Study: Blu-ray Renters Rip Too

27 Jul, 2010 By: Chris Tribbey

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CENTURY CITY, Calif. — Michael Greeson, founding partner of research firm The Diffusion Group, has some good news and a whole lot of bad for members of the home entertainment industry July 27.

One out of five Americans pirated video content during the last six months of 2009. Of the 74% surveyed that rented videos during that period, 11.1% made nearly three copies, and thanks to a jump in available Blu-ray Disc ripping software that can defeat AACS encryption, Blu-ray renters are burning copies in increasing numbers.

“When you think of piracy, too often you think of mass-produced, black-market,” Greeson told a room full of studio, hardware and replicator representatives. “Much of the damage is in small, personal circles.”

This would entail people with the know-how burning copies for family and friends, hardly thinking of themselves as pirates, Greeson said.

The ray of light in his presentation: When copy protection frustrates potential pirates, 57% of respondents said they would give up after 30 minutes, and another 34% gave up after an hour. Eighty-four percent said they would still buy or rent the video they were trying to get illegally. In all, 50% of American respondents said they have failed to make a copy of videos at some point.

“Even the pirates are impatient,” Greeson said. “It’s got to happen fast.”

The survey, which interviewed 2,000 video consumers in the United States and more than 1,000 in the United Kingdom, found that 14% of American respondents bought a pirated DVD during the six-month period, with 2% having bought a burned Blu-ray. New theatrical releases were copied significantly more than catalog, TV and special interest, and across almost all categories, Americans stole more than U.K. residents.

“A lot of folks are renting, ripping and returning Blu-rays,” Greeson said, pointing out that in just two years the number of Blu-ray ripping software available jumped from two to six.

Sixteen percent of American respondents said they bought a Blu-ray during the sampling period, and nearly 25% of those said they burned at least one copy.

Those Americans stealing music via peer-to-peer sites (80%) said they kept the videos on their computer and didn’t share them on other P2P sites. Twenty percent said they move it around via a USB or other memory device.

“It’s very different behavior,” Greeson said.

Still, Andy Parsons, SVP of corporate communications and new product planning for Pioneer and chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association promotion committee in the United States, said that nugget of data doesn’t give him hope.

“Copying physical or not, it’s still a copy, and I don’t think they’re deleting them off their drives when they’re done watching,” he said.

Sony DADC’s Tom Rooney said the data, while disconcerting, is a needed wake-up call for the industry.

“We have a tendency to disregard piracy, and the reminder helps,” he said. “Technology is becoming so easy to use, and we’re seeing more people renting and ripping because of that.”

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