Good News: AVMS Directive Proposals Protect Geo-Blocking

Wed 25th May 2016



The European Commission has published proposals on its review of the AVMS Directive.We are pleased to note that our lobbying efforts to protect geo-blocking have been successful.

There had been concerns that geo-blocking would be abolishedas part of the move to create a Digital Single Market in Europe. SPI joined forces with other European advocacy groups to campaign against this possibility and theexclusion of the AV sector from geo-blocking regulations is a very welcome outcome for these efforts.

We believe that eroding geo-blocking would reduce the volume and quality of original content available in the EU and result in lower levels of investment in TV and film content. The ability to sell content rights within defined territories is a critical sales opportunity for producers and we will continue to work to protect this right.

A further piece of good news in these proposals is the decision to compel video-on-demand producers (Netflix, Amazon etc.) to dedicate at least 20% of their content to European content. This is an important benchmark for existing and new platforms.

These proposals still need parliamentary backing but we think this is a very positive step forward and will keep you updated on further developments.

To read the proposals click here.