A group of 30 prominent content creators and entertainment services have come together and formed a worldwide coalition to fight online piracy. In the Nordics, piracy is a widespread phenomenon, despite increasing availability of legal options.

The recently formed Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) consists of 30 content creators and on demand entertainment services, committed to supporting the legal marketplace for video content and addressing the challenge of online piracy. Members include Netflix, HBO, Amazon, BBC, CBS, Hulu, Sky, Disney among others. Nordic SF Studios is also part of the alliance.

In the Nordics, piracy is widespread and has been so for many years. In spring 2017, 16% of Northerners aged 15-74 years admit to engaging in illegal downloading and streaming of video content in the past month. Reach is highest in Sweden, where the corresponding figure is 24%. This is three times higher than in Finland. All-in-all the Nordic pirates consume approximately 400 million films and TV episodes on a yearly basis.

– The supply of legal content online and the usage of legal streaming services, such as Netflix, have increased steadily in recent years in the Nordics. Also, a number of measures have been taken to fight piracy, both from the industry and legally. Despite this, piracy remains high. The question is whether an alliance of such prominent content and entertainment services as ACE can make the difference that so many are hoping for. We will follow this development closely, says Natalia Borelius, project manager at Mediavision.

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