The Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) is urging policymakers to take decisive action against online piracy of live events following a key industry meeting hosted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
This gathering brought together leaders from the European Commission, member states, rights organisations, media companies, and tech platforms to assess the impact of the Commission’s Recommendation on combating online piracy, issued on 4 May 2023.
Despite ongoing industry efforts, findings from the most recent second Grant Thornton study (March 2025) reveal:
• Little to no reduction in piracy levels since May 2023
• No meaningful action from online intermediaries to curb piracy
• The Digital Services Act remains underdeveloped in addressing live content piracy
Critically, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and technical intermediaries have not participated in data collection, their silence serving as an indicator of the Recommendation’s limited impact.
AAPA and industry stakeholders insist that voluntary measures are failing. To protect content creators and broadcasters an concrete update of legislation is mandatory, potentially through an extension of the DSA, including:
Oliver Pribramsky, co-President of AAPA, Head of IP & Content Protection and Committees, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH stated: “We welcome the discussion, but talk is not enough. Without concrete regulation, rightholders will continue to hemorrhage resources, limiting their ability to reinvest in valuable content. The time to act is now.”
CANAL + and Premier League, both members of our association, for representing the live rightholders’ point of view during the debate”
AAPA looks forward to contributing to the recently opened Call for Evidence on Piracy of Live Content to plea once again that the fight against piracy demands urgent legislative support—industry efforts alone are not enough.
