Nordic broadcasters Discovery, TV4, and Viaplay have begun legal action against several operators as part of a crackdown on illegal operators.
The three companies have filed a claim with the Stockholm District Court, Patent and Market Court that says the operators are enabling unlicensed service to gain access to their copyrighted content.
One lawsuit said subscribers to the internet service providers have been able to connect to domains run by Nordic One/N1 via their internet connections, gaining them access to the illegal restransmission.
According to the Stockholm-based consultancy Mediaviion said Nordic One/N1 was described as one of the largest criminal entities in Sweden and the Nordic region in relation to illegal IPTV. The service hijacks television broadcasts from TV companies and distributors, then rebroadcasts them to the public for a fee via its own servers – without the consent of the rights holders.
“In light of this, it can be concluded that the internet providers have contributed to Nordic One/N1’s infringement of the rights holders’ respective signal rights,” the lawsuit states.
Discovery, TV4, and Viaplay are seeking a court order to prohibit internet service providers from facilitating the illegal use of their content. In other words, operators should be required to pay a specified sum if they violate the ban. The TV companies argue that the operators are partly responsible, meaning they are facilitating copyright infringement by failing to take action.
The case has echoes of the action taken by LaLiga against Cloudflare.
Mediavision says a growing number of Swedish households are now subscribing to the illegal services. Its data shows that at the end of 2024, over 700,000 households in Sweden were paying for such services – a new record and a significant increase compared to spring 2024.
