Torrenting has long been a contentious method for accessing entertainment online. As streaming services surge, so does the desire to watch movies and shows without subscription commitments. Platforms like The Pirate Bay, LimeTorrents, and uTorrent offer a tempting, free alternative, creating a constant battle between content creators and pirates.

The downside for the industry is clear. According to the US Chamber of Commerce, film and TV piracy costs the sector between $29 billion and $71 billion annually. The fight against piracy inflates product prices, impacting consumers and industries alike.

Yet, beyond the monetary toll, pirated content reflects popular culture trends and the lengths people go to for free access. A recent study by Earthweb.com delved into 2023’s most pirated content, particularly movies, revealing intriguing insights.

The top pirated movies of 2023

Piracy of films has surged, growing by 36% between 2021 and 2022 according to Muso, a research firm. With 2023 and 2024 boasting numerous high-profile releases, this trend is expected to persist.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, topping the charts for the most pirated movie of 2023 is Barbie, amassing over 4 million torrent pages. Despite shattering box office records with earnings exceeding $1.4 billion globally, the movie’s allure for internet viewers seeking free access remains high.

Following in second place is the film adaptation of the horror game Five Nights at Freddy’s, with 131,000 pages of pirated content. Despite divisive reviews, its substantial teenage fanbase, already immersed in online culture due to the game’s popularity, contributes to its elevated piracy figures.

Securing third place with 73,600 torrent pages is Priscilla, a Sofia Coppola-directed exploration of Priscilla Presley’s life. This introspective dive into fame, love, and the unseen facets of the American icon captivated audiences, albeit earning a modest $20.7 million worldwide.

The impact of piracy on the film and other industries

Financial constraints often drive piracy, notably among teenagers lacking independent income. However, this practice significantly impacts the related industry, resulting in substantial revenue losses.

Examining the gaming industry, where the average game costs $69.99, reveals over 536,424 pages of illegally torrented gaming content. This could potentially cost the gaming industry $37,544,315 if each page results in a downloaded game.

TV industries face similar losses, with over 1,062,646 pages of illegal torrent content related to shows from this year alone. Assuming a Netflix subscription cost of $6.99 (£4.99 in the UK), this translates to a potential loss of $7,427,895.

Applying the same logic to films, with 4,849,023 web pages hosting illegal content, the potential loss for a platform like Netflix could be $33,894,670.

While these figures are rough estimates, they underscore the challenges industries face in safeguarding their content from piracy.

For detailed insights from the study, visit Earthweb.com.

As the entertainment landscape evolves, this data serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing battle between accessibility and protecting intellectual property.

Methodology

To find out the most pirated content of 2023, Earthweb pulled together a seed list of movies, TV shows, games, audiobooks and albums that came out in 2023 along with popular software and music artists.

Using these, they then searched in Google for each piece of content along with “torrent” to ensure that the search results pulled in pages that mention both terms verbatim. They also filtered the results to only include web pages from the 1st of January up until the 7th of December. Earthweb then noted down the number of pages on Google for each of these terms. Using this information, the brand finally ranked them by category.

The data was collected in December 2023.