The European Commission in Brussels on Thursday issued recommendations on how to tackle online piracy of sports and other live events, including concerts and theatre performances.
“The internet already enables European citizens to enjoy a variety of live events from sports events to live concerts,’’ said European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager in a statement.
“However, commercial scale piracy is jeopardizing the viability of our creative and sports industries,’’ she added.
Piracy of live events is a particular problem as these events ‘’generate most of their value during the real-time transmission,’’ Vestager said.
In its recommendation to the European Union’s 27 member states, the commission stressed the responsibility of hosting services to respond quickly to illegal streams to minimize their harm, a press release said.
The commission also wants EU countries to make better use of blocking injunctions and grant event organizers legal standing where this is currently not the case.
Meanwhile, organizers were also called upon “to increase the availability, affordability and attractiveness” of their offers.
A monitoring system is to be set up to see if further measures should be taken, according to the statement.
However, with its recommendations, the commission followed up on a resolution from the European Parliament in May 2021 which called for blocking illegal streaming within 30 minutes and the organizers’ rights to be strengthened.
