In May 2023, the European Commission issued a Recommendation toward combating online piracy of sports, urging stakeholders to take action against unauthorized re-transmission of such copyrighted content. In April of this year, the EC opened a commentary period to collect input toward fine-tuning its Recommendation; which closed on June 4.
92 responses came in, which will be evaluated over the summer and fall. The EC has set November 17, 2025, to “assess the effects of the Recommendation” which also takes into consideration the findings of the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office Observatory.
Site blocking is top of the list, along with timely responses, a need for collaboration between media stakeholders and with distribution partners, law enforcement, courts, regulators; and the adoption of practices such as Know Your Business Customer.
A link to the entire collection of responses hosted by the EC is below. Here are a few of the highlights.
Canal+ Group (France), a long-standing pay TV provider with almost 27 million subscribers in 52 countries, including 15 territories in Europe, cited loss estimates by (French regulator) ARCOM generated by live piracy in 2023 to 1.5 billion including a 260 million loss for pay TV players only.” It “regrets (the 2023 Recommendation’s) limited deterrent effect on live piracy so far, largely attributable to its non-binding nature, and itself recommended two essential anti-piracy tools: immediate takedown no later than 30 minutes from the receipt of the takedown notice, and, Live/dynamic injunctions to “block access to the unauthorized live broadcast and any other live content streaming online or broadcasting the same event, regardless of the domain name or IP address.”
The International Olympic Committee praised the spirit of cooperation among authorities and distributors, but echoed reactions by Canal+ (above) and others since 2023, saying that “nearly two years after the Recommendation was published, the IOC’s experience during Paris 2024 shos that it has not materially improved the situation (of)… unauthorized retransmissions of live events o the open web, open IPTV and closed IPTV services, and social media platforms.”
The Danish Rights Alliance also asked for more rapid response to live piracy incidents and affirmed that “dynamic injunction is a fair and proportionate enforcement tool that has been implemented in Denmark for many years now through a close coopera-tion between local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and rightsholders, governed by a ‘Code of Conduct.’ The Rights Alliance asked for more rapid response to live piracy, and not only for hosting providers to implement technological anti-piracy solutions, but also for online intermediaries including Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), Hosting Providers, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Search Engines, Reverse Proxy Services, and Domain Registrars to do the same. Rights Alliance concluded by urging online intermediaries to follow Know Your Business Customer practices, because operators of illegal serivces operate anonymously.
Citing a 2025 report by Grant Thornton, Belgium-based Sports Rights Coaliation said that more than 80% of the 10.8 million takedown notices relating to unauthorised retransmission of live events that were submitted to intermediaries, did not result in suspension of the illegal retransmission. “Only 2.7% of infringements were acted upon within 30 minutes. Dedicated Server Providers (DSPs) received 52% of all notices submitted across 2024 but 89% of these notices did not lead to suspension.”
Eurocinema reminds policymakers that sports should not be the only focus: “While piracy of live events remains a major concern, EUROCINEMA stresses that time-sensitive audiovisual workssuch as film premieres or first broadcastsface similar risks and economic harm. The unauthorized distribution of such content during its critical release window causes disproportionate damage to rightsholders.”
Czech-based anti-piracy service WAREZIO warned that “access blocking is not the final solution. We propose targeting the economy of these websites, specifically their advertising systems, and appropriately shifting responsibility for advertising.”
Further reading:
Call for Evidence, Feedback period 30 April 2025 – 04 June 2025. Landing page with links to 95 collected feedback items. Accessed June 11, 2025. European Commission
Illegal IPTV is growing – now the services must be blocked. Article. June 11, 2025. RettighedsAlliancen (Danish Rights Alliance)
Why it matters
This process surveyed a representative sample of media stakeholders across the EU and worldwide. It should be seen as an up-to-the-minute snapshot and a wealth of information about the piracy situation and practices to fight it.
There was some surprising input. One example was the US-based Internet Society, which recommends anti-piracy practices that are already in nearly universal use by media industry stakeholders. The Internet Society opposed the use of Internet blocking to address illegal content or activities, and recommends “removing illegal content from its source and undertaking enforcement against the perpetrators avoids the negative effects of blocking.” It also recommends “cooperation among service providers, law enforcement and national authorities … (and) Involve a broad set of stakeholders including technological, economic, consumer rights and other specialists.”
Facebook parent Meta Platforms lauded collaborative efforts directly between itself and rights-holders using its platforms and listed examples, but seemed to place itself above the fray, saying that “Many of the improvements Meta has put in place may not work on other platforms or services and it’s similarly true that what might work on other platforms may not be effective on Facebook or Instagram.” It concluded by saying that “additional legislative or regulatory efforts may slow the progress being made and disrupt an ecosystem that is working well to most effectively fight the newest form of piracy.”
