The European Union (EU) is meeting next week to look at creating one set of rules for streaming services, such as Netflix, for the entire EU. The benefit to this would be to make it easier for Netflix and others to stream throughout Europe, but the EU also wants to set up rules to promote EU content.
Part of the proposed rules would force streaming services to include 20% local European content on their services. If services fail to meet that quota, they could be fined or banned from EU countries.
“While we cannot go into details at this stage, we can say that the proposal will notably strengthen the promotion of European works’ obligations for on-demand services,” a spokeswoman for the European Commission tells THR. “The proposal will aim at encouraging new investment in European works. Europeans will have access to a broader offer of European works in catalogs and this measure will contribute to cultural diversity and more opportunities for creators in Europe.”
What if you live outside of the European Union? How will this affect you?
You may be thinking, well I live outside of the EU, so why do I care about this deal? The main issue here is the fact that it will cost Netflix and others money to purchase this content. If Netflix needs to buy new content from EU makers to account for 20% of their content, it limits money they would spend on other shows.
This is also a dangerous precedent to set for streaming because soon every country could set limits on what content they want in their country. If every country requires 20% or more of the content to be local it would severely slow the spread of streaming services worldwide as the cost to do so would skyrocket.
Yet at the same time it is understandable on why they would want to put these requirements in place to help protect their local markets from being overrun by more popular shows. For now it is just a proposed ruling but many expect this proposal to be approved next week.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more news, tips, and reviews.
Need cord cutting tech support? Join our new Cord Cutting Tech Support Facebook Group for help.