Study - Unlawful practices for making works available online
The quantitative study "Stratégies d'accès aux œuvres dématérialisées" (November 2013) estimated, on the basis of a large sample, that almost half of all unlawful users (46%) said they had already made use of at least one of the delivery methods studied:
- the most widely used is distribution via peer-to-peer/Torrent networks (23% of unlawful users).
- This is followed by: making available on a cloud-type storage space or streaming site (16%); sending a link to a cultural asset by email, SMS or MMS (16%); making available on a downloading site (15%).
As part of its legal observation mission, the Haute Autorité wished to better understand the motivations of Internet users who show works online, as well as the context in which these practices take place, by analyzing the discourse of the unlawful sites themselves with regard to these practices.
Hadopi therefore conducted a study with the Opinion Way institute between April and June 2014 on the practices, mainly unlawful, of making music/video clips, films and TV series available on the internet, their motivations and the representations associated with them (certain legal practices such as the diffusion by internet users of their own creations or a simple exchange of information about a work through social networks came to light in the course of the study).
For the supreme authority for the distribution and protection of intellectual property on internet (Hadopi), this survey of Internet users' behavior and expectations was expected to help it better fulfil its educational mission of encouraging the development of legal supplies:
- by understanding how unlawful sites manage to involve their users, to the point of inciting them to adopt illicit practices to contribute to their economic model, and sometimes by organizing real communities ;
- building awareness-raising discourse and educational projects on creation and royalties, adapted to the realities of Internet user practices in all their diversity.
The study is in two parts:
- a qualitative component aimed at understanding the motivations behind these mainly unlawful practices of making go paperless cultural goods available on the Internet;
- a semiological section on the semantic field and representations linked to these practices, the stereotyped values associated with them and the way they are expressed on the Internet.
Making protected works available is often referred to as "sharing" by the Internet users who practice it, and by the sites that organize these practices. For this reason, the term was given particular attention in the semiological study, which analyzed the representations attached to the word "sharing" and the extent to which they influence perceptions and motivations to make works available.
Key findings
The qualitative study carried out among Internet users shows that there are a variety of "sharing" practices, with different motivations and levels of involvement. Diffusing works on a physical medium (USB key, hard disk) to friends and family can "give pleasure" and strengthen ties with loved ones. On the other hand, online diffusion to anonymous users via peer-to-peer/ torrent networks is often primarily pragmatic: to be able to continue consuming works online.
The study thus identified different profiles of Internet users who adopt the practice of making works available under copyright. While a minority adopt a political discourse of free access to culture for all on the networks, symbolized by the term "sharing", most of the Internet users questioned make cultural content available so as to be able to continue downloading works in compliance with the "ratio" rule between uploads and downloads imposed by certain unlawful peer-to-peer/ torrent sites.
The semiological study shows the importance of the vocabulary used by unlawful sites to describe these practices: "share", "let it run (the torrent)", "diffuse", "faire profiter", "alimenter". These terms correspond to the more or less inciting discourse used by unlawful sites with their users. Indeed, the economic model of certain sites, notably peer-to-peer/ torrent sites, is based, at least in part, on contributions from Internet users. They therefore build up very positive representations of these practices and organize them, notably through the rule of the ratio between the volume of works shown and the volume of works downloaded. This appreciation of "sharing" is therefore linked to the way the site operates.