2020/2073(INL) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Acknowledges that sport is a growing economic sector, which represents 2,12% of Union GDP and 2,72% of employment within the Union ~~(representing an estimated 5,67 million jobs)2~~ 2; acknowledges that the vast majority of sporting activities takes place in non- profit structures based on volunteering activity with 35 million amateurs assisting the development of mass-participation sport and the dissemination of sporting ideals, as do clubs and charitable sports associations; _________________ 2European Commission Study on the Economic Impact of Sport Through Sport Satellite Accounts, 2018.

Amendment 12 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Acknowledges that sport ~~is a growing economic sector, which~~-related sectors represents 2,12% of Union GDP and 2,72% of employment within the Union (representing an estimated 5,67 million jobs)~~2 ; _________________ 2European Commission Study on the Economic Impact of Sport Through Sport Satellite Accounts, 2018.~~;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Considers that digital transformation could accelerate the commercialisation of sport and hence the concentration of funding in a small number of elite clubs; highlights the need for reinforced financial solidarity in the sport ecosystem, in particular for grassroots sport, and the need to ensure the sustainability of funding in the digital environment, guaranteeing established financing of sport activities whilst preserving the autonomy of sport;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Acknowledges, as well, that education, sport services, public administration, accommodation and restaurant services and retail are the largest contributors as sport-related sectors to the Union GDP;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Considers that digital transformation also brings many new opportunities, advantages, and revenue streams to sportsmen and sportswomen, sports organisers, and the sport sector as a whole, namely, it enhances sports experience for consumers, increases potential exposure, and enlarges the audiences and their engagement. The added value of legal online streaming services for the rights holders, commercial partners, and for the whole sports ecosystem comes from increased competitiveness, innovation, increased quality of content and services, and wider access for consumers, thus reducing the attractivity for consumers to visit illegal streaming services;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Recalls that equal opportunity to participate and be involved at all supervision and decision-making levels in physical education, physical activity and sport, whether for the purpose of recreation, health promotion or high performance, is the right of every girl and every woman, that must be actively enforced;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that broadcasting rights to live sport events constitute the primary source of income for professional sport in the Union and that such events represent an important source of content for media operators; Notes that such income is vital for the development of grassroots sports given that in many European countries redistribution to grassroots sport depends directly on revenue from sports broadcasting rights;deleted

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that broadcasting rights to live sport events constitute the primary source of income for professional sport in the Union and that such events represent an important source of content for media operators; Underlines the need to strike a balance between the rights of sports organisers and the rights of the free media with regards to freedom of expression and freedom of the press; Notes that such income is vital for the development of grassroots sports given that in many European countries redistribution to grassroots sport depends directly on revenue from sports broadcasting rights;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Recalls that, under Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Union shall contribute to the promotion of European sporting issues, while taking account of the specific nature of sport, thus contributing to achieving the Union’s strategic objectives, and should aim at further developing and preserving the European model of sport in the digital environment;

