The European Commission has accepted commitments made by Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros and Sky UK on cross-border pay-TV services.
In a statement, the Commission said the commitments address concerns over clauses in the studios’ film licensing contracts for pay-TV with Sky UK.
The clauses prevent Sky UK from allowing EU consumers outside the UK and Ireland to subscribe to Sky UK’s pay-TV services to access films via satellite or online. They also require the studios to prevent broadcasters other than Sky from making their pay-TV services available in the UK and Ireland.
The Commission had concerns the clauses would threaten cross-border competition between pay-TV operators. They would also eliminate so-called passive sales to consumers outside of their licensed territories.
The studios are now committed not to apply the clauses in existing film licensing contracts for pay-TV with any broadcaster in the European Economic Area (EEA). They have also promised not to introduce such clauses in film licensing contracts for pay-TV with any broadcaster in the EEA.
Sky has made the same commitment in its own film licensing contracts.
The commitments will apply throughout the EEA for a period of five years across satellite and online, including video-on-demand.