The upcoming FIFA World Cup, starting in June this year, will once again draw the attention of millions of football fans across many countries, including Argentina. In light of this global event, fans of the sport will have to decide which screen to watch the matches on.
In the football industry, broadcasting rights represent strategic assets for television channels, production companies, and digital platforms. For this reason, the battle against the illegal retransmission of matches through pirate streaming websites becomes particularly significant when the World Cup is held, especially in countries such as Argentina.
The mass infringement of content protected by intellectual property rights, enabled through the use of technology, poses the challenge of adapting traditional legal tools to an evolving digital environment.
It is in this context that so-called dynamic injunctions emerge. Unlike traditional injunctions – which block a specific domain – these measures allow a court order to be extended to future domains or addresses that reproduce the same infringement. In practice, dynamic injunctions avoid having to file a new lawsuit for every new infringing website.
A relevant Argentine ruling
In the field of sports broadcasting in Argentina, a judgment issued in December 2022 by the National Court of First Instance in Civil and Commercial Federal Matters No. 2 of the City of Buenos Aires serves as a relevant precedent.
The action was initiated by several companies holding and/or licensing rights related to the broadcasting of sporting events, which alleged that 30 websites were illegally redistributing television signals and audiovisual content owned and/or licensed by them.
The court found the alleged infringements to be sufficiently proven and ordered all internet service providers registered with the national communications regulatory authority to immediately block access from Argentina to the reported websites. In that context, the claimant companies reserved the right to expand the list of websites in response to the mutability of the infringing platforms and, subsequently, exercised this right, updating the measure to include new websites infringing their rights.
Significance of the decision – and a new debate
The decision is noteworthy both because of the scale of the blocking order granted and because of its adaptation to the active and constantly evolving environment of online infringements, particularly in relation to sports broadcasts.
However, alongside the implementation of dynamic injunctions, a debate has emerged regarding potential risks and undue restrictions on freedom of expression and access to information, possible violations of due process, the liability of intermediaries, and the principle of proportionality. Consequently, the challenge for courts lies in implementing measures that allow for a rapid and effective response without violating fundamental guarantees.
It must also be noted that international cooperation and the harmonisation of standards are key elements in an environment where infringements do not recognise borders.
