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GROUPE CANAL+

GCP

Groupe CANAL+ (GCP) est l’un des leaders de la création et de la distribution de contenus dans le monde, avec une présence dans +50 pays et près de 27 millions d’abonnés.

Lobbying Activity

Response to Update of EU rules on audiovisual media services

19 Dec 2025

CANAL+ believes it is too early to reopen the AVMSD: not only are the existing provisions flexible enough to address new challenges and market realities but, more importantly, the 2018 revision was recently implemented making it difficult to fully assess its impact on the market. It is essential that any decision on the need to reopen the directive be made only once the impact of the broader framework formed by the AVMSD, DSA, EMFA and forthcoming DFA is fully assessed. This approach is crucial to the resilience of the European audiovisual sector as AV players can only thrive in a clear, stable and consistent regulatory environment. Notwithstanding the above, in the event of a reopening of the AVMSD, CANAL+ believes a targeted regulatory intervention designed to advance the Commissions simplification objective would be the most appropriate. Aside from this simplification objective, such a targeted intervention should also contribute to ensuring a level playing field with video-sharing platforms and influencers and removing existing regulatory asymmetries. In any case, the Commissions action should always be guided by the need to guarantee the sustainability and competitiveness of European industries, allowing them to thrive and achieve their ambitions.
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Meeting with Thomas Schmitz (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen)

10 Dec 2025 · Audiovisual

Response to Assessment of the effects of the Recommendation on combating online piracy of sports and other live events

4 Jun 2025

CANAL+ Group (CANAL+) thanks the European Commission for launching a call for evidence in relation to its upcoming assessment of its Recommendation of 4 May 2023 on combating online piracy of sports and other live events (the Recommendation). CANAL+ is a historic pay TV player with the ambition to promote local and European culture in a multitude of territories. Its project is being deployed thanks to a global strategy relying on the strength of its employees, the diversity of its content, its digital development, with the success of its digital platform myCANAL, and its international footprint with almost 27 million subscribers in 52 countries, including 15 territories in Europe where the group heavily invests in the acquisition, production, distribution and restoration of content. Live piracy represents a major threat to the groups development as its success relies on the profitability of AV rights and its economic rationale cannot hold against an increase in piracy. This goes for all content acquired by CANAL+, notably attractive sports rights, from football to rugby or Formula 1. In turn, piracy has a direct impact on the global amount paid for TV rights, which are essential for sports leagues and sometimes represent the bulk of the revenues of certain disciplines. Thus, the negative impact of piracy does not only affect the AV sector but the entire cultural and sports ecosystem. A 2022 study of Bournemouth University estimated the annual losses generated by live piracy to 3.21 billion in 2021 only due to the consumption of illicit IPTV services, the surge of which is becoming an alarming phenomenon. When illicit live streaming is added, the whole economic impact gets massive. In France, ARCOM estimated the losses generated by live piracy in 2023 to 1.5 billion including a 260 million loss for pay TV players only. CANAL+ believes that, to be efficient, the fight against live piracy requires broadcasters and rightsholders to have effective and binding instruments at their disposal that the European Commission is best placed to set up at EU level, in cooperation with the European Parliament and Member States. CANAL+ welcomes the Recommendation but regrets its limited deterrent effect on live piracy so far, largely attributable to its non-binding nature. Indeed, a recent Grant Thornton study highlights the minimal reduction in piracy levels since May 2023 and the lack of meaningful action from online intermediaries to tackle piracy. Likewise, the DSA is a welcome addition to the toolbox to combat illegal content, notably with the implementation of the notice and action mechanism, but is insufficient when it comes to live piracy due to its general nature. In view of the above, the upcoming assessment of the Recommendation is a propitious moment to consider an ambitious initiative in the form of a legislative instrument specifically targeting piracy of live content. This regulation shall build on and complement the existing EU legal framework while adapting it to the specificities of live piracy, notably through the introduction of two essential tools which are of the utmost importance considering the short-term value of such content: i) immediate takedown: online intermediaries must remove illegal live content immediately, and in any event no later than 30 minutes from the receipt of the takedown notice, and make sure that it does not reappear on their service. ii) Live/dynamic injunctions: shall have the effect of blocking the access to the identified unauthorized live broadcast and any other live content streaming online or broadcasting the same event, regardless of the domain name or IP address used. Beside securing the ability of European players to invest in content and fund the creative and sports ecosystem, it is the preservation of European strategic assets and our common cultural heritage that is at stake, making it possible for the European culture and diversity to thrive.
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Meeting with Aurore Lalucq (Member of the European Parliament)

