I
(Legislative acts)
REGUL ATIONS
REGUL ATION (EU) 2017/1128 OF THE EUR OPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 14 June 2017
on cross-border por tability of online content services in the inter nal market
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUR OPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUR OPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draf t legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committe e (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),
Acting in accordance with the ordinar y legislative procedure (3),
Whereas:
(1) Seamless access throughout the Union to online cont ent services that are lawfully provided to consumers in their 
Member State of residence is imp ortant for the smooth functioning of the inter nal marke t and for the effective 
application of the principles of free movement of persons and services. Since the inter nal marke t compr ises an area 
without inter nal borders relying, inter alia, on the free movement of persons and services, it is necessar y to ensure 
that consumers can use portable online cont ent services which offer access to cont ent such as music, games, films, 
entertainment programmes or spor ts events, not only in their Member State of residence but also when they are 
temporari ly present in another Member State for purposes such as leisure, trave l, business trips or learning mobility . 
Theref ore, barriers that hamper access to and use of such online cont ent services in such cases should be eliminated .
(2) The technological developments that have led to a prolifera tion of portable devices such as laptops, tablets and 
smar tphones are increasing ly facilitating the use of online content services by providing access to them rega rdless of 
the location of consumers. There is a rapidly growing demand on the part of consumers for access to cont ent and 
inno vative online services not only in their Member State of residence but also when they are temporar ily present in 
another Member State.
(3) Consumers increasing ly enter into contractual arrang ements with service providers for the provision of online 
cont ent services. However , consumers that are temporar ily present in a Member State other than their Member State 
of residence often cannot continue to access and use the online cont ent services that they have lawfully acquired the 
right to access and use in their Member State of residence.30.6.2017 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union L 168/1
(1) OJ C 264, 20.7.2016, p. 86.
(2) OJ C 240, 1.7.2016, p. 72.
(3) Position of the European Parliament of 18 May 2017 (not yet published in the Offici al Jour nal) and decision of the Council of 8 June 
2017.(4) There are a number of barriers which hinder the provision of online cont ent services to consumers temporar ily 
present in a Member State other than their Member State of residence. Certain online services include content such 
as music, games, films or entertainment programmes which are protect ed by copyright or related rights under Union 
law. At present, the barriers to cross-border portability of online cont ent services differ from one sector to another . 
The barriers stem from the fact that the rights for the transmission of cont ent protect ed by copyright or related 
rights, such as audio visual works, are often licensed on a territoria l basis, as well as from the fact that providers of 
online content services might choose to serve specific markets only .
(5) The same applies to cont ent, such as spor ts events, which is not prot ected by copyright or related rights under Union 
law but which could be prot ected by copyright or related rights under national law or by virtue of other specif ic 
national legislation and which is often also licensed by the organisers of such events or offered by providers of online 
cont ent services on a territorial basis. Transmissions of such cont ent by broadcasting organisations are protect ed by 
relate d rights which have been harmonised at Union level. Moreo ver, transmissions of such content often include 
copyright-prote cted elements such as music, opening or closing video sequences or graphics. Also, certain aspects of 
transmissions of such cont ent, specifically those relating to broadcasting events of major impor tance for society as 
well as to shor t news repor ts on events of high interest to the public, have been harmonised by Directive 2010/13/ 
EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (1). Finally , audio visual media services within the meaning of 
Directive 2010/13/EU include services which provide access to content such as spor ts events, news or current 
affairs.
(6) Increasing ly, online content services are market ed in a pack age in which content which is not protect ed by copyright 
or related rights is not separable from cont ent which is protect ed by copyright or relate d rights without substantially 
lessening the value of the service provided to consumers. This is especially the case with premium content such as 
spor ts events or other events of signifi cant interest to consumers. In order to enable providers of online content 
services to provide to consumers full access to their online cont ent services when consumers are temporar ily present 
in a Member State other than their Member State of residence, it is indispensable that this Regulation also covers 
such cont ent used by online content services and theref ore that it applies to audio visual media services within the 
meaning of Directive 2010/13/EU as well as to transmissions of broadcasting organisations in their entirety .
