Entertainment sectors unite to oppose European geoblocking law – The Hollywood Reporter

The French drama Anatomy of the Fall relied on regional exclusivity for its financing and distribution throughout Europe.

Cannes Film Festival

More than 600 film and TV companies from across Europe, as well as representatives from Hollywood studios, sports leagues, film festivals and film and TV markets, have signed a letter opposing proposed legislation banning geo-blocking across the EU.

Next Wednesday, December 13, the European Parliament will vote on whether to adopt a proposal that would include audiovisual content, from Hollywood films to French TV series to English football matches, in EU regulations prohibiting the use of geo-blocking. Technology to enforce regional exclusivity for film and television content.

The European Union banned geoblocking of most services as part of wide-ranging legislation in 2018, arguing that erecting online barriers to cross-border trade was a violation of the EU principle of the digital single market. However, audiovisual content was initially excluded from the ban. Media companies have long argued that regional exclusivity is key to their business models and that eliminating it would jeopardize the creative and economic sustainability of Europe’s film and television sectors.

On Thursday, December 7, representatives from most major studios, including Warner Bros., joined the film. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures and Paramount, to European giants Canal+, RTL, TF1, Sky, ProSiebenSat.1, Wildbunch and Leonine, representatives of the majors. Sports leagues, including the English Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A, distributors and exhibitor groups, including MPA and European exhibitor organization UNIC, in a joint letter calling on the EU to reject the proposal and maintain regional exclusivity. .

In addition to private companies, the signatories of the letter included representatives of the Cannes and Berlin film markets, the Venice Film Festival, the European Film Academy and the international television festival Series Mania.

Banning geoblocking of film and television content “will result in a reduction in the number and scope of films and audiovisual content produced…distribution and circulation will decrease significantly,” the letter said. The companies say the result of geo-blocking will be “a significant reduction in choice in content, distribution and access options as well as higher prices” for consumers.

In 2018, Europe’s film and audiovisual sector was worth €121.7 billion ($131 billion), or just over half of the $257 billion North American market, according to data compiled by industry representatives from publicly available sources including the Observatory. European audiovisual. MPAA, Eurostat and Bpifrance. But Europe remains largely a patchwork market of individual nation-states or linguistic regions, with small and medium-sized enterprises accounting for the vast majority of employment in the sector.

US-owned streaming companies, including Netflix, Amazon and Disney+, operate across the EU, but the bulk of film and TV financing, production and distribution is done domestically. Licensing contracts for exclusive regional or linguistic rights – for a French film in Belgium, for example, or an English Premier League match in Norway – form the basis of the industry, with prices varying according to demand. On average, lower-income regions in Eastern Europe pay less for movies and TV services than their counterparts in the wealthier West. The rights to an Italian football match are worth more in Italy than in Finland. Companies are using geo-blocking technology to prevent cross-border comparison shopping, which they fear could lead to price dumping, as the less valuable region dictates licensing fees to the entire EU.

Industry representatives claim that disrupting the model by banning geo-blocking would sharply reduce the value of most European content, and reduce the incentive to invest in work from less popular local languages ​​or in content with less pronounced multi-regional appeal.