I would also add that the original intent was to remove government-imposed barriers to trade between the members (elimination of duties, regulation, etc). Whereas the unavailability of certain content based on location is almost certainly the result of a contractual arrangement between content makers and distributors rather than a government-imposed limit.
The scope of the Single Market is broader than that - it includes standardization of weights and measures, standardization of product names, etc. - rules that apply to private companies, and are meant to break down extra-legal obstacles to trade.
> The scope of the Single Market is broader than that - it includes standardization of weights and measures, standardization of product names, etc
Well historically individual states had their own regulations regarding weights/measures and product names, and that authority was transferred to the new market when it was created. These types of regulations ensure a level playing field between buyers and sellers, and are an important function of any regulated market. You know what you're getting when you buy a 750 mL bottle of Chateauneuf.
It doesn't necessarily follow that the maker of the Chateauneuf ought to be required to distribute it in a particular geographic territory.
It doesn't necessarily follow that the maker of the Chateauneuf ought to be required to distribute it in a particular geographic territory.
True, but the maker of Chateauneuf cannot prohibit a reseller from exporting its products to that territory either. That content-providers have been able to prohibit this, is only because of copyright. And since copyright is a government-granted monopoly, it does follow that the EU can use its monopoly grant to enforce that same single-market principle for digital content.
> It doesn't necessarily follow that the maker of the Chateauneuf ought to be required to distribute it in a particular geographic territory.
Exactly. There are some awesome products that I can't buy in the UK, because no-one imports and sells them, that are available in France etc., and vice versa. Of course I'm free to go and buy them myself and bring them back without duty (for the next couple of years at least, after that, on vera).
But this isnt about requiring Chateauneuf to do anything, its about restrictions on what people who buy Chateauneuf can do with their bottles, where they can take them and who they can sell them on to.
In some countries it is government-imposed, in the sense that national authorities exist in law, which will hoover up royalties before distributing them to creators and performers. This requires that any performance or distribution is recorded by (and paid to) such authority. At the moment, if an entity in the Italian market shows a French movie to Italian audiences, the Italian authority collects royalties before sending them to the registered owners of such rights; but what happens when a German entity shows the same film to Italian audiences? Does it pay Italian authorities or follow German rules?
That's the sticky point from a legal point of view, which needs European legislation and cooperation from all involved parties (investors, producers, distributors, streamers etc) to be resolved. Since the industry benefits from market segmentation though, they are dragging their feet. For example, it's usually better to sell the same film to a different distributor in each country, rather than a single one serving all markets - 28 smaller paydays will often tally up to levels that one single Euro-wide agreement is unlikely to reach; and some films will do well only in certain countries, so might be penalized at EU level.
I don't quite see how this is different from, for example, sales tax.
Or, actually the status quo: if you're a Polish company organising a music festival in Italy you follow Italian law.
That principle won't change just because it's a streaming service, for the obvious reason that anything else would lead to content distributers shopping around for the cheapest jurisdiction.
Regarding the distributers' wish for market segmentation: That's a perfectly understandable reason, and it will become illegal rather soonish. Sure, you can chose you customers. But you won't be able to make their nationality part of the equation much longer.
The public will profit rather obviously. Personally, I don't even care about any changes in pricing. Most annoying are companies segmenting the market along borders, and then never actually signing a local distributor. Or somehow only selling the translated movie etc.
One caveat for practical reasons will be sports rights. It's just not possible to set a single price for, say, the British Premier League games that works everywhere: either it's but a fraction of today's prices, or nobody outside the UK would consider buying a subscription*
* UK example for demonstration purposes only. Will not be implemented. Search for better examples underway.
> I don't quite see how this is different from, for example, sales tax.
That's a good example, and that too is a complete mess in the EU at the moment (google vatmess)... Copyright legislation has even more burdensome vagaries to deal with, like identifying authors, owners and distributors (in some countries rights can be alienated, in others they can't, etc etc) and get approval from all parties. This is why streaming services are so slow to expand in the European market.
> market segmentation: [...] will become illegal rather soonish.
That's a very optimistic view. Creators have very powerful lobbies, even the most heart-hardened bureaucrat will melt at the prospect of spending a few hours with Charlize Theron or Mick Jagger.
