Table 2.2.1: Research objectives and metrics OVERALL AIM RESEARCH OBJECTIVE METRICS What is the current of online copyright infringement among Australian consumers? What is the level of access (streaming, downloading and sharing) of the four core content types among Australian consumers? What level of use/access for the four core content types is lawful (and what proportion is unlawful)? How does level of use differ by demographic factors? How has consumption changed since 2015? Whether accessed/ downloaded/ shared files (past three months) by content type Frequency per content type Volume per content type Proportion of type paid for and free Proportion of files believed to have been lawfully accessed (from which a figure for unlawful files can be derived) What are the attitudes that drive online copyright infringement behaviours? What is the level of consumer awareness and knowledge around online copyrighting? What are consumer attitudes towards online copyright infringement? What drives online copyright infringement consumers? What would stop consumers from undertaking copyright infringement behaviours? What is the level of awareness and use of lawful streaming, downloading and sharing services? What are the key reasons driving use/non-use of lawful services? How do knowledge, awareness and attitudes differ by demographic factors? How have knowledge and attitudes changed since 2015, General attitudes Key drivers of behaviour Why people do/don’t infringe What would make them stop? Awareness/use of lawful services Reasons why do/don’t use lawful services Understanding of what is lawful
Lawfulness – how many do you were downloaded or streamed lawfully As highlighted by the 2015 survey, there is a large proportion of the Australian public who are not confident they know what is lawful and what is unlawful in terms of downloading, streaming/accessing and sharing content through the internet (see Chapter 6.5). Therefore, in addition to some people being reluctant to admit to engaging in unlawful activities, some people may not be aware that what they are doing is necessarily unlawful, and hence the level of unlawful activity may be under-reported. Key metrics With respect to assessing levels of copyright infringement for each content category, the approach is consistent throughout the survey, filtering down from general online behaviour towards the potentially sensitive topic of infringement. Within each category, key metrics are reported at two levels: Respondent level – For example, the total number and proportion of the Australian population who undertook an activity such as downloading music; Volume level – For example, the number of music tracks downloaded in the past three months, or the number of music tracks lawfully obtained. The key metrics throughout this report are summarised in the following table: 2.4.2: Key metrics Assessing levels of online infringement Topic Respondent level Volume level General behaviour 1. Done in the past 3 months 2. Frequency 3. Median volumes (past 3 months) among those who have done activity
Table 3.1.2: Proportion of those who had done activity at all in the past 3 months who did it at least once a week Music 2016 Music 2016 Video games 2015 Video games 2016 Movies 2015 Movies 2016 TV 2015 TV 2016 Download Base: Did at all in last 3 months 817 640 306 253 549 448 541 434 % weekly 31 40 24 27 36 38 48 48 Stream/access Base: Did at all in last 3 months 937 818 362 311 712 752 967 981 % weekly 59 71 63 71 41 51 48 55 Share Base: Did at all in last 3 months 169 176 65 74 113 112 113 114 % weekly 50 55 56 60 32 38 35 42 For all four content types, the proportion of consumers streaming/ accessing the content types on a weekly basis increased significantly in 2016 compared with 2015 as follows (with the increase applying in each case to most age groups and genders): 71% of music consumers streamed/ accessed music on a weekly basis in 2016 compared with 59% in 2015; 71% of video game consumers streamed/ accessed video games on a weekly basis in 2016 compared with 63% in 2015; 55% of TV programme consumers streamed/ accessed TV programmes on a weekly basis in 2016 compared with 48% in 2015; and 51% of consumers streamed/ accessed movies on a weekly basis in 2016 compared with 41% in 2015. The 2016 results for sharing content on a weekly basis slightly increased against the 2015 results for all four content types, albeit not significantly. Video games sharers were the most likely to have shared
Table 4.1.1: Lawfulness groups – proportion who consumed any content lawfully/unlawfully (past 3 months) Music 2015 Music 2016 games 2015 Video games 2016 Movies 2015 Movies 2016 TV 2015 TV 2016 Any of 4 2015 Any of 4 2016 Base: All who consumed content 1,152 956 445 385 824 836 100% lawful 63% 68% 78% 78% 52% 61% 67% 74% 57% 63% Mix of lawful and unlawful 17% 17% 10% 10% 17% 16% 12% 11% 31% 28% 100% unlawful 20% 15% 12% 12% 32% 23% 21% 15% 12% 9% ANY UNLAWFUL 37% 32% 22% 22% 48% 39% 33% 26% 43% 37% Base: All internet 12+ 100% lawful 27% 26% 12% 12% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 39% Mix of lawful and unlawful 7% 7% 2% 1% 5% 5% 4% 5% 19% 17% 100% unlawful 8% 6% 2% 2% 9% 7% 8% 6% 7% 6% ANY UNLAWFUL 15% 12% 3% 3% 14% 13% 12% 11% 26% 23% Overall, across all four content types, 37% of content consumers had consumed at least some unlawful files in the past 3 months, a significant drop from 43% in 2015. This corresponds to a quarter of all internet users consuming at least some unlawful files in the past 3 months, but this again dropped from 26% in 2015 to 23% in 2016. was also a significant decline in the proportion of content consumers who consumed all their files unlawfully, down from 12% in 2015 to 9% in 2016. This difference was less pronounced when based upon all internet users, with 6% in 2016, and 7% in 2015, of all internet users consuming all their files unlawfully.
