Nearly 40% of Italians watch pirated content, says report

Two out of every five Italians watched pirated content last year, according to the Federation for the Protection of Audiovisual and Multimedia Content (FAPAV).

The Italy-based not-for-profit federation released the data from an investigation on Monday, June 5.

In a bid to understand the state of audiovisual piracy in Italy, FAPAV commissioned research company Ipsos to undertake an investigation.

According to the data, 39% of Italians watched movies, TV series or television and entertainment programmes illegally in 2016, resulting in nearly 669 million acts of piracy being committed.

Movies are the most commonly pirated content, with more than 370 million instances being committed. 

The total damage to the Italian economy is estimated at €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion), with 6,500 lost jobs. 

One in every two Italian children aged between 10 and 15 has watched pirated content in the past year, reported the data, adding that film piracy was the most widespread. 

It added that those who commit piracy have a well-defined profile: they are mainly men (55%), workers (54%), and have a higher education qualification (62% were graduates). 

Federico Bagnoli Rossi, secretary general of FAPAV, explained that an increased focus must be placed on communication and awareness, especially with regard to people born or brought up in the age of digital technology.