Is geo-blocking for copyright goods next on the agenda of the European Commission?

By Sylvie Fodor

On 25 May 2016, the European Commission proposed new e-commerce rules to help consumers and companies reap full benefit of Single Market Read here

Press Release is available here

Under the rules proposed on 25 May, e-commerce companies based in one EU country will have to sell their products or services to customers in other member states. Read here

The European Commission has chosen to focus on physical trade. Services providing access to or use of copyright protected content, such as music, e-books but also visual works, are excluded from geo-blocking regulation for now.

The European Commission proposes a review to be conducted two years after the entry into force of the Regulation.

European film and TV producers and sports industries, which business model rely on contractual freedom and territtorial licenses, have put high pressure to maintain the possibility of geo-blocking. They expect huge losses to audiences and the European creative sectors if Digital Single Market measures undermine this freedom in the future.

They published a Study on the Impact of Cross-Border Access to Content on Consumers which may be downloaded here.

Also the music industry has lobbied to exclude their services from geo-blocking. Commenting on the Communications of the European Commission, IMPALA‘s President Helen Smith says: “Extending the geo-blocking regulation to copyright related services would create a hindrance to cross-border activity and be a serious blow for cultural diversity. It would have the opposite effect to that intended by the Commission and we look forward to discussing this further with Mr Ansip“.

However, pressure from consumer groups to extend geo-blocking to copyright industries is unabashed.

“An anti-geo-blocking regulation that does not cover online video content misses the point,” said unexpectedly Julia Reda, a member of the European Parliament’s Green group.

The influencial European Consumer organisation BEUC has written to the Commission asking for copyrighted material, such as music and books, to be included too.
Copy of letter is available here.

It comes at no surprise, but expect the next two years will be the battleground around geo-blocking for online copyright content.