Michael Smith, a US individual who was accused of defrauding music streaming platforms and rights holders of royalty payments, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud before US District Judge John G. Koeltl, from the District Court for Southern District of New York. Smith also agreed to pay $8,091,843.64 in forfeiture. The offence carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Koeltl on July 29, 2026. This is one of the most pr...

Belgium's Constitutional Court has affirmed on March 26 the validity of the country's implementation decree of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMS), which introduced obligations for video streaming platforms to contribute to the financing of local content. Netflix challenged the decree in court. The Court rejected most of Netflix's criticisms in its appeal to annul the AVMS decree, which included the mandatory contribution system for audiovisual production. The Court also referred pre...

The Jiangsu High People's Court has rejected an appeal filed by Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili in a copyright infringement case filed by South Korean broadcaster MBC. In addition, the court increasing damages in this final appeal proceeding. The court found that the digital "safe harbour" defense invoked by the Chinese company did not shield from liability for the pirated content circulating on the platform. The judgment is final and takes immediate effect under China’s two-instance tri...