Making access to subscribed online content easier when travelling in the EU (UK)
Proposals for the enforcement of an EU regulation that will make it easier for UK-based consumers to access packages of online subscription services from providers such as Netflix, BT Sport and Now TV * while on holiday or business in other EU member states have been published for consultation by the Intellectual Property Office.
While ‘Regulation on cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market’ (EU 2017/1128 – the ‘portability’ regulation) does not require UK legislation to be applicable in the UK, the various obligations it imposes on content providers will require legislation when the regulation comes into force in the UK from 1 April 2018.
Principal requirements are for providers to make their services available at no extra cost to subscribers on a ‘portable’ basis when they are temporarily located in other member states and to verify the home state of their subscribers in order to protect copyright owners.
In ‘Cross-border portability of online content services: Consultation’, the IPO seeks views on six different mechanisms for enforcing various aspects of the regulation
- the Portability Regulation itself – the draft Portability of Online Content Services Regulations 2018 is set out in Annex C
- private, contractual enforcement for certain obligations owed by one party to another
- the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988
- Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUTR) 2008
- Enterprise Act (EA) 2002
While the government believes civil sanctions are the most appropriate enforcement tool and no new criminal sanctions will be necessary, the consultation (Annex B) sets out how enforcement will work for each article of the regulation.
The government is also interested in hearing
- how businesses are preparing for the regulation to come into force
- any views on the future provision of the regulation in the event of Brexit
- views on the content that shoud be included in further guidance on the portability regulation that government intends publishing in the near future for businesses, rightholders and consumers
* The scope of the regulation does not extend to services where users pay a mandatory fee, such as a TV licence (eg BBC iPlayer), or to online content services financed by advertising reveneue and not by user subscriptions (eg ITV Hub, All4, My5).
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