Published on 31 Mar 2025
min read
Content piracy continues to pose a major challenge for the global media and entertainment industry. Reports suggest that by the end of 2027, there will be a cumulative loss to piracy of USD 113 billion for streaming video providers serving US consumers alone.
Fighting against the high-profile leaks of major film releases, sophisticated illegal streaming networks on a global scale, and the exploitation of social media assets requires a proactive and multifaceted approach. Strengthening legal frameworks and consumer education play a crucial role but should be combined with practical technical solutions, including automated monitoring systems and smart watermarks, to effectively mitigate the impact of piracy and enable swift anti-piracy action.
Responding to pirate attacks is increasingly crucial. For live streaming, the anti-piracy response needs to be in real time. Whether for live or on-demand content, there needs to be a concerted and aggressive approach. This includes:
- Enhanced international cooperation: Law enforcement agencies and governments must work together to combat transnational piracy operations.
- Investment in cutting-edge anti-piracy technology: We need to use the most robust and effective DRM, watermarking, and content monitoring systems.
- Firm legal enforcement: We need to pursue and prosecute large-scale piracy operations to send a clear message that this behavior will not be tolerated.
- Public awareness campaigns: There is an urgent need to educate consumers about the real consequences of piracy and promote the value of supporting legitimate content creators.
Content piracy is a persistent challenge for the media and entertainment industry. To combat this, various countries and international organizations have enacted laws and regulations to protect intellectual property rights. These laws and regulations have been created to protect intellectual property rights and include the charter for agencies like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Regional regulations in EU and Asia-Pacific also play a key role in safeguarding content copyright, with industry-specific groups like the MPAA and RIAA working to stop piracy through legal action, technology, and cooperation.
Content pirates are always seeking new ways to evade security, particularly when it comes to events like live sports which is highly profitable. It is crucial to leverage highly scalable, AI-driven, automated anti-piracy solutions such as monitoring and forensic watermarking that enable operators and broadcasters to respond to pirate attacks in real-time. Real-time monitoring includes web crawling and scraping, social media monitoring, dark web monitoring, monitoring file-sharing sites and using watermarks for traceability.
Once an infringement is detected, watermarked content can be traced back to its origin: the individual subscriber or wholesale distribution path. Subscriber watermarking allows broadcasters and service operators to protect exclusive content across all client devices, including broadcast and OTT channels. Distribution level watermarking helps to strengthen distribution chains in collaboration with partners to identify weak links where security needs to be enhanced.
At the same time, watermarking security should not compromise the viewer experience. A good watermarking solution is both invisible to viewers which makes it harder for pirates to remove and robust to withstand transformation or attack. A combined watermarking solution that provides both subscriber and distribution payload help protect distribution channels, devices, and platforms.
This approach needs to be combined with mass scale content monitoring that enables comprehensive detection of leaked content for further extraction of the watermark and efficient takedown action.
By prioritizing watermarking, continuous monitoring, swift action, and a combination of legal and technical strategies, the media and entertainment industry can significantly reduce the impact of piracy and protect the value of creative content. Broadcasters and service providers need to choose a joined-up end-to-end real-world solution, deployed at scale, that can deliver actual business benefits.
L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has partnered with Friend MTS, the pioneers in the industry, to drive best in class anti-piracy services and content security solutions. Our teams build and manage highly secure end to end anti-piracy services to secure and protect content against revenue leakage.
Tailored to your content and distribution model, our technology solutions swiftly identify the origins of illegal redistribution, allowing you to take immediate action. The unique proven solutions like forensic watermarking, dynamic server blocking, 360-degree automated mass scale monitoring and enforcement can help protect the revenue of sports leagues, studios and broadcasters. We deliver unmatched speed, scale and robustness with exceptional results for on-demand, live and linear entertainment environments, ensuring the most optimal outcomes across the global media and entertainment ecosystem.
