What is new under French and EU audiovisual landscape?

Welcome to our newsletter focused on what is new and on the horizon for the audiovisual landscape in France and at the EU level. We take a close look at a range of the latest regulatory and legal developments that are likely to have an impact on broadcasters, distributors and producers in the audiovisual industry.

March 2026

EU and France open consultations on future of audiovisual rules

The European Commission launched a public consultation on 10 February on the review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) with responses due by 1 May.
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EU lawmakers and French senators push for tightening of AI copyright rules

The European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) voted on 28 January to adopt a series of proposals to ensure full transparency and fair remuneration for rightsholders for the use of copyrighted work by generative artificial intelligence (genAI). This initiative is based on the report on “Copyright and generative artificial intelligence – opportunities and challenges”. 
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French documentary industry strikes deal to govern use of AI in productions

Authors and documentary producers' unions – including La Boucle documentaire, GARRD, La Scam, SATEV, SPECT, SPI and USPA – agreed on 17 November on recommended contractual clauses to govern the use of generative AI (gen AI) in documentary production that are with copyright law and the EU AI Regulation. 
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EU and France take aim at online piracy of live sports with tougher enforcement tools

The European Commission on 20 November published its assessment of its Recommendation No. 2023/2018 on combating online piracy of sports and other live events, finding that voluntary measures have fallen short of meaningful progress.
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CJEU relaxes French joinder rules for copyright claims over collaborative work

The Court of Justice of the EU, in a judgment of 18 December 2025 (No. C‑182/24), examined the French rule under which all co‑authors or their assignees must normally be joined to proceedings concerning a collaborative work, as required by Article L.113‑3 of the French Intellectual Property Code.
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EU advocate general confirms that streaming subscriptions must carry 14-day right of withdrawal for new subscribers

The Court of Justice of the EU's Advocate General Szpunarin his opinion of 26 February (case C‑234/25, Sky Österreich vs. VKI), found that subscription streaming services qualify as “digital services”, rather than “digital content”, meaning providers cannot require new subscribers to waive their 14‑day right of withdrawal to obtain immediate access (under article 2(11), (16) and article 16(m) of Directive 2011/83/EU, as amended by Directive 2019/2161).
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France tightens on-demand audiovisual media services investment obligations

From 1 January, Decree No. 2025‑1421 has amended the SMAD Decree (No. 2021-793 of 22 June of 2021) to require on‑demand audiovisual media services to allocate at least 20% of their audiovisual investment obligations to animation, creative documentaries or live performance recordings in line with their editorial policy.
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ARCOM issues new guidelines on the accessibility of AVMS for disabled persons

ARCOM published new guidelines in October 2025 on the accessibility of services providing access to audiovisual media services (“Lignes directrices relatives à l’accessibilité des services fournissant un accès à des services de médias audiovisuels”).
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French media regulator finds foreign streaming platforms lagging on energy transparency

On 4 December 2025, ARCOM published its first evaluation report (covering 2024) assessing how TV services, on-demand AVMS, and video-sharing platforms have followed through on commitments made under its 2023 recommendation to inform users about the energy consumption linked to their services under article 26 of Law No. 2021-1485.
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ARCOM outlines its 2026 priorities on media pluralism and regulation

On 15 January, ARCOM's president, Martin Adjari, set out the French media regulator’s main areas of focus for 2026, against the backdrop of ongoing debates on media pluralism. He highlighted several a range of upcoming workstreams.
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TV, radio and online platforms reminded by ARCOM of local election rules ahead of March vote

On 23 January, ARCOM published a press kit summarising the rules applicable to TV, radio, and online platforms during the campaign for the March 2026 local elections, including guidelines dedicated to online platforms.
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French Supreme Court clarifies copyright protection for filmed interviews

In a ruling dated 15 October 2025 (No. 24-12.076), the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) confirmed that a filmed interview can be protected by copyright provided that, first, it takes an original form, and that, second, the person interviewed may be recognised as a co-author, provided that it can be demonstrated that they contributed to its originality.
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TV host denied authorship and image rights claims over TV show reused on YouTube

The Paris Judicial Court, in a judgment of 24 October 2025 (Ruling No. 23/11069), rejected all claims brought by the host of a TV programme that her moral rights and image rights were infringed when clips from her show were reused – including interviews and a trailer – on YouTube by the TV channel.
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Paris court rules producer's consent required for use of documentary rushes even with director's approval

The Paris Court of Appeal, in a judgment of 14 January (Ruling No. 24/15682), held that a university’s use of unedited documentary rushes footage in bonus scenes of a DVD release amounted to copyright infringement, as it lacked the express authorisation of the producer despite having obtained the consent of the director-author.
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French Supreme Court narrows broadcaster's grounds for the broadcaster to refuse right of reply

The French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation, Ruling No. 24-17.983 and No. 24-17.984) has clarified that the principle of indivisibility of the right of reply under article 13 of the Law of 29 July 1881, article 6, al. 1 of Law No.82-652 of 29 July 1982 on audiovisual communication and article 6, IV (which became article 1-1, III) of Law No. 2004-575 of 21 June 2004, applies only to the content of the requested reply, not to the applicants.
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French CNC to introduce a financial penalty for films failing to meet gender parity targets in 2027

On 26 November 2025, during the presentation of the Gender Equality Observatory, the French national film board CNC's president Gaëtan Bruel announced the introduction of a “malus” system for films that do not ensure a minimum level of gender parity in key positions.
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French retailer infringed of Roland-Garros rights by using older competition footage in marketing campaign

The Paris Judicial Court, in a judgment of 12 February (Ruling No. 23/15958), held that department store Printemps infringed the French Tennis Federation’s (FFT) exclusive exploitation right over the Roland‑Garros tournament by using match footage from 2014 and 2015 editions of the competition in a “Live Shopping” campaign (“Jeu, Set & Match”) broadcast on its website during the 2023 tournament without authorisation.
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