European Commission assesses progress on tackling online piracy of sports and live events

European Commission assesses progress on tackling online piracy of sports and live events

The European Commission has published its assessment of the 2023 Recommendation on combating online piracy of sports and other live events. While acknowledging some positive developments, such as broader use of dynamic blocking injunctions in several Member States and stronger cooperation between national authorities through the EU Intellectual Property Office (IPO) network, the Commission concludes that overall levels of piracy remain largely unchanged following the non-binding Recommendation. The assessment highlights persistent challenges, notably that many hosting and non-hosting service providers still act on notices in fewer than 10% of cases during the live broadcast window. It also points to the continued rise of IPTV and app-based piracy across the EU. Dynamic blocking injunctions are recognised as an effective tool, with very few reported cases of legitimate content being affected. Given the lack of substantial progress, and following numerous calls from stakeholders, including the Sports Rights Owners Coalition (SROC) the Commission will now consider possible further EU-level measures to strengthen enforcement, improve cooperation from intermediaries, and ensure a more consistent application of blocking mechanisms across Member States.

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