United Media, a leading media company in Southeast Europe, has joined Europe’s most prominent broadcasters, sports organizations, and cultural institutions in calling on the European Commission for urgent legislative action to combat online piracy of live content.

The letter, personally signed by the CEOs of 35 leading European companies — including United Media, Sky, Paramount, the Premier League, Euroleague, RTL, TF1, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. — was addressed to Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner Glenn Micallef. We warned that piracy has reached a scale that can no longer be ignored, severely undermining investments in original programming, infrastructure, technology, and employment across the European audiovisual sector.

Rights holders continue to face significant economic damage, with recent studies estimating annual losses of €2.2 billion in Italy’s audiovisual industry, €1.8 billion in Germany, and €1.5 billion in France.

We welcomed the European Commission’s 2023 Recommendation on tackling online piracy of sports and other live events, but noted that its implementation has yet to deliver concrete results. We therefore called on the Commission to take additional legislative steps to strengthen the legal framework and ensure a more effective fight against live content piracy across the EU.

“As business leaders, employer associations, and unions, we are committed to promoting fair competition, innovation, and accountability. But those principles cannot thrive without basic protection of the content our industries produce and distribute. To be able to continue to contribute to the European economy in ambitious ways, rights owners must not be left to confront the growing threat of live piracy on their own,” the letter states.

United Media, along with the other signatories, has expressed its readiness to support the Commission’s work with data, insight, and technical expertise to help shape effective solutions to this urgent challenge.