Blocked pirate websites used 50 per cent less due to court orders

Pirate websites blocked by the Australian government are used 50 per cent less than a year ago after increased efforts from entertainment companies to stop illegal video sharing sites.

In the past year there has been a 25 per cent drop in overall piracy in the year and a 53 per cent drop in the use of blocked sites, the Australian Site-Blocking Efficacy Report released on Wednesday by intellectual property solutions company Incopro shows.

Graham Burke, co-chief executive chairman of Village Roadshow says site blocking has helped improve piracy, but more needs to be done.

One way copyright holders can stop pirate websites in Australia is by getting a court order for internet service providers to block a site.

In August, Foxtel and Village Roadshow had 59 pirate sites blocked by the Australian Federal Court using site-blocking laws.

Creative Content Australia chairman Graham Burke, who is also the co-executive chairman of Village Roadshow, said the laws were clear that piracy was “theft”.

Mr Burke is a 13 per cent shareholder in Village Roadshow. At its half yearly results he told shareholders getting rid of piracy would have an "upside" for the company.

“Site-blocking is one of the most powerful weapons in its armoury, it shuts the front door,” he said.

The government recently launched an inquiry into the effectiveness of site blocking.

While he was happy with the success so far of site blocking, he said it should not be the only focus in the “fight against piracy”.

“Site blocking is just one of the planks. It’s also about providing product at home in a timely and cost-effective way,” he said.

“It’s also about educating people who think ‘what’s one movie?’ to the point that there are no more movies.”

To fill this education role, Creative Content Australia has launched an advertising campaign telling people to “say no to piracy” that will be seen in cinemas and on both subscription and free-to-air television from Thursday onwards.

Mr Burke has been vocal that he thinks digital giant Google should proactively remove pirate websites from its search engine.

A campaign from Creative Content Australia in 2017 called the ‘Price of Piracy’ told consumers pirate sites posed risks to those using them, executive director Lori Flekser said.

The new campaign is focused on showing the talent in the Australian film and television industry that is at risk from illegal film downloads.

“Online piracy jeopardises not only local jobs and livelihoods, but also the future of great Australian stories that promote our culture and way of life,” she said.

“The reduction in piracy that this research confirms offers proof to all the naysayers who decried site-blocking that not only is it working well, but it hasn’t broken the internet.”