Thread: Internet Piracy Boosts Anime Sales, Study Concludes

Internet Piracy Boosts Anime Sales, Study Concludes

A prestigious economics think-tank of the Japanese Government has published a study which concludes that online piracy of anime shows actually increases sales of DVDs. The conclusion stands in sharp contrast with the entertainment industry’s claims that ‘illicit’ downloading is leading to billions of dollars in losses worldwide. It also puts the increased anti-piracy efforts of the anime industry in doubt.

The Japanese Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) has published an elaborate study that examined the effect of piracy on sales and rentals of Japanese anime DVDs. The results are quite remarkable.



While the music and movie industry often make outrageous claims about the disastrous effect of piracy on their respective industries, researchers are still divided. Some researchers claim a considerable loss due to unauthorized sharing, while others have found that the overall effect of piracy is a positive one.

RIETI’s study on the effects of piracy on the sales of anime DVDs in Japan falls in the latter category.

In their paper the researchers examine the effects of YouTube and the popular P2P-network Winny on DVD sales and rentals of Japanese anime episodes.

“Estimated equations of 105 anime episodes show that (1) YouTube viewing does not negatively affect DVD rentals, and it appears to help raise DVD sales; and (2) although Winny file sharing negatively affects DVD rentals, it does not affect DVD sales,” the researchers conclude.

“YouTube’s effect of boosting DVD sales can be seen after the TV’s broadcasting of the series has concluded, which suggests that not just a few people learned about the program via a YouTube viewing. In other words YouTube can be interpreted as a promotion tool for DVD sales,” it adds.

The results of the Japanese research confirm that piracy does not always have to be associated with a decrease in sales. Similar effects have been observed for music piracy and book piracy as well.

One point of critique based on the main conclusions of the study, is that the observed relation only appears to be correlational. This may mean that the results could in part be influenced by significant third variables such as promotion and overall popularity. Since the report is only available in Japanese we were unable to confirm whether this was taken into account.

The results of the study come at an interesting time. For years anime distributors where considered quite lenient towards piracy, but last week the American anime distributor Funimation announced lawsuits against 1337 alleged BitTorrent downloaders.

Although it’s not expected that one study will change the tune of the copyright holders who are currently pursing alleged pirated in court, the study does confirm that the availability of unauthorized streams and downloads do not necessarily harm sales. Quite the opposite. The challenge for the content producers is to find the sweet spot that will benefit them, and consumers.

Source : Internet Piracy Boosts Anime Sales, Study Concludes | TorrentFreak

As i read in some blog: "Has piravy ever killed an industry?" Catch the real criminals, and those aren't us...

The problem is for every one of the studies that draws the conclusions above, there will be at least 10 other studies who shows otherwise because the media company pay big money for researchers that support their claim.

Wow, there are some people who understand that piracy is not an absolute evil... Too bad that nobody will listen to them:(

Funimation announced lawsuits against 1337 alleged BitTorrent downloaders.

Seems that Funimation are leet fans - look at the number of alleged people. It can't be coincidence...

i think manny buy anime after they download it also cause i wouldnt buy an anime dvd box just like that it would only be of series i think its good and they dont sell much anime here in sweden probably in manny countries they dont so they actually profit from it cause i wouldnt buy annything if i couldnt download.

dont think the 1337 can be a coincidence either lol.

Good read, I dislike the fact that it is always an American company that ends up filing the lawsuits. Funimation gets licenses to the anime and files a lawsuit, whereas the companies who hold the IP don't.

If it weren't for being able to download episodes as they air in Japan , then how would I know about an awesome series that I want to buy on BDVD when it's released? Or even merchandise?
There is a very limited amount that airs on TV, and it's always butchered by editing and translations(imho). It's easy for us who download to see how we boost the industry and yet the companies and government agencies who file lawsuits seem to be so blind even with the hard evidence out there