Analysis On Broadcasting Rights Of Broadcasting Rights From The Prospective Of European Competition Law

Broadcasting rights of sports events refer to the game organizers’ rights to give access to the live coverage of games and get remuneration from it. The importance of this right in the whole sports industry chain has been growing with the rapid development of both traditional and new media. The sports industry started late in China, the market is not mature enough, and the regulatory mechanisms are not perfect. However, with the publication of "Several Opinions On Accelerating the Development of Sports Industry and Promoting the Sports Consumption " by the State Council of China and the and the release of "General Plan about the reform and development of Chinese Football", the reform of the Sports Industry has initiated in China. Faced with the new rules and situations, all the participants in Sports Industry will confront challenges but also opportunities that they never had before. In such a case, how to protect the orderly competition and healthy development of the sports industry market remains a problem for everyone of us. This paper will be divided into four chapters, elaborating professional sports broadcasting rights issue that we are facing and the experience we can learn from.The first chapter mainly focus on the definition and legal status of broadcasting rights of sports events. There are several theories about to whom this right may belong and its legal status. We’d also like to discuss the protection of intellectual property of broadcasting rights. Besides, in this chapter several models of broadcasting rights selling have been listed.The second chapter is about the current situation of broadcasting rights of sports events in our country and the importance of competition law in this field. The analysis begins with the introduction of the history of sports industry market in China, and then the new policies and its influence. As to the importance of competition law, we’ll discuss the goals of the new policies and rules, also the problems to be solved.The third chapter put emphasis on how the competition law of European Union works on broadcasting rights. Firstly there’s a brief interpretation of Article 81 and 82 of European Union Treaty. Secondly we’ll analyze the idea of relevant market, the concerted sales, the joint purchasing and the exclusive broadcasting rights.The last chapter is about what we can learn from the experience of EU and how we can resolve the hidden problems in the market. Due to the limited time the sports industry has developed, we have few laws in this field in China. Facing the complicated situation of the market, the current regulations are far from perfect. Through the analysis of the EU competition law, certain suggestions will be made in the sports industry area.