China, Russia and Hungary, the Leaders of the Piracy Chart

MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) recently published the results of the 2005 study, which aimed to find out the losses resulted from piracy.

However, the organization has made a few changes compared to the 2004 one, which didn't include the losses resulted from Internet piracy.

According to the evaluation, MPAA studios lost $6.1 billion to piracy in 2005, which is consistent with a piracy study conducted by Smith Barney in 2003 that predicted the motion picture industry would lose $5.4 billion to piracy in 2005.

Of the $6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, $1.3 billion came from piracy in the United States and $4.8 billion internationally, with nearly half of that loss occurring in Europe.

The countries where piracy is most prevalent as a percentage of the marketplace are China, Russia and Hungary.

In spite of the Internet piracy boom, MPAA showed that the physical duplication is still responsible for the largest losses, $2.4 billion, while the virtual phenomenon accounted for $2.3 billion. The other $1.4 billion resulted from making illegal copies for self or receiving illegal copies from friends of a legitimate VHS/DVD/VCD.

About $2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging, $1.4 to illegal copying and $2.3 billion to Internet piracy.

"The findings in this study reinforce the need for a multi-pronged approach to fighting piracy. As an industry, we have to continue to educate people about copyright laws and the consequences of breaking those laws," Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of MPAA said.