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that broadcasting rights to live sport events constitute the primary source of income for professional sport in the Union and that such events represent an important source of content for media operators; Notes that a part such income ~~is vital for~~should be directed towards the development of grassroots sports given that in many European countries redistribution to grassroots sport depends directly on revenue from sports broadcasting rights; Calls on the Commission and Member States to promote such a redistribution to the entire Union;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that broadcasting rights to live sport events together with sponsorship, advertisement and merchandising constitute the primary source of income for professional sport in the Union and that such events represent an important source of content for media operators; Notes that such income is vital for the development of grassroots sports given that in many European countries redistribution to grassroots sport depends directly on revenue from sports broadcasting rights;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Considers that broadcasting rights to live sport events constitute the primary source of income for ~~professional~~ sport in the Union and that such events represent an important source of content for media operators; Notes that such income is vital for the development of grassroots sports given that in many European countries redistribution to grassroots sport depends directly and sometimes exclusively on revenue from sports broadcasting rights;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Notes that, apart from only a handful of “tier-one” sports events, including top division football and a few other sports events depending on national preferences, most professional sports struggle to attract significant revenue from selling their media rights; recalls European sport largely relies on a fabric of small clubs and associations which constitute the backbone of European grassroots sport; notes that a significant part of the irregular income comes from different types of fees such as membership, licensing, participation or subscriptions, public subsidies and sponsorships and that, according to the Commission Staff Wording Document - Impact Assessment accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council to ensure the cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market1a, of the total budget for grassroots sport, revenue from media rights allocated to grassroots sport represents € 0.5 billion (0.7% of the total); notes that, according to that Commission Staff Working Document, revenues from the domestic sale of media rights make up around one quarter of the income of top division football clubs competing in UEFA club competitions and that in smaller leagues, which are less attractive for media content providers and advertisers, football clubs have to do with much more modest media revenues (10 % or less); _________________ 1ahttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:5201 5SC0270&from=EN

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Emphasizes that amateur sports is the basis for the professional level, as the small sports clubs at the grassroots level make a significant contribution to the development of young athletes and mostly work on a voluntary basis; Stresses the importance of grassroots sports in promoting social inclusion, especially as regards people with fewer opportunities, and in moving youth away from involvement in violence, including gender-based violence, crime and drug use; Notes that a fair distribution key is required for the income from broadcasting rights that does not leave amateur sports behind;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Considers that sport, using a coordinated approach at the level of the Union, can help address transnational challenges;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Notes that ~~the main challenge faced by sport events’ organisers in the digital environment is the online piracy of live broadcasts~~while the digital environment is a challenge when it comes to piracy of sports broadcasting, it is also an opportunity for sports which traditionally are not broadcasted, including parasport and women’s sport, to be broadcasted online and get further visibility; stresses that media coverage is an important indirect driver of othe r reven~~ts they organise~~ue streams, raises a sport’s profile, increases the value of sponsorship deals and has significant potential in attracting new supporters;

Amendment 27 #

5. Notes that the main challenge faced by sport events’ organisers in the digital environment is the online piracy of live broadcasts of the events they organise, especially international sports events, with major territorial implications;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Recognises that the Commission’s Memorandum of understanding (MoU) on online advertising and IPR as a voluntary agreement to limit advertising on websites and mobile applications that infringe copyright or disseminate counterfeit goods is an effective instrument to reduce piracy by minimising advertisement revenues for illegal streaming services;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5 a. Recalls that illegal streaming is a complex, underground, multinational network that is expanding by the day; notes that visits to sports piracy websites reached 362.7 million visits in January 2019 alone;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls also that sport promotes and teaches values such as tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, and civic engagement, equality, and inclusiveness, while substantially contributing to fundamental educational and cultural values, and serves as a vector for integration and health-enhancing physical activity; recalls that the Union's sport policy must support the aims and objectives of both professional and amateur sports;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6

6. Recalls that the combination of house right, media contract(s), and intellectual property protection of the audio-visual recording and broadcast effectively allows the sports event organisers to enjoy complete ownership and/or control over the audio-visual rights in the sports events; acknowledges that the upsurge of unlicensed live transmission of sports events ris ~~detrimental to both professional and grassroots sports and threatens~~ ks reducing advertising and sales revenues of “tier-one” sports events; notes that in response to reduced financial offers from media content operators, various “second-tier” rights holders have been exploiting their media rights through their own website or other o~~rganisation and sustainability of sports events as well the financial stability of the whole sport sector;~~nline platforms creating unique opportunities for niche sports to gain media exposure for fans, their brand, and their sponsors1d; _________________ 1dhttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:5201 5SC0270&from=EN.