(7) The rights in works prot ected by copyright and in subject-matte r prot ected by related rights (‘works and other 
prot ected subject-matte r’) are harmonised, inter alia, in Directives 96/9/EC (2), 2001/29/EC (3), 2006/115/EC (4) and 
2009/24/EC (5) of the European Parliament and of the Council. The provisions of international agreements in the 
area of copyright and relate d rights concluded by the Union in particular the Agreement on Trade-Relate d Aspects of 
Intellectual Proper ty Rights annexe d as Annex 1C to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Orga nization of 
15 Apr il 1994, the WIPO Cop yright Treaty of 20 December 1996, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms 
Treaty of 20 December 1996, as amended, form an integral part of the Union lega l order . Union law should, insofar 
as is possible, be inter preted in a manner that is consiste nt with inter national law.
(8) It is essential that providers of online cont ent services that mak e use of works or other prot ected subject-matte r, such 
as books, audio visual works, recorded music or broadcasts have the right to use such content for the relevant 
territories.
(9) The transmission by providers of online content services of cont ent that is prot ected by copyright or related rights 
requires the author isation of the relevant rightholders, such as authors, perf ormers, producers or broadcasting 
organisations, regard ing the content included in the transmission. This is equally true when such transmission takes 
place for the purpose of allowing a consumer to carry out a download in order to use an online content service.L 168/2 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union 30.6.2017
(1) Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions 
laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concer ning the provision of audio visual media services 
(Audio visual Media Services Directive) (OJ L 95, 15.4.2010, p. 1).
(2) Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases (OJ L 77, 
27.3.1996, p. 20).
(3) Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of 
copyright and related rights in the information society (OJ L 167, 22.6.2001, p. 10).
(4) Directive 2006/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on rental right and lending right and 
on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual proper ty (OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, p. 28).
(5) Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 Apr il 2009 on the legal protection of comput er 
programs (OJ L 111, 5.5.2009, p. 16).(10) The acquisition of a licence for relevant rights is not alwa ys possible, in particular when rights in cont ent are licensed 
on an exclusive basis. In order to ensure that territorial exclusivity is effectively complied with, providers of online 
cont ent services often under take , in their licence contracts with rightholders, including broadcasting organisations 
or events organisers, to prevent their subscr ibers from accessing and using their services outside the territory for 
which the providers hold the licence. Such contractual restr ictions imp osed on providers require them to take 
measures such as disallo wing access to their services from inter net protocol (IP) addresses located outside the 
territory concer ned. Theref ore, one of the obstacles to the cross-border portability of online content services is to be 
found in the contracts concluded between the providers of online cont ent services and their subscr ibers, which 
reflect the territorial restr iction clauses included in contracts concluded between those providers and the 
rightholders.
(11) The case law of the Cour t of Justice of the European Union should be take n into account when balancing the 
objective of protecting intellectual proper ty rights with the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
(12) Theref ore, the objective of this Regulation is to adapt the harmonised legal framew ork on copyright and related 
rights and to provide a common approac h to the provision of online cont ent services to subscr ibers temporar ily 
present in a Member State other than their Member State of residence by remo ving barriers to cross-border 
portability of online cont ent services which are lawfully provided. This Regulation should ensure cross-border 
portability of online cont ent services in all secto rs concer ned and hence provide consumers with an additional 
means of accessing online cont ent lawfully , without affecting the high level of protection guaranteed by copyright 
and related rights in the Union, without changing the existing licensing models, such as territori al licensing, and 
without affecting the existing financing mecha nisms. The concept of cross-border portability of online content 
services should be distinguished from that of cross-border access by consumers to online content services provided 
in a Member State other than their Member State of residence, which is not covered by this Regulation.
(13) Given the Union instr uments that exist in the field of taxation, it is necessar y to exclude the field of taxation from 
the scope of this Regulation. Theref ore, this Regulation should not affect the application of any provision related to 
taxation.
