EU To Move Ahead With Cultural Quotas For Streaming Services (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The European Union is set to move ahead with a plan to enforce pan-European quotas on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix to support production of locally produced film and video content. Roberto Viola, the European Commission's directorate general of communication, networks, content and technology told Variety that the new rules are on track to be approved in December. The proposals will require that streaming services give over at least 30% of their on-demand catalogues to original productions made in each EU country where a service is provided (individual EU Member States could choose to set the content bar even higher, at 40%).

Streaming services will also have to ensure visibility and prominence for local content -- so no burying the 'European third' in a dingy corner of the site where no one will find it, let alone stream it. The EU lawmakers' intention is to stand up for cultural diversity against the might of Hollywood and the flattening power of platforms -- in the latter case by making platforms invest in local content production rather than just doing the easy thing of fencing yet more Marvel superhero movies.

Comments

Yeah I'm sure this will work.

[xevioso]

They will quickly find, much to their chagrin, that people will still end up watching Marvel movies rather than some movie about everyone in a French village being struck with a devastating plague of ennui.

Re:Yeah I'm sure this will work.

[Anubis IV]

How is this supposed to work anyway? Say Netflix has 3000 films available for streaming today in a particular country. Replacing a third of them would mean needing to find 1000 local films, which would likely require scraping the bottom of the barrel in the case of countries that lack a film scene. That's already problematic enough as it is, but let's ignore it for the moment. More worrying is that in some of these countries, the film scene likely isn't large enough to warrant more than a handful of distributors for theatrically-released, domestic films. This law—at least as it's explained in the summary—would seat those distributors in a disproportionate and unfair position at the negotiating table, since they know that Netflix has no choice but to work with them. They're basically being given the tools to extort Netflix legally.

In many ways, this bears a striking similarity to another form of intellectual property: standards-essential patents that companies have no choice but to use if they want to build a product in that space. In the case of standards-essential patents, however, the rights holders are required to provide licenses for their patents under FRAND terms in exchange for having their patents included in the standard. It seems to me like something similar should apply here: if the EU is effectively going to compel Netflix to license the rights to specific films, it's only fair that the rights holders to those films should be required to provide licenses under fair terms, lest they seek to take advantage of their propped up position.

Re: Yeah I'm sure this will work.

[JaredOfEuropa]

Most European countries have a long tradition of subsidising art that is deemed worthwhile, yet isn't attractive enough for the masses to be able to compete in the free market. You could say it's the European way. And with the rise of streaming services and cord-cutting, it makes sense to ensure that this stuff remains available on such services to those who want it.

Now one could argue that forcing Netflix to host 30% local content isn't the best way to go about it. But another goal of this rule is to ensure that local small productions can find their way into these powerhouse all-you-can-eat subscriptions. It's serving the long tail, something that Netflix has been particularly bad at in my country even when it comes to older content from the US. So yeah, let's legislate. But at the same time that local content should be licensed out at long tail prices as well...

Re:Yeah I'm sure this will work.

[ffkom]

We all know a central committee with a five year plan knows better what the consumer needs than the consumer himself.

You mean, like the board of a global mega-corporation? After all, the detachment of decision-making from reality and customer demand in large corporations isn't that much different from the detachment of communist governments from the people.

Also, the content of commercial productions is today totally dominated by the fear to try anything "original" that is too far off the mainstream, simply because return-on-investment isn't guaranteed and the 7th follow-up on a once successful movie is favored over any new story.

Re: Yeah I'm sure this will work.

[Tuidjy]

There is no demand, but some people think that there is need.

You know, my three year old would only eat fruit bars and drink fruit juice if given the choice, but my wife and I insist that she eats actual fruits, yogurt, vegetables, and meat, once in a while.

Am I saying that European politicians look at their constituents the way adults look at toddlers? Maybe.

Do I want someone regulating what I watch? No.

Do I think that making content providers waste resources on something that their customers don't want will make their profit margins lower? Yes.

Do I think that the content created because of law prescribed quota will be any good? Not really.

Do I have a plan on how to balance appealing to the lowest human drives and elevating the human spirit? If I did, I would probably run for office.

But I don't... so I will stick to writing code, tsk-tsking at EU's legislation, and wondering whether I will live to see which of Idiocracy, Elisyum, Terminator or Metro 2033 will end up being prophetic.

Catalogue reductions

[enriquevagu]

Such quotas can be enforced in two ways: increasing the amount of local contents (as desired by the EU) or reducing the amount of foreign content.

I predict massive reductions in the catalogue of Netflix in most European countries.

Woo hoo!

[93 Escort Wagon]

Canada had something similar in place 30 years ago - it gave us such gems as SCTV's "Great White North" and the movie "Strange Brew". Thanks to that I learned the difference between back bacon and side bacon, and developed an appreciation for Molson's!

Take off, you Hollywood Hosers!