MOSCOW – Only 11 percent of Russians are willing to pay for movies downloaded from the Internet, says a survey conducted just a few weeks after a new anti-piracy law was enacted in the country.
Asked what they were going to do if the existing websites offering movies and TV series as free downloads were shut down, only 11 percent of the respondents said they would switch to online video services that charge users for downloading content, according to the research group VTsIOM, which conducted the survey.
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The largest slice of those polled, 36 percent, said they would continue to find ways to download movies without having to pay for it. Another 32 percent said they would exchange films with friends and acquaintances, and 14 percent said they would stop downloading films from the Internet altogether.
On a more optimistic note for the movie industry, 16 percent of the respondents said they would go to the movies more often.
Meanwhile, 35 percent of respondents said they would download a poor-quality copy of a movie rather than pay for it, and only 20 percent would be willing to pay for a better-quality copy.
According to the survey, 61 percent of Russians use the Internet, and 38 percent do so on a daily basis.
The controversial anti-piracy law, which observers said made rights holders’ interests a priority over those of regular users, came into force in early August. And although many expected that it would inevitably lead to the closure of many websites distributing pirated content, only a handful of Russian websites offering illegitimate content for free download have been shuttered, while most have continued to operate.
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