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Global Losses to Piracy Top US$6.1 Billion

Piracy is theftA major survey undertaken by the MPA and LEK, a strategy consulting firm, has found that the major U.S. motion picture studios lost $6.1 billion to piracy worldwide in 2005. Eighty percent of those losses resulted from piracy overseas, twenty percent from piracy in the U.S. Sixty two percent of the $6.1 billion loss result was from from piracy of hard goods such as DVDs, while thirty eight percent was from internet piracy. Piracy rates (calculated as legitimate revenue plus estimated revenue lost to piracy in each market) are highest in China (90 percent), Russia (79 percent) and Thailand (79 percent).

The worldwide motion picture industry, including foreign and domestic producers, distributors, theaters, video stores and pay-per-view operators, lost $18.2 billion in 2005 as a result of piracy. The survey found the typical pirate is age 16-24 and male.

Read the full report "The Cost of Movie Piracy" (PDF).

More Interesting Facts

  • After a dip in 2005, the U.S. box office climbed up 5.5% to reach $9.49 billion in 2006. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 4)
  • Worldwide box office reached an all-time high in 2006 with $25.82 billion, an 11% increase. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 5)
  • U.S. theater admissions grew 3.3% to 1.45 billion tickets, ending a 3-year downward trend. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 6)
  • Consistent with 2005, PG and PG-13 films accounted for 85% of 2006's top 20 films. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 11)
  • The average cost to make and market a major MPAA member company film was $100.3 million in 2006. This includes $65.8 million in negative costs and $34.5 million in marketing costs. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 12)
  • In 2006, the average price of a movie ticket in the U.S. rose to $6.55, a 2.2% increase over 2005. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 23)
  • The total number of films released continued to increase in 2006 with 607 films released. This is an 11% increase over 2005's 549 films. Read More (PDF: 2006 US Theatrical Market Statistics Report, page 10)

Global Reports

More global statistics and reports can be found on the U.S. MPAA website.

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