Online copyright infringement research
In early 2012 the Intellectual Property Office funded Ofcom to conduct research intended to improve understanding of consumers' behaviour and attitudes towards lawful and unlawful access of copyright material using the internet.
The primary objective was to gather data and generate insights that could be used to assist policy-making related to online copyright enforcement. This followed the adoption by Government of a recommendation made in the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth.
The research demonstrated the clear demand for online access to copyright material. However, infringement was a minority activity; we estimated in 2013 that 17% of internet users consumed at least one item of infringing content, which equates to around a third (29%) of all consumers of online content.
High volume infringers: analysis report (September 2013)
Online Copyright Infringement Tracker Wave 4 (September 2013)
Online Copyright Infringement Tracker Wave 3 (May 2013)
Online Copyright Infringement Tracker: Deep Dive Analysis Report (May 2013)
Online Copyright Infringement Tracker Wave 2 (March 2013)
OCI Tracker Benchmark Study Data Tables Q3 2012 (November 2012)
OCI tracker benchmark study Q3 2012 - Data reconciliations (November 2012)
OCI tracker benchmark study Q3 2012 - Introduction and key findings (November 2012)
OCI tracker benchmark study Q3 2012 - Questionnaire (November 2012)
Online copyright infringement tracker benchmark study Q3 2012 (November 2012)
OCI Slide Decks (July 2012)
Illegal file-sharing pilot peer review by Continental Research (December 2011)
Illegal file-sharing pilot survey report by Kantar Media (December 2011)
Qualitative research into online digital piracy by GfK (December 2011)