Is Spain a country of digital pirates? This issue was recently raised by Harrie Temmink, from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), at the Madrid headquarters of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during a meeting entitled “The impact of piracy on the audiovisual industry” on 29 January, with the latest data on a scourge that has been affecting this country - as well as the rest of the continent - in recent years. Because according to EUIPO figures, 61% of the Spanish population believes that “it is acceptable to obtain online content illegally when it is for my personal use,” while in the rest of Europe, this figure is 50%.

Spain is therefore one of the top 3 countries most affected by digital piracy, only behind Bulgaria and Greece, and on the same position as Luxembourg, demonstrated by the fact that 25% of the population aged 15 to 24 and 21% of those aged 25 to 34 upload copyrighted content to the internet to share it with other users.

During the meeting at the Academy, Estela Artacho, president of FEDICINE (Federation of Film Distributors of Spain), stated that 14 years ago, Spain was on the list of pirate countries. She explained that only the Sinde law in 2011 introduced a pioneering administrative procedure in the European Union that allowed the reporting of pirate websites, and that FEDICINE has had civil judgements resulting in numerous blocks of illegal audiovisual content pages.

Miguel Sánchez Galindo, general manager of DigitalES, the employers' association for operators and technology companies, provided additional data: in 2023, there were more than 5 billion illegal accesses, representing 33 billion euros in illegal business in Spain for criminal organisations. 92% of the public access these illegal platforms through Google, with half of the population finding it quick and easy to access, and nine out of ten illegal platforms are financed through advertising. Also, more than 7,000 domains have been blocked since 2021.

Lara Pérez Camiña, president of ADICINE (Independent Film Distributors Association), cited the example of the football industry in Spain, which managed to block numerous illegal platforms. She pointed out that piracy affects independent cinema when films are already available on legal platforms and are not being shown in cinemas. In 2024, more than 6.3 million pirated links were circulating on the internet in Spain, representing individual infringements worth more than 3.5 million euros.

And finally, Jordi Bosch, president of PATE (Associated Television Producers of Spain), remarked that the same perception of piracy in Spain persists as it did in 1996, which is why it must be denounced at events such as the Goya awards ceremony to be held next Saturday, and expressed concern that politicians do not take serious anti-piracy measures because they fear going against voters.

In conclusion, it was clear from the meeting that anti-piracy education must be introduced in schools to support creators and value their work. And that the whole industry, along with politicians and European organisations, must unite in this fight against fraud. However, this task is difficult as the criminals continually innovate and evolve.