Pirates went to the library

Against the backdrop of the departure of major film studios and foreign streaming services from Russia, the number of links with pirated content has increased on the Russian Internet. Foreign copyright holders have weakened the protection of films and series, against this background, illegal video services are strengthening and expanding libraries. Yandex blocked 42% more links in the summer than last year, while Gazprom Media reports a 25% increase in blocking in the second quarter. Most often, pirates post Hollywood premieres, but as the viewer returns to illegal content, it becomes more difficult to protect Russian TV series, movies and shows, market participants say.

The number of links with pirated content that were removed in the Yandex search as part of the anti-piracy memorandum is growing, the company told Kommersant: 9.1 million in June-August against 6.4 million last summer. The anti-piracy memorandum was signed by copyright holders and search engines in 2018 and obliges the company to remove links to pirated resources from search results out of court.

Gazprom Media (NTV, TNT, TV-3, Pyatnitsa!, etc.) is also talking about intensifying the fight against pirated content: in the second quarter, the number of blocked links increased by 25%, to 1.64 million. The statistics includes links blocked by the decisions of the Moscow City Court on the claims of the holding, as well as within the framework of the anti-piracy memorandum with Yandex and when contacting other search engines. “In the third quarter, no less links will be blocked than in the second,” Gazprom Media believes.

The online cinemas surveyed by Kommersant do not provide their own figures on the number of violations, but emphasize that pirates mainly target foreign content. “According to platforms like Netflix that left Russia, piracy has increased unequivocally. If you can’t watch officially, then people will watch unofficially. According to the pirates themselves (their number.— “b”), I think that’s how it was,” explains the head of the Start anti-piracy department Sergey Vasilenko. “The main interest is Hollywood premieres and exclusive content from Western venues. Pirate sites change their names all the time. Control has not weakened, but rather demand has grown,” says Wink Development Director Anton Volodkin.

Premier CEO Sofya Mitrofanova at the same time notes that it is becoming more difficult to protect Russian-made content. “Foreign producers protected content efficiently, thereby helping the entire market to fight piracy. Now that the piracy services have “exclusively” Netflix content, they are flourishing and intensifying. Of course, they do not steal selectively on the principle that the copyright holder is not in the country. The content of Russian video services suffers in the same way, only now it is much more difficult to deal with it,” Ms. Mitrofanova explains.

Even in 2021, which was relatively prosperous in terms of piracy, 48% of online cinema users admitted that they turn to pirated resources when they cannot find a legal version of a movie, says Denis Kuskov, CEO of the TelecomDaily analytical agency. “This and probably next year, the figure will grow significantly, given that both video services and offline cinemas have lost all major Western novelties. In the next year or two, the market for pirated content will flourish,” the expert believes.

“It is paradoxical, but true: in order to save the domestic film industry, it is necessary to fight against piracy and foreign content. The situation is unprecedented. Our association, together with other market players, is already working on possible solutions. Of great concern is the growth in the spread of pirated content in social networks and instant messengers,” emphasizes Alexei Byrdin, CEO of the Internet Video Association.

Any measures that complicate the work of official resources will contribute to piracy, Sergey Vasilenko fears: “For example, a conditional law on advertising labeling (came into force on September 1 and implies the need to report on ads in Runet.— “b”), most likely, will hit first of all on the official sites.

Valeria Lebedeva