The Sport Integrity Global Alliance, together with SROC and ACT, continues to spearhead a growing movement to raise political awareness on the problem of digital piracy in sporting events.
The Sport Integrity Week 2022 was the birthplace of a powerful call to action addressed to the European Commission and each European Union member State to enact the much needed and long-overdue legislation to stop the illegal streaming of live sports content. Since then, 105 organisations representing media, sports, music and culture have joined the original Anti-Piracy Pledge, signed by SIGA, SROC and ACT.
The relevance of the document, as well as the urgency of the matter, led to the number of original signatories growing to a total of 108 organisations, from the world of sports, media, music and culture, in less than a month.
This Call to Action was sent to the President of the European Commission as well as to all EU Commissioners with responsibilities in this field.
Watch SIW2022 Panel – Fight for your Rights: Media, IP & Anti-Piracy in Sport
Watch SIW2022 Thomas Frankowski testimonial
Watch SIW2022 Expert Forum on IP Rights Protection and Anti-Digital Piracy opening remarks, by Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros
Watch SIW2022 EXPERT FORUM: SPORTS BETTING INTEGRITY – ROUNDTABLE 1
Watch SIW2022 EXPERT FORUM: SPORTS BETTING INTEGRITY – ROUNDTABLE 2
Call to action text and signatories
Brussels, 5 October 2022. We, the undersigned, call on the European Union to address the issue of piracy and particularly live content piracy. Piracy has and continues to drain Europe’s creative and cultural ecosystems, sports and live performance sectors depriving workers and industries from billions in annual revenues and undermining the sustainability of an essential part of our social and economic fabric.
We call on the European Commission to deliver a legislative instrument to tackle live content piracy as a firm commitment from the European Executive branch to address this issue with adequate measures. Notably, guaranteeing that notified illegal content is taken down immediately and blocked before the live event terminates.
In so doing, we recall that such measures build on the existing corpus of European and national laws to deliver effective tools to fight and disable piracy networks. Networks incorporating a number of criminal operators that use piracy as a means to launder gains from illegal activities.
It is Europe’s duty to protect and promote its world leading creative and cultural workforce and industrial base as well as preserving consumers from the risks tied to piracy.
Any non-legislative instruments would be inadequate and insufficient to address the magnitude of the problem. Only a European wide regulation could provide an appropriate answer.
We encourage the European Commission to act firmly and rapidly towards proposing such an instrument.
Signatories (alphabetical order)
- A+E Networks EMEA
- AEPO-ARTIS
- AMC Networks International
- Asociación clubes baloncesto
- Asociaţia Română de Comunicaţii Audiovizuale
- Association of Bulgarian Broadcasters
- Association of Commercial Television and Video on Demand Services in Europe
- Association of Danish ensembles, orchestras and opera institutions
- Association of music festivals
- Association of the Professional theatres in the Czech Republic
- Association professionnelle des régies publicitaires TV et radio
- Association Sygnał
- ATP Media
- Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance
- Australian Football League
- beIN Sports
- British Horseracing Authority
- BT Sport
- Bulgarian Association of employers in Culture
- Canal+ Group
- Central European Media Enterprises
- Confindustria Radio Televisioni
- Cricket Australia
- Deutsche Fussball Liga
- Deutscher Fussbal-Bund
- Discovery+
- Ekstraklasa
- England and Wales Cricket Board
- England Rugby
- English Football League
- Euroleague Basketball
- European Arenas Association
- European Professional Club Rugby
- European Tour
- Eurosport
- Federation Equestre Internationale
- Fédération Française de Rugby
- Fédération Française de Tennis
- Federazione per la Tutela delle Industrie dei Contenuti Audiovisivi e Multimediali
- FIFA
- Football DataCo
- Global Cycling Network
- Guinness Six Nations
- Indian Premier League
- International Cricket Council
- International Netball Federation
- International Paralympic Committee
- International Tennis Federation
- KIGEiT – Krajowa Izba Gospodarcza Elektroniki i Telekomunikacji
- Ladies European Tour
- LaLiga
- Ligue de Football Professionnel
- London Marathon
- Mediapro
- Mediaset España
- Mediaset S.p.A.
- Motion Picture Association EMEA
- Moto GP
- News Media Europe
- Nova Broadcasting Group
- Nova Greece (Wind)
- Nova TV Croatia
- NRL
- Paramount
- Pearle* Live Performance Europe
- PGA Tour
- Premier League
- Premiership Rugby
- Roland Garros Paris
- Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
- Rugby AU
- Rugby Football League
- Rugby World Cup
- Ryder Cup
- Scottish Professional Football League
- Scottish Rugby
- Serie A
- Sky plc
- Speedway Great Britain
- Sport Integrity Global Alliance
- Sports Rights Owners Coalition
- State Federation of Associations of Theatre and Dance production enterprises
- Swedish Performing Arts
- Syndicat national du spectacle musical et de variété
- Tennis Australia
- TF1
- The British Golf Championship
- The Championships Wimbledon
- The European VOD Coalition
- The Football Association
- The Lawn Tennis Association
- The Walt Disney Company
- tvi
- UEFA
- UNI Global Union Europa – Media, Entertainment & Arts
- Union Internationale des Cinémas
- United Media
- UTECA – Televisión Comercial en Abierto
- VAUNET – Verband Privater Medien
- Verband Österreichischer Privatsender
- Viaplay Group
- Vivacom
- Warner Brothers Discovery Sports
- Women’s Tennis Association
- World Athletics
- World Federation of Advertisers
- World Snooker
- ZPPM Lewiatan – Związek Pracodawców Prywatnych Mediów Lewiatan.
– THE END –
ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world´s leading organisation for Sports Integrity. Supported by more than 200 international multi-industry supporters, we are creating a whole new landscape for the global sports industry by promoting the implementation of the highest integrity standards and delivering independent global rating and certification for Sport.
Funded by its members, SIGA is the only organisation to bring together all key stakeholder groups – Sport, Government, International Organisations, Global Business and Civil Society – from every region in the world, around one critical, fundamental Cause: to foster greater Integrity throughout Sport.
SIGA is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a non for profit association, funded by its members, and comprises of the following continental subsidiaries: SIGA AMERICA, SIGA EUROPE and SIGA LATIN AMERICA.
Click on the hyperlinks for the list of SIGA Members and Committed Supporters and SIGA Partners.
For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com.
To contact SIGA, please email: [email protected].