Using analytics to report on anti-piracy measures

The Live Content Coalition (LCC) is a group of leading European live content producers, broadcasters, and exhibitors.

In partnership with LCC we were given access to quarterly data and KPIs from 10 live events providers. The client used our analysis as evidence in conversations with regulators to show the prevalence of digital piracy in the European Union.

The challenge

In May 2023, the European Commission published a recommendation on combatting online piracy of sports and other live events, encouraging member states and all relevant stakeholders to take appropriate measures against the unauthorised retransmission of live events.

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is supporting the European Commission in monitoring the effects of the recommendation by gathering data from various stakeholders, including sports rights owners and broadcasters.

How we helped 

Our analysis shows that the recommendation has had limited impact on the sizeable piracy problem and mitigation efforts are mostly ignored. There were minimal improvements in the recommendation’s KPIs in 2024. For instance, a large portion of take-down notices submitted to intermediaries didn’t lead to suspension of the unauthorised transmissions. Only a small number of these infringements were suspended during the live events.

The results 

These findings were used by the LCC to support their discussions with the EUIPO’s ongoing assessment of the European Commission’s recommendation. As the findings are based on data from only a few major stakeholders, the full extent of online piracy issues is expected to be much larger as well.