SERVING NOTICE Content Protection helped the Wimbledon Championships fight piracy
SW19 CONTENT PROTECTION This year, organisers of The Championships at Wimbledon strengthened their ability to quickly remove illegal broadcasts through a global agreement with Sportian [formerly LaLiga Tech]. Sportian’s Content Protection service carried out continuous monitoring and elimination of pirated content related to matches broadcast from the two weeks of The Championships. This monitoring was carried out across all search engines, social media sites, online marketplaces, IPTV services and apps from any location. Content Protection tackled online piracy by scanning all channels where illegal content was being distributed or promoted, removing it and collecting evidence to streamline legal procedures. Its teams of analysts worked in collaboration with the world’s largest distribution platforms and social networks to ensure that illegal content was removed as quickly as it emerged. “The illegal piracy of sports content is the scourge of our industry, and its protection for both licensors and rights-holding broadcasters is essential if we are to maintain
grassroots level. If piracy is left uncontrolled, it’s putting the whole football ecosystem at risk, not only the commercial model that we have in place but also this very important solidarity function. That’s why we take it extremely seriously.” When it comes to Uefa’s anti-piracy operations, it has a sophisticated end- to-end system. “In 2020, we ran an RFP process, and we appointed leaders in content protection,” expands Dabrio. “Friend MTS was appointed to cover all internet-based platforms during the 2021-2024 cycle. “To protect live content, we have pre-match, in-match and post-match measures. We are looking for sources of illicit content before the match window to enforce upon it during the game. The post-match measures relate to social media in particular, where clips and highlights can be posted without permission. “For match day enforcement, we are crawling, we have fingerprinting verification and we will enforce accordingly. We implement blocking orders that we have currently in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. “The live window is key. Blocking orders are powerful in fighting piracy in real time. We need to build momentum for blocking orders to happen in all the territories. “There is no system that is 100% effective against piracy,” says Dabrio. “It’s a combination of elements, putting measures in place, keeping an eye on what’s going on and what might happen in the future.”
BLOCKING ORDERS ARE POWERFUL IN FIGHTING PIRACY IN REAL TIME
a healthy and vibrant ecosystem,” asserts Guillermo Rodríguez, director at Content Protection. FOOTBALL ECOSYSTEM AT RISK At IBC 2023, content protection supplier Friend MTS staged a fireside chat interview between operations director, Chris White, and senior anti-piracy expert at Uefa, Diego Dabrio. Uefa is the governing body for European football. “For club competitions, we sell in cycles of three years, and for national team competitions it’s four years,” according to Dabrio. “In the 2021- 2022 season, the amount that was distributed to European football (both to individual clubs and the national associations) from the revenues we generated by the selling of media rights was over €3 billion. Uefa currently organises a total of 19 competitions, including the Champions League, the Women’s Champions League, the Nations League, Women’s Nations League and Under 21 competitions. “Ultimately, we support the development and promotion of football at all levels down to the
WE LOOK FOR SOURCES OF ILLICIT CONTENT BEFORE THE MATCH WINDOW
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