After Anti-Piracy Law Enacted only 11% of Russians Willing to Pay for Movie Downloads

Just a few weeks after a controversial anti-piracy law was enacted in Russia, a survey has found that only 11 percent of Russians are willing to pay for movies downloaded from the Internet.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 36 percent of those Russians surveyed said they would continue to find ways to download movies without having to pay to view them. Another 32 percent said they would exchange movies with friends, and 14 percent said they would stop downloading films completely from the Internet.

Meanwhile, 16 percent of respondents said they would go to the movies more often.

However, 35 percent of those surveyed said they would download a poor-quality copy of a movie rather than pay for it, and just 20 percent of respondents would be willing to pay for a higher quality copy.

The survey found that 61 percent of Russians use the Internet, with 38 percent engaging in daily use.

Observers noted that the new anti-piracy law, enacted in August, made the interests of copyright holders a priority over those of regular users. Despite predictions that the law would lead to the closure of many websites distributing pirated content, most Russian websites offering illegitimate content for free download are still in operation.