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Recalls that end users may endure the consequences of accessing unlicensed stream content by exposing themselves to other forms of harm, including identity theft and other online related intrusions;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Emphasises that infringements of exclusive media rights in sport threaten its long-term funding;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

~~7. Notes that sport events’ organisers invest significant financial, technical and human resources to address online piracy and engage with service providers;~~deleted

Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7

7. Notes that sport events’ organisers invest significant financial, technical and human resources to address online piracy ~~and~~, engage with service providers, and rely heavily on the large digital infrastructure for ticketing systems, athlete tracking, e- commerce solutions, data and statistical analytics;

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)

(7a) Highlights the significant territorial impact of such events, in terms of sports participation and in economic terms, as they do a great deal to boost the economy of the areas hosting them, attracting many tourists and leveraging investment by sponsors and companies in the localities concerned;

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8

8. Stresses that COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on sports ~~events organisers, especially on ticketing revenues, thereby increasing the dependence of sports~~-related sectors and grassroots sport, which has been affected the most, but so has been the professional sport and the entire sport industry and its stakeholders: athletes, coaches, instructors, administrators (employees in sport organisations), volunteers, competition officials (e.g. referees, delegates), businesses, especially micro and small businesses (e.g. fitness clubs, gyms, retailers, events’ organisers ~~on broadcasting revenues~~, marketing agencies, sport equipment producers and renters);

Amendment 37 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Alerts that if there are no support measures, the economic crisis will result in the bankruptcy of many sports associations, in turn damaging the very fabric of sports in Europe; believes it is, therefore, crucial to support and stimulate a sustainable sport sector in the context of the European initiatives Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency4 (SURE), Coronavirus Response InvestmentInitiative5 (CRII), and Coronavirus Response Investment InitiativePlus6 (CRII+) as well as other initiatives at national and Union level;

Amendment 38 #

8 a. Underlines that in the current context new means of organising sport events should be envisaged, by making full use of the digital technologies available;

Amendment 39 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Emphasizes that fan culture is an indispensable part of the sports experience and not just a backdrop for marketing a product;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls also that sport promotes and teaches values such as ~~tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, and civic engagement~~mutual respect and understanding, solidarity, diversity, fairness, cooperation, and civic engagement; emphasizes that sport knows no borders and unites people from different socioeconomic backgrounds;

Amendment 40 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Underlines that there is a general public interest in major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup or the Olympic Games and that access to real- time information about these events must be guaranteed for all citizens; Notes that in this context the access of radio journalists and news reporters to sport events and stadiums also plays an important role, since the consumers are informed about national and international competitions through comments, interviews and reports;

Amendment 41 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)

8 b. Recalls that sports education has been most often suspended or limited due to the current COVID-19 crisis and calls upon more common efforts to establish and resume, in safe conditions for professors and learners, this type of education across Europe, while at the same time helping it digitalize at a level that will enable the continuation, at a quality rate, of the activities involved;

Amendment 42 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)

8 c. Underlines the difficulties faced by small sports clubs in dealing with the current pandemic and invites Member States to actively support these types of activities;

Amendment 43 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Considers that the digital environment offers new opportunities for sport organisers to show sports events which would not be broadcasted free-to- air, and for citizens to access such events; calls on the Commission to allocate Union funding to support the broadcasting of such sport events;

Amendment 44 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Underlines that the legal offers of sports content should be better promoted in the Union and calls on the Commission to take measures that make it easier to find legal offers of sports content ~~and to regularly update the list of such offers on Agorateka.eu~~; recalls that the AVMSD provides for a possibility for Member States to prevent broadcasters under their jurisdiction from broadcasting events of major importance for society exclusively on pay-TV, thereby ensuring public access to these events on free television; asks Member States to implement this provision and facilitate wide access of events of high interest to society, among which sport events;

Amendment 45 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Underlines that the legal offers of sports content should be better promoted in the Union and calls on the Commission to take measures that make it easier to find legal offers of sports content and to regularly update the list of such offers on Agorateka.eu; Stresses that the responsibility for illegal online activities primarily rests with the providers of streams and platforms, not the consumers, who often unintentionally come across illegal online content and should be further informed on the legal options available;

