A
High support for IP rights among EU citizens
n EU-wide
survey carried out by
the European Union Intellectual
Property Office (EUIPO) shows that
97% of all EU citizens believe it is important
that inventors, creators and performing
artists can protect their rights and be paid for
their work.
The survey questioned 26,555 people
aged 15 and over across the EU-28 about
their perceptions of intellectual property. It
confirms the overall results of a similar survey
conducted by EUIPO in 2013.
Seventy per cent of those surveyed said that
nothing can justify the purchase of counterfeit
goods, and 78% believed buying counterfeits
had a negative effect on businesses and jobs.
However, the survey shows there appears
to be more tolerance for buying counterfeits,
in particular among young people. Fifteen per
cent of 15-24 year olds say they intentionally
purchased a counterfeit product in the past 12
months, 9% more than in 2013. Moreover, in
the context of the ongoing economic crisis, 41%
of young people said they felt it was acceptable
to buy counterfeits if the original product
was too expensive. Three-quarters of all
respondents said they would stop purchasing
counterfeits if affordable alternatives were
available.
Eighty-three per cent said they prefer
to access digital content through legal or
authorised services whenever there is an
affordable option available, and 71% of those
admitting to using illegal sources say they
would stop, if they could access affordable
alternative options.
Twenty-seven per cent of those surveyed
said they had paid for content from legal
sources, 7% higher than in 2013, with 69%
believing that legal sources are of a better
quality.
Among the 15-24 age group, 41% said they
had paid to access content from legal sources,
which is 8 percentage points higher than in
2013.
The percentage of respondents who said that
they knowingly accessed pirated content has
not changed since 2013 (27% of 15-24 year olds
and 10% of all respondents).
However, confusion is growing about what
constitutes a legal source. In 2016, 24% of
respondents, five percentage points more
than in 2013, wondered if an online source
was legal, rising to 41% among young people.
Additionally, 10% of respondents said they
were misled when buying products.
“Overall, we see that support for IP rights is
high among EU citizens. But we also see that
more needs to be done to help young people in
particular understand the importance of
IP to our economy and society, especially
now, when encouraging innovation and
creativity is increasingly the focus of economic
policy across our European Union,” noted
António Campinos, Executive Director of
EUIPO.
EUIPO raises awareness of the economic
value that IP rights bring in terms of
supporting growth and jobs in the EU
through its reporting and study series. EUIPO
supports Europol’s IPR Crime Coordinated
Centre, which works to combat online IP
infringements. Through its online Ideas
Powered initiative, EUIPO works to engage
young people across the EU with intellectual
property.
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EUROMEDIA 13