During April and May, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ran three anti-piracy events in Spain, with the intent to enable participants to protect intellectual property rights, successfully prosecute offenders, and to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing across national and EU government agencies and with law enforcement.
At the fourth meeting of the Dedicated Network of administrative authorities on live event piracy, which took place on April 29, the EUIPO and the European Commission provided an update on their work in the context of the Commission’s Recommendation on Combating Online Piracy of Live Events, issued in April 2023.
Representatives of national authorities exchanged information and experiences on combating live event piracy. Members took note of the national legislative developments and underlined the relevance of mechanisms to exchange information regarding piracy of live events, including opportunities for further cooperation on online piracy.
On April 30, the second Conference on live event piracy took place, a follow-up to the Conference on live event piracy of 9-10 October 2023. The event brough together private and public stakeholders, who took stock of progress since the adoption of the Recommendation, and discussed new developments, challenges and solutions.
On May 20-22 a further seminar in Málaga covered each phase of a digital piracy investigation and provided participants with a good overview and understanding of illegal streaming & IPTV and how to effectively combat streaming piracy using different investigation strategies, techniques and tools.
The May seminar was organised jointly by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) through the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights together with the Spanish National Police.
Further reading
Regional seminar ‘Strengthening Enforcement Against Digital Piracy’ in Málaga, 20-22 May 2025. Press release. May 20, 2025. European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)
Fighting live event piracy – Dedicated Network and Second Conference. Press release. April 30, 2025. EUIPO
European Commission’s 2023 antipiracy recommendations have had little effect: Live Content Coalition. Article. March 17, 2025. by Steven Hawley. Piracy Monitor.
Recommendation on combatting online piray of sports and other live events. Policy recommendation. April 27, 2023. European Commission.
Why it matters
EUIPO’s anti-piracy seminars are aimed at national experts working in criminal investigation units with competences in the field of digital piracy who wish to improve their knowledge and skills to successfully investigate this criminal phenomenon in a practical way.
While the EC’s 2023 anti-piracy recommendations – which did not take the form of binding law – were well-intentioned, they have been judged by independent agencies as having had little effect.
