EU Imposes Regulations On Streaming Services
Streaming is the new way entertainment is been accessed today. There is a ton of entertainment that can be accessed via streaming, and it does not seem that this would stop soon. Many governments and institutions alike have a constant fear that these services would grow more than they are meant to, and finally end up being a liability.
While many still worry about a danger like this, the Brussels government has stepped up and has taken action regarding this. Starting soon, Netflix, Amazon and every single other streaming services that function and work around in the European Union would have to offer at least 30% of European content in their respective libraries.
This new regulation is not something that would have to be followed on Brussels alone, but this is something that all the 28 EU countries would have to impose upon. Though a vote is still pending on this, this is something that streaming services have to be concerned about. The EU is really serious about this new regulation, that streaming services now have 20 months to apply this at a national level.
Bad News
In the government’s own words, the vote is just a matter of formality, though countries still have the choice of raising the quota from the minimum 30% to 40%. Apart from that, now countries can also determine the minimum number of quota from their own country. Though this might sound like a tough thing to do for a few streaming services, this might not be much of a problem for Netflix. According to the commission, Netflix already offers nearly 30% of its local content to its European audiences.
At the end of this year, the EU will again pop up and publish the percentage of European works that are present on its streaming sites at present. This also seems to be just the beginning as new rules are also on the agenda. But the question arises, why are these rules or agendas being brought to place?
Monetary Support For Creators
The European Commission at present is already working with other broadcasters such as YouTube to pay higher royalties to better reward content creators. So it’s clear that the EU wants to assist its online creators, but this help is beginning to sound like a death knell to online streaming services.
The motive might be sublime, as the government has said that in this digital world, platforms and services get most of the revenue while content creators are stuck with a very small percentage. Though no official word has come from these online streaming services, we can only assume that they are all bracing to face the impact.
