MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. The volume of online piracy in Russia may grow significantly in the near future, the press service of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC) told TASS, citing forecasts for the development of the Internet economy in Russia for 2023. Experts interviewed by TASS believe that the piracy volume could double and reach $60 mln.
"Despite all the efforts that the industry is making to combat content pirating, it is expected that in the near future its volumes will increase significantly," the RAEC press service said.
The press service clarified that the Anti-Piracy Memorandum signed between major search engines and copyright holders of video and audio content, which was extended in 2022, can protect it. However, the memorandum does not cover, for example, games or e-books.
Managing director of Twiga Russia communications group Sergey Ogandzhanyan told TASS that the volume of Internet piracy will increase significantly. "It's very unpredictable. The volume of piracy could double," he suggested.
Ivan Samoylenko, managing partner at B&C Agency, told TASS that the volume of online piracy in Russia is steadily growing amid crises and will continue to grow over the next 2-3 years. According to him, in 2015 the volume of piracy in Russia was $32 mln, but by 2018 the figure had grown to $87 mln. Then the volume of online piracy declined and in 2021 the figure reached $50 mln. According to him, this happened, among other things, due to the tightening of Russian legislation and the increasing bans of pirated content.
"However, now, against the backdrop of declining incomes of the population and lack of access to new Western films and other content, online piracy may arise once again. According to forecasts, by the end of this year, the market volume may already reach $60 bln or more," the expert suggested.