(14) This Regulation defines several concepts necessar y for its application, including the Member State of residence. The 
Member State of residence should be determi ned taking into account the objectives of this Regulation and the 
necessity to ensure its unif orm application in the Union. The definition of the Member State of residence imp lies that 
the subscr iber has his or her actual and stable residence in that Member State. A provider of an online content 
service who has verified the Member State of residence in accordance with this Regulation should be allowed to 
assume, for the purposes of this Regulation, that the Member State of residence as verified is the only Member State 
of residence of the subscr iber. Providers should not be oblige d to verify whether their subscr ibers are also subscr ibers 
to an online cont ent service in another Member State.
(15) This Regulation should apply to online cont ent services that providers, after having obtained the relevant rights from 
rightholders in a given territory , provide to their subscr ibers on the basis of a contract, by any means including 
streaming, downloading, through applications or any other technique which allows use of that cont ent. For the 
purposes of this Regulation, the term contract should be rega rded as covering any agreement between a provider 
and a subscr iber, including any arrangement by which the subscr iber accep ts the provider ’s terms and conditions for 
the provision of online cont ent services, whether against payment of money or without such payment. A registration 
to receive content alerts or a mere acceptance of HTML cookies should not be regarded as a contract for the 
provision of online cont ent services for the purposes of this Regulation.
(16) An online service which is not an audio visual media service within the meaning of Directive 2010/13/EU and which 
uses works, other protect ed subject-matter or transmissions of broadcasting organisations in a merely ancillar y 
manner should not be covered by this Regulation. Such services include website s that use works or other prot ected 
subject-matt er only in an ancillar y manner such as graphical elements or music used as back ground, where the main 
purpose of such website s is, for exam ple, the sale of goods.
(17) This Regulation should apply only to online cont ent services which subscr ibers can effectively access and use in their 
Member State of residence without being limited to a specif ic location, as it is not appropr iate to require providers of 
online cont ent services that do not offer portable online content services in the Member State of residence of a 
subscr iber to do so across borders.30.6.2017 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union L 168/3(18) This Regulation should apply to online content services which are provided against payment of money . Providers of 
such services are in a position to verify the Member State of residence of their subscr ibers. The right to use an online 
cont ent service should be rega rded as acquired agains t payment of mone y, whether such payment is made directly to 
the provider of the online cont ent service, or to another party such as a provider offering a packag e combining an 
electronic communications service and an online cont ent service operated by another provider . For the purposes of 
this Regulation, the payment of a mandat ory fee for public broadcasting services should not be regard ed as a 
payment of money for an online cont ent service.
(19) Providers of online cont ent services should not subject their subscr ibers to any additional charges for the provision 
of cross-border portability of online content services in accordance with this Regulation. It is possible however that 
subscr ibers, in order to access and use online cont ent services in Member States other than their Member State of 
residence, could be subject to fees payable to operato rs of electronic communications networks used to access such 
services.
(20) Providers of online cont ent services which are provided without payment of money generally do not verify the 
Member State of residence of their subscr ibers. The inclusion of such online cont ent services in the scope of this 
Regulation would involve a major change to the way those services are delivered and involve dispropor tionate costs. 
However , the exclusion of those services from the scope of this Regulation would mean that providers of those 
services would not be able to take advantage of the legal mec hanism which is provided for in this Regulation and 
which enables providers of online cont ent services to offer cross-border portability of such services, even when they 
decide to invest in means that allow them to verify their subscr ibers’ Member State of residence. According ly, 
providers of online content services which are provided without payment of money should be able to opt to be 
included in the scope of this Regulation provided that they comp ly with the requirements on the verification of the 
Member State of residence of their subscr ibers. If such providers exercise that option, they should comp ly with the 
same obligations as imposed under this Regulation upon the providers of online cont ent services which are provided 
against payment of mone y. Further more, they should inform the subscr ibers, the relevant holders of copyright and 
relate d rights and the relevant holders of any other rights in the cont ent of the online content service of their 
decision to exer cise that option in a timely manner . Such information could be provided on the provider ’s website .