18 May 2025 · Définition de l’oeuvre européenne, financement du cinéma, directive SMA

Response to Evaluation of the Geo-blocking Regulation

11 Mar 2025

CANAL+ believes that if the European Commission were to revise the 2018 Geoblocking Regulation to include audiovisual content in its scope, it would have severe consequences for the financing, distribution, and diversity of European productions. Territorial exclusivity is a cornerstone of content pre-financing, allowing producers to secure investments through exclusive licensing agreements across different markets. Without this model, broadcasters would lose their ability and incentive to invest, thus jeopardizing the economic viability of European productions and limiting content diversity to the detriment of European consumers. Contrary to common misconceptions, geoblocking is not a barrier aiming at restricting the circulation of content but a mere mechanism that preserves the exclusive distribution of content per territory. CANAL+ supports balanced solutions like the EU Portability Regulation, which allows consumers to access their content while traveling without undermining the financing model that sustains European creative industries.
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Meeting with Helena Robyn (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné) and Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe and

18 Feb 2025 · Geo-blocking AI Piracy

Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

9 Oct 2023 · Media policy

Response to Fighting against online piracy of live content

10 Feb 2023

CANAL+ Group thanks the European Commission for launching a call for evidence on the piracy of live content with the intention to release a recommendation. This momentum is also possible thanks to the support of the European Parliament who have undertaken an outstanding work, together with the Live Content Coalition representing various AV stakeholders. CANAL+ is a leading pay TV player with the ambition to promote European culture worlwide. Its project is being deployed thanks to a global strategy relying on the strength of its employees, the diversity of its content, its digital development with the success of its platform myCANAL, as well as its international footprint with nearly 25 million subscribers in 50 countries, including in Europe, where the group heavily invests in the acquisition, production, distribution and restoration of content. However, live piracy represents a significant threat to CANAL+ development as our success relies on the profitability of AV rights and our economic rationale does not hold against an increase in piracy. This goes for all content acquired by CANAL+ including premium sports rights, from football to rugby or Formula 1 competitions. Piracy has therefore a direct impact on the global amount paid for TV rights, which are essential for sports leagues and represent sometimes the bulk of the revenues of certain disciplines. Thus, piracy does not only affect the AV sector but the entire sports economy. A recent study of the Bournemouth University has estimated the annual losses generated by live piracy to 3.21 billion in 2021 only due to the consumption of illicit IPTV services, whose the surge is becoming an alarming phenomenon. And when illicit live streaming is added, the whole economic impact gets massive. In France for instance, the ARCOM has estimated the annual losses generated by live piracy to 1.03 billion including a 260 million loss for pay TV players. CANAL+ Group strongly believes that the fight against live piracy will only be possible if broadcasters and rightsholders have effective and binding instruments at their disposal that the Commission is best placed to set up at EU level, in cooperation with the European Parliament and Member States. Indeed, a European ambitious initiative is much expected on this common fight against piracy which has no borders, while leaving leeway to Member States to implement such instruments where they do not exist, especially since certain national initiatives have provided encouraging results. The Digital Services Act will help in fighting against illegal content but will not be sufficient as a general instrument and should be supplemented by specific tools to tackle live piracy. First, it is of the utmost importance that, when it comes to reporting illegal live content, internet intermediaries commit to remove the content expeditiously and make sure it does not reappear on their service. Such immediate take down tool does not exist at EU level despite having a real impact on live piracy. Second, the AV sector calls the Commission to entice all Member States which have not done so to provide their jurisdictions with the power to issue live and dynamic blocking orders. These injunctions shall have the effect of blocking the access not only to the identified unauthorized live broadcast but also to any other live content streaming online or broadcasting the same event, regardless of the domain name or IP address used. Finally, the recommendation should include a review clause in order for the Commission to assess the intended results in a near future and consider a legislative tool that the AV sector is calling for. Beside securing the capacity of European players to invest in content and finance the creative and sports ecosystem, this is the preservation of European strategic assets and our common cultural heritage that is at stake, making it possible for the European culture and diversity to thrive and be a model worlwide.
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Meeting with Laurence Farreng (Member of the European Parliament) and VIVENDI

6 Jul 2022 · Cinéma et régulation de l'audiovisuel en Europe

Meeting with Manuel Mateo Goyet (Cabinet of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel)

10 Oct 2017 · Copyright and Audiovisual

Meeting with Pauline Rouch (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker)

16 Jul 2015 · Digital Single Market

Meeting with Anna Herold (Digital Economy)

16 Jul 2015 · copyright

Meeting with Anna Herold (Digital Economy)

27 May 2015 · copyright

Meeting with Günther Oettinger (Commissioner)

25 Mar 2015 · Copyright