Piracy of television shows and movies is again on the rise in Australia, after being in decline for years.

Last year, 30 per cent of Australians pirated content online, a massive leap from the 15 per cent who do so in 2019.

As PwC’s 2022 Australian Media and Entertainment Outlook explains, the wider availability of legal alternatives such as Netflix was attributed to piracy’s initial local decline, but “experts are concerned that the growing number of streaming services has customers returning to illicit content consumption.”

It makes sense. In late 2016, the Federal Court determined that ISPs had to block access to certain pirating websites. This helped stem the tide of piracy, but the real gamechanger was the ability to access swathes of content from the likes of Netflix, who dominated the local market.

Fast forward to 2021, and subscribers have the option of Netflix, Stan, Binge, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Paramount+, BritBox, Shudder, AMC+, Hayu, Flash, Kayo, Foxtel, YouTube, and other smaller services.

With many of these services having exclusive rights to various programs, the option to pirate rather than subscribe to multiple services is again proving a tempting one.