Inside Netflix and Prime Video’s Fight to Reshape France’s Streaming Rules: ‘It’s an Unsustainable Equation’
While Canal+ has just agreed to invest more than $1.1 billion in French and European films over the next five years, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are...
Key points
- While Canal+ has just agreed to invest more than $1.1 billion in French and European films over the next five years, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are fighting in court and behind closed doors to loosen France’s streaming regulations.
- Since January 2022, subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have been required to invest 20% of their annual French revenue in local film and television production under France’s implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
- Although its industry agreement has lapsed, Netflix’s investment obligations have not.
- If it fails to reach an agreement, Prime Video defaults to the same position as Netflix, with access to films 17 months after theatrical release while contributing only the regulatory minimum toward French production.
What happened
While Canal+ has just agreed to invest more than $1.1 billion in French and European films over the next five years, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are fighting in court and behind closed doors to loosen France’s streaming regulations. Since January 2022, subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have been required to invest 20% of their annual French revenue in local film and television production under France’s implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Although its industry agreement has lapsed, Netflix’s investment obligations have not. If it fails to reach an agreement, Prime Video defaults to the same position as Netflix, with access to films 17 months after theatrical release while contributing only the regulatory minimum toward French production. If another major streaming service such as Prime Video or Netflix were granted access to films within 12 months, Canal+’s agreement would automatically trigger a three-month renegotiation period with the film industry. Prime Video has joined Netflix in challenging the legal mechanism that extends France’s windowing rules to streaming platforms that did not sign the...
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