Consumption of pirated online content in the European Union
The widespread incursion of the Internet into the daily lives of consumers, together with the COVID-19 pandemic, has contributed to a significant increase in the consumption of online content in the last few years. Opportunities for listening to music, reading e-books or watching favorite movies and series through the global network, the entertainment through online games and streaming leisure sports events are increasingly preferred in an epidemic situation and social distancing. In this regard, the problem of illegal downloading of digital content comes to the fore. The aim of this paper is to present the specifics and harms of the use of pirated online content, and based on a brief overview of this consumption within the European Union, the ways to limit it are outlined. The analysis uses data published in studies by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for the period 2017 - 2020.