% of total 17% 12% 32% 38% 35% 28% 13% 11% Digital Volume % of total 756m 83% 1,195m 88% 32m 66% 36m 62% 77m 64% 93m 71% 204m 87% 231m 88% DIGITAL ONLY Music 2015 2016 Video games 2015 Video games 2016 Movies 2015 Movies 2016 TV 2015 TV 2016 Paid Volume % of digital 303m 40% 360m 30% 12m 37% 22m 61% 24m 31% 51m 55% 43m 21% 87m 38% Free Volume % of digital 453m 60% 835m 70% 19m 62% 14m 39% 53m 69% 43m 46% 160m 79% 145m 63% Lawful Volume % of digital 598m 79% 916m 77% 22m 71% 30m 83% 49m 64% 59m 63% 138m 68% 175m 76% Unlawful Volume % of digital 158m 21% 279m 23% 9m 29% 5m 14% 28m 36% 34m 37% 65m 32% 56m 24%
PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL FILES COMBINED Music 2015 Music 2016 Video games 2015 Video games 2016 Movies 2015 Movies 2016 TV 2015 TV 2016 Paid Volume % of total 457m 50% 524m 39% 27m 57% 44m 76% 66m 55% 88m 67% 73m 31% 117m 45% Free Volume % of total 455m 50% 835m 61% 20m 41% 14m 24% 53m 45% 43m 33% 161m 69% 145m 55% Lawful Volume % of total 754m 83% 1079m 79% 38m 80% 53m 91% 91m 76% 97m 74% 168m 72% 204m 78% Unlawful Volume % of total 158m 17% 279m 21% 9m 19% 5m 9% 28m 23% 34m 26% 65m 28% 56m 21% As in 2015, music was by far the most consumed content type over a 3 month period, both overall (1,360m tracks) and digitally (1,195m tracks), although this partly reflects music albums being counted as 10 tracks. The vast majority of music tracks were consumed digitally (88%) rather than physically (12%). The number of music tracks consumed increased significantly from 908m in 2015, with almost all of this increase from digital consumption. The second most consumed content type was TV programmes, with 231m consumed digitally and 262m consumed overall. Like most (88%) were consumed digitally, although this does not include free content consumed non-digitally (e.g. watched through a normal TV). The number of programmes consumed increased from 233m in 2015, with once again almost all of this increase from digital consumption. The third most consumed content type was movies, with 131m consumed overall, but a greater proportion (28%) consumed in a physical format, meaning that more movies were consumed physically than TV programmes. However, the number of movies physically consumed fell from 41m in 2015 to 37m in 2016, whereas the number digitally consumed increased, meaning that digital consumption has become a greater proportion of total consumption. Total consumption of movies increased slightly from 119m in 2015. Video games were consumed in the lowest volumes, with a total of 58m consumed in the past 3 months, 62% digitally and 38% physically. Total video game consumption increased from 48m in 2015, with both physical and digital consumption increasing.
