What are the effects of the Hadopi law? The case of cinema admissions

The “Hadopi” law which entered into force in September 2010 aimed to reduce piracy of cultural goods on the internet, using gradual law reminder measures. This law could affect the purchase of videos and music, purchased downloads and use of cinemas. It is easiest to test the effects on this usage. This test requires having control groups which are not affected by the law. It is based primarily on territorial inequalities in access to broadband Internet. In low penetration areas, illegal downloading is more difficult and must therefore already be modest before the introduction of the law, limiting the impact of the latter in relation to high penetration areas. According to this analysis by area, the law would not have had a significant effect on the total volume of admissions. In contrast, high-penetration areas experienced a significant shift in admissions in favour of American films, those most exposed to illegal downloading. Their market share thus increased by about 9%. This shift towards American films was not observed in other European countries which had not adopted equivalent legislation, which suggests that this is a result of the Hadopi law. This shift was also more pronounced among young audiences, who are probably more concerned by piracy. All this suggests that the law has been effective, at least partially and temporarily, but it has especially benefitted the market segment that was most exposed to piracy, American films. This result does not predict the effects of the law on other marketing methods for cultural goods, mainly in the video and music markets.