According to a recent report by the European Union Intellectual
Property Office (EUIPO), the scale of online piracy in the EU is
decreasing every year. Poles as a nation have particular reasons
for pride in this respect – as the report shows, we are the
least likely of all EU citizens to use illegal content.
In 2020, the average Internet user in the EU accessed
copyright-infringing content 5.9 times a month. Users from Poland
did this on average 3.8 times a month. Apart from Poland, also
Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania,
Spain and the United Kingdom ranked below the EU average as
well.
Piracy, i.e. copyright infringement
Piracy is the colloquial term used for acts of copyright
infringement, such as illegal copying or using the works of
others without their consent and without paying appropriate fees.
However, the activity in question will not be regarded as piracy,
if it can be considered as permissible use under the