Amendment 46 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Underlines that the legal offers of sports content should be better promoted and further enriched with extra features in the Union and calls on the Commission to take measures that make it easier to find legal offers of sports content and to regularly update the list of such offers on Agorateka.eu;

Amendment 47 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 10

10. Underlines that the legal offers of sports content should be better promoted in the Union and calls on the Commission to take measures that make it easier to find legal and affordable offers of sports content and to regularly update the list of such offers on Agorateka.eu;

Amendment 48 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11

11. Recalls the statement of the Commission included as an Annex to the Resolution of the European Parliament on Copyright in the Digital Single Market adopted in March 2019 according to which “the Commission will assess the challenges of sport event organisers in the digital environment, in particular issues related to the illegal online transmissions of sport broadcasts”3 ; highlights that any legislative proposal addressing those challenges should be accompanied by an impact assessment and should be supported by economic evidence; _________________ 3 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/TA-8-2019-0231_EN.pdf (not yet published in the OJ).

Amendment 49 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Calls upon the Commission and Member States to revise the legislation regarding betting and gambling, online and offline, in order to assess the possibility of introducing special provisions designed to improve access to additional ressources by professional and amateur sports clubs;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls also that sport promotes and teaches values such as tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, and civic engagement and can be considered as a cultural and social need;

Amendment 50 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Underlines that the effective enforcement of intellectual property rights on sport broadcasts is essential to the sustainable funding of sport at all levels and to ensuring a level playing field;

Amendment 51 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 12

~~12. Calls on the Commission to present without delay a legislative proposal to address the problem of online piracy of sports broadcasts;~~deleted

Amendment 52 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 12

12. Calls on the Commission to present without delay a legislative proposal to address the problem of online piracy of sports broadcasts, because there is no single legal framework in the Member States and certainly not in third countries; Stresses the need for a Union-wide Regulation to provide a wide response to illegal broadcasting by regulating the responsibility of the platforms that host such illegal broadcasts;

Amendment 53 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 12

12. Calls on the Commission to present ~~without delay a legislative proposal~~an assessment of the challenges of sport event organisers in the digital environment without delay and to consider a possible legislative proposal, including the possibility to address the problem of online piracy of sports broadcasts in the Digital Services Act;

Amendment 54 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12 a. Emphasizes that the protection of intellectual property rights is a fundamental right enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights; recalls, in this sense, that the protection of copyright must not lead to the erosion of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of the press and consumer privacy online;

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 13

13. Stresses that sport content is usually distributed on an exclusive basis and very often watermarked and/or fingerprinted which means that there is no doubt about who has the right to broadcast that sports content online,; a~~nd that notices sent by sports events organisers to intermediaries regarding illegal streams or clips are almost never challenged~~cknowledges that acquiring premium sports rights makes a substantial part of broadcasters' expenses and that those rights are marketed on a platform-neutral basis with rights packages making it very difficult for smaller operators to acquire earmarked packages for certain platforms;

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13 a. Emphasises that intermediaries should put in place effective Know Your Business Customer obligations to prevent their services from being abused to facilitate the illegal streaming of sports events; to that end, calls on the Commission to propose such obligations within the upcoming Digital Services Act;

Amendment 57 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 b (new)

13 b. Insists that measures aimed at protecting broadcast rights against illegal use and piracy must not negatively affect press freedom and the news media’s ability to inform citizens;

Amendment 58 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 14

14. Calls for the removal of, or blocking of access to, infringing live sport broadcasts from online intermediaries to be immediate, or within a maximum of 30 minutes, after the receipt of notification from rights holders in order to be effective;deleted

