Broadband TV News: French Council of State rules in Canal+ and Arcom illegal streaming case

Story from Broadband TV News:

The French Council of State has issued four decisions relating to the blocking of website used for illegal streaming.

The cases involved platforms streaming sports competitions for which Canal+ holds broadcasting rights.

Canal challenged the media regulator over its interpretation of an article in the Intellectual Property Code, arguing that it slowed down the process for blocking the sites.

According to current regulations, French ISPs can block domain names of illegal streaming sites following a court order. However, operators frequently circumvent these blocks by creating mirror sites with new domain names.

Since 25 October 2021, Arcom can also block mirror sites without requiring a separate court decision.

Arcom previously required a “certificate of no appeal” to confirm all legal avenues had been exhausted before proceeding, which extended the timeline, particularly when organisations were located outside France.

Canal+ objected to this step and brought the issue to the Council of State, which ruled in favour of Canal+.

The Council of State determined that the relevant procedures are “expedited on the merits” and are provisionally enforceable. This means that judgments can be enforced immediately, without waiting for the appeal period to conclude.