(21) In order to ensure the cross-border portability of online content services, it is necessar y to require providers of 
online content services covered by this Regulation to enable subscr ibers to use such services in the Member State in 
which they are temporar ily present in the same manner as in their Member State of residence. Subscr ibers should 
have access to online content services offering the same content on the same range and number of devices, for the 
same number of users and with the same rang e of functionalities as those offered in their Member State of residence. 
It is essential that the obligation to provide cross-border portability of online content services be mandatory and 
theref ore the parties should not be able to exclude it, deroga te from it or vary its effect. Any action by a provider 
which would prevent subscr ibers from accessing or using the service while temporari ly present in a Member State 
other than their Member State of residence, for exam ple restr ictions to the functionalities of the service or to the 
quality of its deliver y should be considered to be a circum vention of the obligation to provide cross-border 
portability of online content services and theref ore contrar y to this Regulation.
(22) Requir ing that the deliver y of online content services to subscr ibers temporar ily present in a Member State other 
than their Member State of residence be of the same quality as in the Member State of residence could result in high 
costs for providers of online content services and thus ultimatel y for subscr ibers. Theref ore, it is not appropr iate for 
this Regulation to require that providers ensure a quality of deliver y of such services that would be beyond the 
quality available via the local online access chosen by a subscr iber while temporar ily present in another Member 
State. In such cases the provider should not be liable if the quality of deliver y of the service is lower. Never theless, if 
the provider expressly guarantees a certain quality of deliver y to subscr ibers while temporar ily present in another 
Member State, it should be bound by that guarante e. The provider , on the basis of the information in its possession, 
should provide its subscr ibers in advance with information concer ning the quality of deliver y of an online cont ent 
service in Member States other than their Member State of residence, in particular the fact that the quality of deliver y 
could differ from that applicable in their Member State of residence. The provider should not be under an obliga tion 
to actively seek information on the quality of deliver y of a service in Member States other than the subscr iber ’s 
Member State of residence. The relevant information could be provided on the provider ’s website.L 168/4 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union 30.6.2017(23) In order to ensure that providers of online content services covered by this Regulation com ply with the oblig ation to 
provide cross-border portability of their services, without acquir ing the relevant rights in another Member State, it is 
necessar y to stipulate that those providers should alwa ys be entitled to provide such services to subscr ibers when 
they are temporar ily present in a Member State other than their Member State of residence. This should be achieved 
by establishing that the provision of, access to and use of such online content services should be deemed to occur in 
the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence. This lega l mec hanism should apply for the sole purpose of ensur ing the 
cross-border portability of online cont ent services. An online content service should be considered to be provided 
lawfully if both the service and the content are provided in a lawful manner in the Member State of residence. This 
Regulation, and in particular the legal mec hanism by which the provision of, access to and use of an online content 
service are deemed to occur in the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence, does not prevent a provider from 
enabling the subscr iber to additionally access and use the cont ent lawfully offered by the provider in the Member 
State where the subscr iber is temporar ily present.
(24) For the licensing of copyright or relate d rights, the lega l mec hanism laid down in this Regulation means that relevant 
acts of reproduction, communication to the public and making available of works and other prot ected subject- 
matt er, as well as the acts of extraction or re-utilization in relation to databases protect ed by sui generi s rights, which 
occur when the service is provided to subscr ibers when they are temporari ly present in a Member State other than 
their Member State of residence, should be deemed to occur in the subscr ibers’ Member State of residence. Providers 
of online cont ent services covered by this Regulation, theref ore, should be deemed to carry out such acts on the basis 
of the respective author isations from the rightholders concer ned for the Member State of residence of their 
subscr ibers. Whenever providers have the right to carry out acts of communication to the public or reproduction in 
their subscr ibers’ Member State of residence on the basis of an author isation from the rightholders concer ned, 
subscr ibers who are temporar ily present in a Member State other than their Member State of residence should be 
able to access and use the service and where necessar y carry out any relevant acts of reproduction, such as 
downloading, which they would be entitled to do in their Member State of residence. The provision of an online 
cont ent service by providers to subscr ibers temporar ily present in a Member State other than their Member State of 
residence and the access to and use of the service by such subscr ibers in accordance with this Regulation should not 
constitute a breach of copyright or relate d rights or any other rights relevant for the provision of, access to and use 
of the online content service.