Amendment 59 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 14

14. Calls for the removal of~~, or blocking of access to,~~ infringing live sport broadcasts from online intermediaries to be ~~immediate, or within a maximum of 30 minutes, after the receipt of notification from rights~~ expeditious after the receipt of notification from rightsholders in order to be effective; calls for a robust and effective ‘notice-and-action’ mechanism whilst refraining from imposing any mandatory ‘upload- filtering’ of content and in compliance with the prohibition of a general monitoring obligation; underlines that infringing content should be removed where it is hosted and hosting providers should~~ers in order to be effective~~ address the misuse of their service for dissemination; calls on online video streaming services to take additional voluntary measures to remove or block access to infringing live sport broadcasts;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls also that sport, if properly taught and practised, promotes and teaches values such as tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, and civic engagement;

Amendment 60 #

14. Calls for the removal of, or blocking of access to, infringing live sport broadcasts from online intermediaries to be immediate, or as fast as possible within a maximum of 30 minutes, after the receipt of notification from rights holders in order to be effective;

Amendment 61 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 14

14. Calls for the removal of, or blocking of access to, infringing live sport broadcasts from online intermediaries to be immediate, or within a maximum of 3015 minutes, after the receipt of notification from rights holders in order to be effective;

Amendment 62 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 14 a (new)

14 a. Calls for a clearly defined legal framework to ensure that online intermediaries act expeditiously to remove illegal content from their services; considers that such framework should include flagging and reporting systems, transparency obligations vis-a-vis platforms users, appropriate follow-up explanations and a complaints and redress mechanism, all flanked by effective enforcement;

Amendment 63 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 15

15. Insists that providers of streaming servers and streaming platforms should implement ~~a real-time~~specific measures to take down ~~tool to~~and remove or disable access to infringing content as illegal live sports broadcasts available on their services; underlines the need for establishing clear redress mechanisms, with the option to appeal against any decision to remove or disable the content, in order to prevent potential abuses and unfair commercial or competition practices;

Amendment 64 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 15

15. Insists that ~~providers of streaming servers and streaming platforms should implement a real-time take down tool to remove or disable access to illegal live sports broadcasts available on their services~~the Commission adopt uniform rules on notice and action procedures in order to speed up the removal of illegal and illegally shared content while promoting access to legal content in the digital environment;

Amendment 65 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 15

15. Insists that providers of streaming servers and streaming platforms should implement a real-time take down and stay down tools to remove or disable access to illegal live sports broadcasts available on their services;

Amendment 66 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Stresses that any such measures should not in any case violate fundamental rights of internet users, freedoms online, should respect the principle of net-neutrality and open Internet access for end-users; stresses that any such measures should not limit or wrongfully restrict freedom of expression and freedom of the press and should uphold to the principle of freedom of access to information to maintain wide access for the public to freely receive information about important events;

Amendment 67 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15 a. Draws attention to the report issued by Synamedia showing that 51 % of sports fans still use pirate services to watch live sport on a monthly basis, despite 89 % of respondents owning a subscription to a pay-TV or over-the-top (OTT) platform and that 29 % of fans who use piracy websites say they have paid to access sports content through those services;

Amendment 68 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 b (new)

15 b. Stresses that more nuanced and targeted approach to combatting piracy is needed where efforts to disrupt the broader piracy ecosystem are combined with targeting specific clusters of fans with a mix of access and payment models;

Amendment 69 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16

16. Considers that Member States and stakeholders should continue promoting among consumers a responsible online consumption of sports content and should involve leagues, clubs and education sector in awareness-raising campaigns on the impact of piracy on the sport sector;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Recalls also that sport promotes and teaches values such as tolerance, respect, solidarity, cooperation, and civic engagement;

Amendment 70 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16

16. Considers that Member States and stakeholders should continue promoting among consumers a responsible online consumption of sports content while ensuring that the integrity of the internal market and competition law are respected;

Amendment 71 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 16

16. Considers that Member States and stakeholders should continue promoting among consumers a responsible and affordable online consumption of sports content;

Amendment 72 #