Last week, the European Audiovisual Observatory published a new report titled “Territoriality and Release Windows in the European Audiovisual Sector”. In detail, the body’s latest study explores current EU legislation and market practices concerning release windows and territoriality – namely, “when, how and where films and series may be made available to European audiences”.

Defined as a “must read” useful to understand “the current situation in Europe regarding territoriality and release windows”, the study is divided into five chapters, and focuses on release windows and territoriality.

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Specifically, the first chapter promises to “set the scene with a useful current definition of release windows”. In particular, this part of the research examines the impact of the pandemic on the structure of release windows, followed by an analysis of those in the current, post-pandemic phase. This chapter also looks at the various factors influencing how well European content travels across borders.

Next, chapter two zooms in on “the various EU legal texts which have a bearing on territoriality and release windows, especially copyright and competition law”, and discusses “the stakeholder dialogue on access to and availability of audiovisual content in the EU”.

Chapter three centres on the different national rules applied to release windows throughout Europe and highlights the different approaches adopted by the different countries. For example, streaming platforms in Bulgaria can add a film to their catalogue just three months after its theatrical release, whilst Belgium allows this only after 26 months. In addition, this particular chapter thoroughly describes the legislative provisions in France and Bulgaria, and public funding rules in Austria, Germany, Ireland and Italy. An overview table summarising the different national rules is included as an annex.

Meanwhile, chapter four takes stock of the views expressed by the industry on the topics of territoriality and release windows. The chapter includes the fresh perspectives of nine different stakeholders in response to the European Commission’s request for proposals on how to improve the online availability of, and cross-border access to, films and programmes throughout Europe.

Finally, chapter five explores recent EU case law, and chapter six provides a state-of-play overview. In their conclusions, the EAO authors state that perhaps “both territoriality and windows are simply never-ending stories because they are constants in the complex equation that is the European audiovisual sector”.

You can access the full document here.