(25) Providers of online content services covered by this Regulation should not be liable for the breach of any contractual 
provisions that are contrar y to the obligation to enable their subscr ibers to use such services in the Member State in 
which they are temporar ily present. Theref ore, clauses in contracts designed to prohibit or limit the cross-border 
portability of such online content services should be unenf orceable. The providers and holders of rights relevant for 
the provision of online cont ent services should not be allowed to circum vent the application of this Regulation by 
choosing the law of a third countr y as the law applicable to contracts between them. The same should apply to 
contracts concluded between providers and subscr ibers.
(26) This Regulation should enable subscr ibers to enjo y online cont ent services to which they have subscr ibed in their 
Member State of residence when they are temporar ily present in another Member State. Subscr ibers should be 
eligible for cross-border portability of online content services only if they reside in a Member State of the Union. 
Theref ore, this Regulation should oblige providers of online cont ent services to mak e use of reasonable, 
propor tionate and effective means in order to verify the Member State of residence of their subscr ibers. To that end, 
providers should use the means of verification listed in this Regulation. This does not preclude agreement between 
providers and rightholders on those means of verificati on within the limits of this Regulation. The objective of the 
list is to provide lega l certainty as to the means of verification to be used by providers as well as to limit interference 
with subscr ibers’ privacy . In each case, account should be take n of the effectiveness and propor tionality of a 
particular means of verification in a given Member State and for a given type of online content service. Unless the 
subscr iber ’s Member State of residence can be verified with sufficient certainty on the basis of a sing le means of 
verificati on, providers should rely on two means of verification. In cases where the provider has reasonable doubts 
concer ning the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence, the provider should be able to repeat the verification of the 
subscr iber ’s Member State of residence. The provider should imp lement the necessar y technical and organisational 
measures required under applicable data prot ection rules for the processing of personal data collected for the 
purpose of verification of the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence under this Regulation. Examples of such 
measures include providing transparent information to the individuals about the methods used for, and the purpose 
of, the verificati on, and appropr iate secur ity measures.30.6.2017 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union L 168/5(27) In order to verify the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence, the provider of an online content service should rely, if 
possible, on information which is in the provider ’s possession, such as billing information. As regards contracts 
concluded prior to the date of application of this Regulation and as regard s the verification carried out upon renewal 
of a contract, the provider should be allowed to request the subscr iber to provide the information necessar y to verify 
the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence only when it cannot be determ ined on the basis of information which is 
already in the provider ’s possession.
(28) IP address checks perform ed under this Regulation should be conducted in accordance with Directives 95/46/EC (1) 
and 2002/58/EC (2) of the European Parliament and of the Council. In addition, for the purpose of verificati on of the 
subscr iber ’s Member State of residence what matt ers is not the precise location of the subscr iber, but rather the 
Member State in which the subscr iber is accessing the service. According ly, data on the subscr iber ’s precise location 
or any other personal data should neither be collected nor processed for that purpose. Where the provider has 
reasonable doubts concer ning the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence and carries out an IP address check to 
verify the Member State of residence, the sole purpose of such checks should be to establish whether the subscr iber 
is accessing or using the online cont ent service within or outside the Member State of residence. Theref ore, in such 
cases, the data resulting from the checking of IP addresses should only be collect ed in binar y format and in 
com pliance with applicable data protect ion rules. The provider should not exceed that level of detail.
(29) A holder of copyright, related rights, or any other rights in the cont ent of an online cont ent service should remain 
able to exercise contractual freedom to author ise such cont ent to be provided, accessed and used under this 
Regulation without verificati on of the Member State of residence. This can be particularly relevant in sectors such as 
music and e-book s. Each rightholder should be able to take such decisions freely when entering into contracts with 
providers of online cont ent services. Contracts between providers and rightholders should not restr ict the possibility 
for rightholders to withdra w such author isation subject to giving reasonable notice to the provider . The 
author isation given by an individual rightholder does not as such release the provider from the obliga tion to verify 
the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence. It is only in cases where all the holders of copyright, relate d rights or any 
other rights in the content used by the provider decide to author ise their content to be provided, accessed and used 
without verification of the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence that the obligation to verify should not apply , and 
the contract between the provider and the subscr iber for the provision of an online cont ent service should be used to 
determine the latte r’s Member State of residence. All other aspects of this Regulation should remain applicable in 
such cases.
