The decision to investigate follows a landmark ruling in 2011 by the EU Court of Justice over the right of a pub owner to use a BSkyB satellite receiver obtained from the UK to show Premier League football matches in Greece. The court found that there was no justification for the Premier League to limit broadcast rights to national boundaries, when the cost of the rights could just as easily be based on the full or potential audience of a satellite TV provider across EU states.
The EU investigation will focus on major US film studios, including Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal and Paramount Pictures, and the largest European pay-TV broadcasters, such as BSkyB of the UK, Canal Plus of France, Sky Italia of Italy, Sky Deutschland of Germany and DTS of Spain.
