Sky UK and major US movie studios hit by EU antitrust probe
There's nothing the European Commission likes more than a good ol' antitrust case, and today it's set its sights on Sky UK and six of the broadcaster's US film studio partners: Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. In a "Statement of Objections" sent to the parties, the commission has formally accused Sky and the studios of engaging in anti-competitive behavior, by drawing up contracts that prevent Europeans from accessing Sky's pay-TV services outside of the UK and Ireland. While it's implied Sky is partly to blame, the commission's main issue with the agreements is they stop Sky from coming to its own decision on whether to offer pay-TV access in other EU countries.
The commission argues certain contact clauses give Sky "absolute territorial exclusivity" to the studios' content, which stifles cross-border competition. Sky UK isn't the only European broadcaster implicated in anti-competitive behavior, though. The commission first started investigating studio agreements at the beginning of last year, and preliminary assessments of Canal Plus in France, DTS in Spain, Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland are ongoing. You'd think regional licensing agreements are just the way content deals get done. But, in the commission's eyes, any contract that facilitates this level of territorial exclusivity is tantamount to geo-blocking. The commission wants to put an end these kind of regional restrictions by 2017 under its "Digital Single Market" strategy, which in part aims to "modernise EU copyright rules" so European broadcasters can compete on a continent-wide scale.
Taking this into account, the antitrust investigation may be a little pre-emptive, with the commission itself even noting that should Sky be free to offers its pay-TV services elsewhere, it would have to do so while abiding with "relevant national copyright laws." While the Statement of Objections issued today is a formal accusation, it's merely preamble. Sky and the studios now have the opportunity to defend themselves, and the outcome of that dialogue will determine whether the commission launches full-on antitrust case.
[Image Credit: AP Photo/Virginia Mayo]