5.3 Price sensitivity Consumers of digital music or digital movies in the past 3 months were asked how likely they would be to: Download a high quality music track or movie from a reputable and reliable service at a range of prices; and Subscribe to a monthly unlimited high quality music track or movie streaming service at a range of prices. Table 5.3.1 displays the proportion of digital music consumers and of digital movie consumers who indicated that they would be likely to use the download or subscription service at each price point. Table 5.3.1: Likely use of music and movie download and subscription services at different price points download service 2016 Price point 69c 99c $1.19 $1.69 $2.19 Base: Music consumers 956 956 956 956 956 % likely 79% 75% 60% 49% 38% download service 2015 Price point 69c 99c $1.19 $1.69 $2.19 Base: consumers 1,152 1,152 1,152 1,152 1,152 % likely 78% 71% 54% 45% 33% Music subscription service 2016 point $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 Base: Music consumers 956 956 956 956 956 % likely 67% 47% 26% 17% 14% Music subscription service 2016 Price point $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 Base: Music consumers 1,152 1,152 1,152 1,152 1,152 % likely 63% 44% 26% 15% 12% Movie download service 2016 Price point $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 Base: Movie consumers 836 836 836 836 836 % likely 73% 42% 23% 11% 9% Price point $5 $10 $15 $20 $25
Table 6.3.3: Aspects that would encourage stopping consuming content unlawfully online Any unlawful 2016 Any unlawful 2015 100% unlawful 2016 100% unlawful 2015 Mix of lawful and unlawful 2016 Mix of lawful and unlawful 2015 Base: All who consumed content unlawfully 516 691 143 190 373 489 If lawful services were cheaper# 43% 39% 33% 35% 46% 42% If everything I wanted was available lawfully online as soon as it was released elsewhere# 35% 36% 15% 30% 41% 39% If everything I wanted was available lawfully# 31% 38% 19% 29% 36% 43% If lawful services were convenient / flexible# 30% 26% 17% 23% 34% 29% If lawful services were better# 27% 22% 15% 18% 31% 24% If it is clearer what is lawful and what isn’t# 25% 25% 20% 23% 27% 25% If a subscription service I was interested in became available 24% 26% 14% 20% 27% 30% If I thought I might be caught 23% 20% 17% 21% 26% 21% If I thought I might be sued 21% 23% 17% 23% 22% 24% If my ISP sent me a letter informing me my account had been used to infringe 18% 17% 11% 15% 21% 19% If I knew where to go to see if something was unlawful or not# 18% 14% 8% 11% 22% 16% If everyone else stopped doing it 16% 14% 13% 15% 17% 15% If there were articles in the media about people being caught 12% 9% 9% 10% 14% 9% Nothing would make me stop 6% 5% 10% 10% 4% 4% Average number of reasons cited 3 4 2 3 4 4
significantly reduces coverage of low-frequency internet users (i.e. people who use the internet less than once a day). CATI interviewing: CATI interviewing was selected in order to overcome the representativeness issues of online interviewing. The CATI interviewing component of this research was particularly targeted towards over 65s and those who use the internet less than once a day (there being also considerable overlap between these two groups). The approach differs from the UK study which used face to face interviewing to target over 65s and those who use the internet less than once per day. Replication of the face to face component of the UK study in Australia was not undertaken due to the cost and logistical implications this would involve. For example, ensuring a nationally representative sample for face to face interviews in Australia would involve flying teams of researchers to metro, regional and remote locations throughout Australia, which has large cost implications. It would also require significant time investment and logistical planning which was not feasible in this instance. CATI was considered a more time and cost effective option and is in line with standard practice in Australia. 7.2 Methodological approach in detail Questionnaire design The 2015 questionnaires were used as the basis for the 2016 online and CATI surveys, incorporating any agreed changes while ensuring the two versions maintained the same content as each other, and did not exceed 25 minutes in length. The questionnaire changes made for the 2016 survey are outlined in Section 2.4 of this report. The 2016 questionnaire followed the same as in 2015 with the following sections: Screener questions – age, gender, location, internet access and Online streaming, downloading and sharing of different content types; Music; Video games; Movies; TV programmes; and Attitudes to streaming, downloading and sharing content online.