In the European Parliament, the diagnosis is unanimous: content piracy, particularly live streaming, thrives on loopholes in the current framework and fuels a structured criminal economy. Rights holders and MEPs are calling for action. The Commission, for its part, recognizes the limitations of its approach, but has not yet committed to legislating. Meeting on January 13 at the European Parliament at the initiative of MEPs Hélder Sousa Silva (Port, EPP) and Hannes Heide (Aut, S&D), rights holders, broadcasters, and representatives of the cultural and sports industries came to a widely shared conclusion: despite twenty years of debate and a European recommendation adopted in 2023, content piracy—particularly live piracy—remains widespread, structured, and increasingly linked to organized crime. This diagnosis is unambiguous, but has not yet been translated into legislation at the EU level. A question of priorities At the start of the discussions, Hélder Sousa Silva insisted on the need to shift the debate: « The issue is not only economic. Piracy finances criminal…
