More than 2 out of every 3 consumers of digital editorial content obtain them through piracy, according to CEDRO

Up to 67.5% of consumers of digital editorial content obtain it through illicit channels that is, through piracy, according to the conclusions of the second Observatory of the Sustainability of Written Culture presented this Tuesday by CEDRO.

However, the study – based on 2,600 surveys and several focus groups – reveals that 40% of consumers of illicit editorial content on the Internet are unaware that they are pirates, which is why the authors of the document advocate “a strategy appropriate” to put an end to this behavior, such as the development of information and awareness campaigns.

“‘Piracy of books, magazines and newspapers brings written culture closer to the people’. Let’s say it is a belief that is aberrant, because it is not true.“said Héctor Jiménez, the director of Qbo Research and Strategy – a consultancy that carried out the study – during the presentation of the report in Madrid.

The presentation featured, among others, the writer and journalist Rosa Montero, who has read a letter addressed to a pirate reader, in which he reflected on the impact that piracy has on creators and the threat it poses to the publishing sector.

“It’s a shame that, with your behavior, you are impoverishing the cultural fabric and making it difficult for content creators to dedicate themselves to that, to create content. I inform you that most authors live a rather precarious life. Yes, I know that you see a few on television and everything seems luxury and frenzy to you, but many, actually many, They depend on discontinuous, late and meager incomes that force them to live in constant anxiety.“said Montero during the event.

The study has also focused on the reasons that drive the actions of conscious pirates and the arguments they use to justify these illicit activities. He concludes that they justify their actions by minimizing the conflict”between their illegal action and their ethics, believing that they do not have the necessary knowledge to act otherwise or that there are no effective measures against piracy“.

Furthermore, the cognitive biases that most influence this behavior have been identified, including those that reinforce the perception that book and press piracy is a common or accepted practice and those that minimize the negative consequences of this illicit activity.

On the other hand, the second Observatory of the Sustainability of Written Culture addresses the impact of Artificial Generative Intelligence (GAI) on the protection of copyright. In this regard, the general director of CEDRO, Jorge Corrales, has explained that currently several companies that develop IAG programs and databases are using editorial content without adequate authorization and without offering the corresponding remuneration to the affected authors and editors.

“This lack of transparency and protection of intellectual property distorts the digital market and generates a competitive disadvantage for the book and press sector, negatively affecting its sustainability.“he argued.

“SOCIAL CHANGE BEGINS AT SCHOOL”

For his part, the Secretary of State for Education, Abelardo de la Rosa, also present at the event, has advocated for a cultural change and has highlighted that “the issue” is to move towards ethics: “The administrations have and can do the leadership of regulatory change, but then they have to provoke a cultural change. Society is the one that has to understand, through this gradual, calm, but also continuous education of ethics, of respect for the ethics of rights.

“It is in school where social change begins. The day a student raises his hand in the classroom to say: “Teacher, that content is not legal, we cannot work with it,” we will have taken a giant step“added the writer Ledicia Costas, who pointed out that for this it is necessary to develop and implement specific educational programs that promote knowledge and respect for written culture.

The study also reveals that 87.57% of Spanish society believes that public administrations should adopt measures to protect the intellectual property of the publishing sector, which is affected by this piracy of its content.

Another relevant data is that 92% of those surveyed consider that writers, Translators, journalists and editors are a guarantee of quality and credibility in the content they consume. Furthermore, 94% of respondents recognize the essential role of intellectual property in the development of society, considering it a guarantee of the future that drives educational growth, professional progress and improves the reputation of the public sector when it adopts measures to its protection.