Travelling With Your Online Account In Europe

Last year, we reported on the Commission's strategy to establish a " Digital Single Market" in the EU.

As one of the first concrete steps in that strategy, the European Commission has now introduced its proposal for a Regulation on ensuring the cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market. If passed in its current form, the proposal would weaken the territorial ties of online licensing of copyrighted works by allowing EU consumers to take their content on the road and listen, view or play wherever they are in the EU.

1. Temporary portability of online content services across license territory borders

The Commission's proposed Regulation would allow consumers to access and use online content for which they have acquired a right to use in their home country (e.g., under a perpetual license or a subscription) while temporarily traveling in other EU countries ("Member States"). To achieve this, the proposed Regulation mainly makes