Brussels, 13/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Monday 13 January that it has opened formal antitrust proceedings to examine certain provisions in licensing agreements between several major US film studios (Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and Paramount Pictures) and the largest European pay-TV broadcasters such as BSkyB of the UK, Canal Plus of France, Sky Italia of Italy, Sky Deutschland of Germany and DTS of Spain. The Commission is investigating whether these provisions prevent broadcasters from providing their services across borders by satellite or internet.
The Commission will examine whether provisions of licensing arrangements for broadcasting by satellite or through online streaming between US film studios and the major European broadcasters, which grant to the latter “absolute territorial protection,” constitute an infringement of EU antitrust rules. The provisions granting “absolute territorial protection” ensure that the films licensed by the US studios are shown exclusively in the member state where each broadcaster operates via satellite and the internet. These films cannot be made available outside that member state, even in response to unsolicited requests from potential subscribers in other member states.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that the Commission was not challenging the granting of territorial protection, but rather trying to get film studios to sell rights on a pan-European basis. The investigation will simply examine whether the rules laid down in the EU Court of Justice rulings on premier league football matches can be extended to hit movies and other audiovisual content. In Premier League/Murphy ruling in 2011 (see EUROPE 10466), the Court of Justice banned measures that would give broadcasters exclusive rights to live broadcasting in specific countries (usually their own member state) of premier league football matches because this prevented football fans in other countries from watching said matches. In the ruling, the Court of Justice said that the measures preventing satellite broadcasters from streaming the programmes to consumers outside the geographical area covered by the licence allowed broadcasters to gain absolute territorial exclusivity in the area covered by the licence, thus eliminating any competition between broadcasters and ring-fencing markets along national borders. (FG/transl.fl)