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Movie Piracy and Displaced Sales in Europe: Evidence from Six Countries

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  • Herz, Benedikt
  • Kiljanski, Kamil

Abstract

This paper presents estimates of lost movie sales due to unpaid movie consumption. We are the first to provide estimates that are recent, representative of the internet-using population, and cover multiple countries. Based on an online questionnaire with almost 30,000 respondents, we document that one unpaid (first) viewing of a movie displaces about 0.37 units of paid viewings. Using a back-of-the-envelope calculation, we show that this implies that unpaid movie viewings reduced movie sales in Europe by about 4.4% during the sample period. Lost sales differ substantially by country: they are in the range of 1.65% for Germany and 10.4% for Spain. We also find that 94% of lost sales are due to unpaid viewings by a small group of only 20% of consumers. Our findings have important implications for copyright policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Herz, Benedikt & Kiljanski, Kamil, 2016. "Movie Piracy and Displaced Sales in Europe: Evidence from Six Countries," MPRA Paper 80817, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:80817
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    movie piracy; copyright; displacement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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