairman of ACE.

Zdroj: broadbandtvnews.com