PriceWaterhouseCoopers is arguing that damages due to downloading from an illegal source and private copying are much lower than portrayed by the movie and music industries because “there are many positives sides to ‘reuse‘ of digital content”. Who exactly is benefiting from those positive side effects – and to what extent – is a totally different matter of course, but a similar view has been presented in the past in this Dutch language report, Facts to Share.
Damages in The Netherlands are estimated by PWC at 12.8 million EUR per year.
Researchers have now also introduced a ‘promotion effect‘ (of content being available illegally) which would contribute to more music and movies being sold. That would amount to 0.7 million EUR per year which brings total damages at a ‘mere’ 12.1 million EUR.
Ah, before we forget, this time the research has been sponsored by ICT-Office, FIAR and STOBI. Organizations representing companies that would suffer if damages due to downloading from an illegal source and private copying would be more significant, as the Dutch government plans on introducing new private copy levies which will influence the prices of smartphones, tablets, hard drives and memory cards.
But again and in summary: provide more content at a low price and for free, allow everybody to copy, reuse and redistribute it and everybody else but you will benefit from it and you will make the world a better place. This typically works best if you’re not the one who has invested 12.8 million or more in producing the content in the first place.
Dutch language news article:
http://www.nu.nl/internet/2938269/nieuwe-thuiskopieheffing-veel-hoog.html
Previously:
Dutch ‘Scientists’ At IViR: Enforcement (Which Has Never Taken Place In The Netherlands) Is Not The Answer To Online Piracy
http://vrritti.com/2012/10/17/dutch-scientists-at-ivir-enforcement-which-has-never-taken-place-in-the-netherlands-is-not-the-answer-to-online-piracy/
