Piracy in live sports broadcasting gives rise to a continuous threat to the live
sports broadcasting media rights holder, which is causing several financial
losses and also further depriving the ethical and legal values of various live
sports broadcasting platforms. The paper calculates how to tackle the continuous
increase of challenges related to sports piracy, the role and functions of the
already existing sanctioned conventions, and the emergence of techno-legal
responses.
This article also further discusses and highlights the requirement
for reform in the legal framework, along with suggestions on the role of
integrating advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and invisible
watermarks to resist the issue of Sports Piracy. Therefore, the study concludes
with real-time discussion areas for future research by emphasizing the
recommendations for strengthening anti-piracy measures.
Introduction
In today's time with the advancement of technology and the vibrant way of using
the Internet, there is a drastic shift in broadcasting sports media channels,
from the Old Paid Television to the various Online Streaming Platforms. These
advancements in technology led to better quality and also improved the costs of
pirated streaming platforms which became more attractive and fantasize for any
sports lover. But in parallel, there is also an issue of 'Piracy' that has been
consistently rising and increasing, which emerged as one of the most prominent
single biggest threats to the Live Sports Broadcasting media.
Impact
In back 2022, there was a study conducted by Synamedia in which they published
an article titled "The Battle Against Sports Piracy" and data related to the
estimated cost of sports media rights was released, which stated that- 'every
year approximately 28 billion dollars of loss faced by the media rights holders
of sports because of the piracy that occurred in the live broadcasting of the
sports.[1]
Also, there is a persistent increase in global demand and a rise in
the value of Online Streaming Platforms due to a sudden increase in the number
of pirated platforms.[2] Nowadays, the piracy of the Broadcasting of Sports has
become a massive menace for both the sports media rights as well as the
consumer.[3] The Sports Media Broadcasting Industries suffered a heavy loss in
jobs, investments, subscriptions, and revenue and the End users also became
vulnerable to the infringement of privacy by transferring the malware or any
related software so that these can steal the data.
Legal Frameworks for Protecting the Broadcasting Rights
At the International level, there are two main well-known conventions have been
signed to protect the media rights of broadcasting organizations: the Rome
Convention of 1964 and the Brussels Convention of 1974. Rome Convention was the
first to recognize Broadcasting as a separate entity of media right holders in
which a unique right has been given to broadcast, rebroadcast and notify the
public about their broadcasts for 20 years.
But there a major drawback of these conventions is that the one of world's most
significant markets organization which is based in the USA and China are not the
signatory parties to it, which demonstrates its limited showcasing international
appeal. On the other side, the Brussels Convention provides legal access to
content and also gives protection against cables that are not authorized but
there is no enforcement mechanism for broadcasters.[4]
Challenges and Solutions to the Present Legal Frameworks
During the time of the making of these conventions, the era of the Internet and
mobile data networks was not present that time and Broadcasting and Piracy both
are dynamic and evolved with time so there must be requirements for new legal
frameworks that deal with these new kinds of transmission that were not
prevalent earlier. Apart from this, at the National stage also, some countries
like India, and Australia, started using court orders and notices to combat such
instances of piracy issues and this will lead to the blocking access of pirated
content at the ISP level even though the host (originator) of that site is from
some other country or location.[5] However, the intricate value of these live
events is very short-lived as it dies down as soon as the live streaming ends,
so it becomes most important as there is an urgent need for the fast delivery of
these court orders.
To tackle these limitations in the legal frameworks, one can be a very effective
solution to combating sports privacy in real-time scenarios by putting
technologies into these frameworks.[6] By the use of technology, broadcasters
can reduce the losses by mandatory rapid identifications and instant take-downs
of pirated content. Invisible Watermarks can become a method as they are
efficient in fast-tracking and blocking a particular pirated site without
disturbing the experience of the user.[7]
Apart from this, there is one more
method of using the AI models which helps in monitoring and analysing the huge
quantities of data over the internet including the videos and images of the
content to check the user's activity and block any such piracy words found on
the sites.[8]
Conclusion
Hence, thereby from the above paragraphs, we can conclude that integrating
technology into a legal framework considering broadcasting organizations and
media rights holders can ensure the values and rights of live online streaming
platforms in the present digital world.
End Note:
- Simon Brydon, "The Battle Against Sports Piracy", accessed 20 June 2023
- Lachlan Gapp, "The growing problem of live sports broadcast piracy – copyright protection and available counter-technologies", accessed 15 March 2024
- Queen's Business Review, "The Rise of Sports Piracy", accessed 30 November
- Summary of the Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (1974)
- Brett Danaher, Michael D. Smith, and Rahul Telang, "Pro Sports Has a Piracy Problem", accessed 14 February 2024
- Mélanie Langlois & Fatima Peñaranda, "Defending sports rights: the critical role of watermarking in anti-piracy efforts", accessed 2 September 2024
- Mélanie Langlois & Fatima Peñaranda, "Defending sports rights: the critical role of watermarking in anti-piracy efforts", accessed 2 September 2024
- Matt Stagg, "Maximising artificial intelligence in the fight against sports piracy", accessed 20 February 2024
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