CJEU Ruling: Streaming Platforms Cannot Exclude The Consumer’s Right Of Withdrawal

In a judgment of 9 July 2026 (full text accessible here) in Case C-234/25, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that subscription-based streaming services qualify as “digital services”, not “digital content”, under EU consumer rights law. In practice, this means that a clause by which a consumer waives, upfront, the 14-day right of withdrawal on subscribing to a streaming service is legally ineffective: consumers keep that right for the full statutory period, no matter what they signed at sign-up. Providers can still recoup value through proportionate compensation on withdrawal, but they can no longer rely on a waiver to bar it outright.