A next step for territorial copyright licenses for on-demand audio-visual services in the light of the EU Digital Single Market

Abstract

Despite recent efforts to establish a European Digital Single Market (DSM), access to audio-visual (AV) works through on-demand service providers, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, continues to be restricted across jurisdictions to the detriment of consumers through geo-blocking measures. This paper introduces a proposal for a central clearing house for AV rights which facilitates the cross-border provision of AV services and thereby contributes to the creation of the DSM. To ensure that the adoption of the proposal enhances the efficiency of the market, we assess whether it meets specific criteria that pertain to market design and the functioning of the market for AV works.