Piracy of sports broadcasts: a 30% increase between 2021 and 2022 within the European Union (EUIPO)

The piracy of live sporting events has increased by 30% between 2021 and 2022 in the European Union, according to a report entitled "Online Copyright Infringement in the European Union, Films, Music, Publications, Software and TV, 2017-2022" conducted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), published on 19/09/2023.

Among the findings presented in the report:
• the piracy of live sports broadcasts accounts for 34% of all illegal access in France and Spain
• 58% of piracy in the European Union takes place via streaming, compared with 32% via downloading
• the piracy of live events "peaks in April and September-October as well as minimum values in June-July each year, possibly reflecting the active periods and summerbreaks of the main European football leagues," explained the body.

The European Commission also adopted a recommendation on "how to combat commercial scale online piracy of sports and other live events" on 04/05/2023. This recommendation focuses on three main aspects: "prompt treatment of notices related to live events, dynamic injunctions and commercial…