59 DMCA Statistics, Trends, and Insights for 2024

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA for short) of 1998 was enacted to protect digital product owners from online theft. This includes multiple different types of media, online courses, and more.

Here are the most important statistics on the DMCA and DMCA takedowns in 2024.

Key DMCA Statistics

Here are the highlights, the TLDR if you will, of DMCA statistics in 2024. A porn site is the most-targeted site for copyright infringement, mixed media content is the most commonly infringing material, and digital piracy costs nearly $30 billion in lost revenue each year.

1. As of February 2024, daft.sex was the most-targeted website for copyright-infringing URL removal requests from Google Search, with over 124.15 million URLs requested to be removed.
2. Images (23%), video (19%), and text-based content (18%) made up the largest percentage of DMCA-related content.
3. Digital piracy costs the U.S. economy around $29.2 billion in lost revenue, 71,060 jobs, and $2.7 billion in reduced tax revenue annually.
4. The worldwide value of digital piracy was estimated to be between $29.2 billion and $63.6 billion in 2021.
5. Google received just over 75 million DMCA-related takedown requests in March 2016 alone.
6. Mainstream copyright owners send takedown notices for more than 6.5 million infringing files on over 30,000 sites each month.
7. Copyright owners are currently sending notices at an annual rate of over 78 million infringing files.
8. The largest percentage (25%) of content targeted by DMCA notices involved mixed media (images and video or text and images).

DMCA Statistics by Industry

Which industries are the most guilty of copyright infringement?

Throwback to Limewire days! Almost 30% of internet users are accessing unlicensed music. Frustrated with streaming platforms charging more and more each year? You’re not the only one. The second largest industry hit with copyright infringement is the streaming industry. Check out how other industries measure up.

9. Around 27% of global internet users accessed unlicensed music in 2020.
10. Approximately 17% of internet users worldwide accessed unauthorized streaming platforms or engaged in illegal downloading in 2019.
11. The global commercial value of unlicensed software was estimated to be around $46.3 billion in 2018.
12. Around 20% of e-book downloads in the United States were pirated copies in 2017.
13. The largest percentage (22%) of DMCA requests were to blogs that are “undefinable”.
    1. Music, Entertainment, and Sports Blogs: These categories, along with adult content, each accounted for 17% of DMCA requests.
    2. Spam Accounts: Blogs that were clearly spam accounts constituted only 7.6% of the requests.
    3. Personal Blogs: Personal blogs made up 12% of takedown requests.
    4. Social, Cultural, and Political Blogs: These accounted for 8.4% of requests.
    5. Science and Technology Blogs: These constituted 8.6% of requests.
14. OnlyFans, YouTube, and Twitter are major platforms receiving DMCA takedown notices.
    1. OnlyFans Requests: OnlyFans submitted 2,135,574 URLs over 2,204 individual requests to be delisted from search results.
    2. YouTube Content ID Claims: Reached an all-time high in the first half of 2023, with 826 million claims in six months, though only 1% were DMCA claims.
    3. YouTube’s Copyright Match Tool: 6 million removal requests were made using this tool.
    4. Reddit DMCA Requests: In the first half of 2023, Reddit received 152 requests for DMCA takedowns.
    5. Google’s Total Requests: The total number of requests filed for Google is 7,749.31 million.

DMCA Statistics by Country

USA! Is in first place with online piracy. 

15. The United States, China, and Russia were among the countries with the highest rates of piracy.

Copyright Claims Board (CCB) Statistics

The Copyright Claims Board is the governing body of, you guessed it, copyright claims. As such, they’re the authority when it comes to copyright claims. But how busy are they? And what types of work are they handling claims on? Let’s see!