(30) This Regulation respects fundamental rights and obser ves the principles recognised in the Char ter of Fundamental 
Rights of the European Union (‘Char ter’). According ly, this Regulation should be interpreted and applied in 
accordance with those rights and principles, in particular the right to respect for private and family life, the right to 
prot ection of personal data, the right to freedom of expression, the freedom to conduct a business and the right to 
proper ty, including intellectual proper ty. Any processing of personal data under this Regulation should respect 
fundamental rights, including the right to respect for private and family life and the right to protection of personal 
data under Articles 7 and 8 of the Char ter, and it is essential that such processing be in complia nce with Directives 
95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC. In particular , providers of online content services should ensure that any processing of 
personal data under this Regulation is necessar y, reasonable and propor tionate in order to achieve the relevant 
purpose. Where authentication of a subscr iber is suffici ent in order to provide the service, identifi cation of the 
subscr iber should not be required. Data collect ed pursuant to this Regulation for the purposes of verificati on of the 
Member State of residence should not be stored by the provider longe r than necessar y to compl ete such verificati on. 
Such data should be immediate ly and irreversibly destro yed after the verification is complet ed. However , this is 
without prejudice to the storag e of data which was collected for another legitimat e purpose, subject to applicable 
data prot ection rules, including rules concer ning the storage of that data.L 168/6 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union 30.6.2017
(1) Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the prot ection of individuals with regard 
to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31). Directive 95/46/EC is 
repealed and replaced, with effect from 25 May 2018, by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
of 27 Apr il 2016 on the prot ection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of 
such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).
(2) Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concer ning the processing of personal data 
and the prot ection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) (OJ 
L 201, 31.7.2002, p. 37).(31) Contracts under which cont ent is licensed are usually concluded for a relatively long duration. Consequently , and in 
order to ensure that all consumers residing in the Union can enjo y cross-border portability of online content services 
on an equal basis in time and without any undue dela y, this Regulation should also apply to contracts concluded and 
rights acquired before the date of its application if those contracts and rights are relevant for the cross-border 
portability of an online content service provided after that date. Such application of this Regulation is also necessar y 
in order to ensure a level playing field for providers of online content services covered by this Regulation operating 
in the internal marke t, particularly for SMEs, by enabling providers that concluded contracts with rightholders for a 
long duration to offer cross-border portability to their subscr ibers, independently of the provider ’s ability to 
renegotiat e such contracts. Moreo ver, such application of this Regulation should ensure that when providers make 
arrang ements necessar y for the cross-border portability of their services, they will be able to offer such portability 
with regard to the entirety of their online cont ent. This should also apply to providers of online content services that 
offer pack ages combining electronic communications services and online content services. Finally , such application 
of this Regulation should also allow rightholders not to have to renegotiate their existing licensing contracts in order 
to enable providers to offer cross-border portability of their services.
(32) According ly, since this Regulation will apply to some contracts concluded and rights acquired before the date of its 
application, it is also appropr iate to provide for a reasonable period between the date of entr y into force of this 
Regulation and the date of its application, so as to allow rightholders and providers of online content services 
covered by this Regulation to make the arrang ements necessar y to adap t to the new situation, as well as to allow 
providers to amend the terms of use of their services. Chang es to the terms of use of online content services offered 
in pack ages combining an electronic communications service and an online content service that are made strictly in 
order to comply with the requirements of this Regulation should not trigger for subscr ibers any right under national 
laws transposing the regulato ry framework for electronic communications netwo rks and services to withdra w from 
contracts for the provision of such electronic communications services.
