Italian Piracy Losses Hit €2 Billion, But Not All Pirates Are Equal

Nearly 40% of Italians accessed audiovisual content illegally in 2023, causing an estimated €2 billion revenue loss from about 319 million piracy acts. However, the article argues that not all piracy is equivalent. It distinguishes between those who illegally stream current theatrical releases or live sports and those who access older auteur films unavailable on major streaming platforms. The piece criticizes market imperfections that drive users to piracy, citing examples of subscribers to Netflix (9 million), Prime Video (6.3 million), and Disney+ (3.5 million) who face disproportionate costs (€4-5 rental vs. €9 monthly subscription) for out-of-catalog titles. Proposed solutions include leveraging public service broadcasters like RAI, which collects a license fee, to offer five free streams per year of non-platform films, and Mediaset using active advertising (surveys, newsletter sign-ups) as alternative payment. The author, Stefano Monti of Monti&Taft, suggests that coercive measures are less effective than filling market gaps, especially since niche audiences aggregated can generate significant traffic and ad revenue.