OPINION – An extension of the Geo-blocking Regulation to audiovisual works would be very bad news for consumers

Posté par Isabelle Szczepanski le 6 avril 2021

OPINION – Juliette Prissard, general delegate of Eurocinéma, warns Europe: banning territorial exclusivity in the cinematographic and audiovisual sectors would be a fatal blow to the way films are financed. This, she explains, will penalize the final consumer.

The audiovisual and cinematographic sector is going through a bitter experience.  At issue is the revision of the European regulation on « unjustified geographical blocking » adopted during the previous legislature, which prohibits geographical discrimination of customers purchasing goods or services in the European Union, including when this discrimination is linked to means of payment or is carried out by price differentiation. However, this text does not apply to audiovisual services or to online content protected by copyright, thus respecting the principle of territoriality linked to the financing of their creations.

The implementation of this 2018 regulation has just been evaluated by the European Commission. The conclusions recommend the launch in the coming weeks of a large consultation of the audiovisual and cinematographic sector to identify the obstacles to the online circulation of audiovisual works in the internal market.

It is in this context that some MEPs are taking this dialogue up in order to influence its future outcome.

Indeed,…

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