16. At the end of May 2024, 858 total cases had been filed with the CCB.
17. 360 of the CCB cases are “smaller claims”.
18. In at least 228 of all CCB cases, the claimant is using legal counsel.
19. At least 746 of the CCB cases involve infringement claims.
20. 152 CCB cases involve Section 512(f) misrepresentation claims.
21. 28 CCB cases involve claims for declarations of noninfringement.
22. Types of Works Involved:

23. Pictorial Graphic & Sculpture: 358 cases
24. Literary Works: 131 cases
25. Motion Picture and Audiovisual Works: 183 cases
26. Sound Recordings: 83 cases
27. Musical Works: 59 cases

28. 108 foreign residents have filed claims with the CCB.
29. 712 cases have been dismissed for various reasons including:

30. Respondent’s Opt-Out: 84
31. Failure to Amend Noncompliant Claim: 350
32. Registration Issues: 16
33. Failure to Provide Proof of Service of Process: 133
34. Claimant Withdrawal and Dismissal of Claims: 67
35. Bad Faith Claimant: 14
36. Settlement: 48

37. There are 61 active proceedings in the CCB.
38. The CCB has issued 24 final determinations.

Compliance and Fraud Prevention

We didn’t want to just tell you about all of the issues without helping you fix them! Luckily, there are quite a few ways you can prevent piracy and deter thieves from stealing your original online content. Here are some statistically-backed ways to remain compliant and prevent fraud.

39. Website owners should designate a DMCA agent with the Copyright Office.
40. Displaying a DMCA compliant badge on a website can help build trust with viewers.
41. YouTube Studio offers tools to help determine whether videos are copyrighted, though it cannot automatically identify all infringing content.
42.  There is a significant issue with fraudulent DMCA takedown requests being used to remove critical articles from the internet.
43. Google accepts takedown notices without requiring proof of the identity of the person submitting the notice, leading to abuse.
44. Victims of fraudulent takedown notices can file counter-notices to restore their content.
45. The volume of automated DMCA takedown notices makes it challenging for victims to respond, especially if they are not large media corporations.
46. The Lumen database tracks DMCA takedown notices and has identified patterns of abuse.

Industry-Specific Piracy Issues

Since pirates are so creative, different industries face different challenges when it comes to piracy. For instance, today, there are many rip-off streaming services that offer some of the biggest titles you can find on legitimate services for a fraction of the price (or even free!) In contrast, file-sharing sites are a big threat when it comes to the publishing industry. Here’s more.

47. Stream-ripping piracy surged in 2021, driven by the popularity of legal music streaming platforms.
48. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a spike in film and television piracy due to increased online streaming consumption.
49. Unlicensed streaming platforms, illegal downloads, and illicit IPTV services are major sources of infringement in the film and television industry.
50. Software piracy rates remain high, particularly in developing countries.
51. The publishing industry faces challenges with the unauthorized sharing of e-books and academic journals on peer-to-peer networks and file-sharing websites.

Legislative and Technological Measures

The law is fighting to try and stay one step ahead of copyright infringement in the online space. They plan to do this by leveraging things like AI to more easily and definitively identify and take down infringing content. Here’s what else they’re working on.

52. Efforts to combat copyright infringement include enhanced legislation and increased enforcement actions.
53. Technological solutions are being implemented to protect intellectual property rights.
54. The EU’s Digital Single Market Directive aims to harmonize copyright laws and hold online platforms more accountable for hosted content.
55. The U.S. Copyright Office is addressing copyright issues raised by AI and plans to update its practices to include guidance on registering works incorporating AI-generated material.

Ongoing Challenges and Collaboration

Moving forward with all of this in mind, there are a few ongoing challenges when it comes to the DMCA and online content. Government entities and individuals are finding ways to collaborate to keep content in the hands of its original creators and away from online thieves.

56. The ever-evolving nature of digital technology and the ingenuity of those engaged in piracy present ongoing challenges.
57. Governments, industries, and individuals need to work collaboratively to address copyright infringement.
58. Promoting the ethical consumption of creative works is crucial for fostering a fair and thriving environment for innovation and creativity.
59. Record labels are involved in a lawsuit against the Internet Archive over the mass digitization and distribution of pre-1972 sound recordings.

 

Sources:

1. https://ddiy.co/dmca-statistics-trends
2. https://blog.gitguardian.com/dmca-takedowns/
3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/279954/infringing-urls-requested-to-be-removed-from-google-search-by-domain/
4. https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/02/17/the-invisible-campaign-to-censor-the-internet/
5. https://bytescare.com/blog/copyright-infringement-statistics