(33) This Regulation is aimed at imp roving comp etitiveness by foster ing inno vation in online cont ent services and 
attracting more consumers. This Regulation should not affect the application of the rules of competition, and in 
particular Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. The rules provided for in this Regulation should not be used to restr ict 
com petition in a manner contrar y to the TFEU.
(34) This Regulation should not affect the application of Directive 2014/26/EU of the European Parliament and of the 
Council (1) and in particular Title III thereof. This Regulation is consiste nt with the objective of facilitating the lawful 
access to content, which is protect ed by copyright or related rights, as well as services linked thereto.
(35) In order to achieve the objective of ensur ing cross-border portability of online cont ent services in the Union, it is 
appropr iate to adop t a regulation, which is directly applicable in Member States. This is necessar y in order to 
guarante e a unif orm application of the cross-border portability rules across Member States and their entr y into force 
at the same time with rega rd to all online content services. Only a regulation ensures the degree of lega l certainty 
which is necessar y in order to enable consumers to fully benefi t from cross-border portability across the Union.
(36) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the adap tation of the legal framew ork so that cross-border portability 
of online cont ent services is provided in the Union, cannot be suffi ciently achi eved by the Member States but can 
rather , by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adop t measures in 
accordance with the principle of subsidiar ity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance 
with the principle of propor tionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessar y 
in order to achi eve that objective. In particular , this Regulation does not substantially affect the way the rights are 
licensed and does not oblig e rightholders and providers to renegotiat e contracts. Moreo ver, this Regulation does not 
require that providers take measures to ensure the quality of deliver y of online content services outside the Member 
State of residence of the subscr ibers. Finally , this Regulation does not apply to providers that offer online content 
services without payment of mone y and who do not exercise the option to enable the cross-border portability of 
their services. Theref ore, it does not impose any dispropor tionate costs,30.6.2017 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union L 168/7
(1) Directive 2014/26/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 Febr uary 2014 on collective management of copyright 
and related rights and multi-te rritorial licensing of rights in musical works for online use in the internal market (OJ L 84, 20.3.2014, 
p. 72).HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGUL ATION:
Article 1
Subject matter and scope
1. This Regulation introduces a common approac h in the Union to the cross-border portability of online content 
services, by ensur ing that subscr ibers to portable online cont ent services which are lawfully provided in their Member State 
of residence can access and use those services when temporar ily present in a Member State other than their Member State 
of residence.
2. This Regulation shall not apply to the field of taxation.
Article 2
Def initions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
(1) ‘subscr iber ’ means any consumer who, on the basis of a contract for the provision of an online content service with a 
provider whether against payment of mone y or without such payment, is entitled to access and use such service in the 
Member State of residence;
(2) ‘consumer ’ means any natural person who, in contracts covered by this Regulation, is acting for purposes which are 
outside that person’s trade, business, craft or profe ssion;
(3) ‘Member State of residence ’ means the Member State, determined on the basis of Article 5, where the subscr iber has his 
or her actual and stable residence;
(4) ‘temporar ily present in a Member State’ means being present in a Member State other than the Member State of 
residence for a limited period of time;
(5) ‘online cont ent service ’ means a service as defined in Articles 56 and 57 TFEU that a provider lawfully provides to 
subscr ibers in their Member State of residence on agreed terms and online, which is portable and which is:
(i)an audio visual media service as defined in point (a) of Article 1 of Directive 2010/13/EU, or
(ii)a service the main feature of which is the provision of access to, and the use of, works, other protect ed subject- 
matt er or transmissions of broadcasting organisations, whether in a linear or an on-demand manner;
(6) ‘por table’ means a feature of an online cont ent service whereby subscr ibers can effectively access and use the online 
cont ent service in their Member State of residence without being limited to a specific location.
Article 3
Obligation to enable cross-border por tability of online content services
1. The provider of an online content service provided against payment of mone y shall enable a subscr iber who is 
temporar ily present in a Member State to access and use the online content service in the same manner as in the Member 
State of residence, including by providing access to the same cont ent, on the same rang e and number of devices, for the 
same number of users and with the same rang e of functionalities.
2. The provider shall not imp ose any additional charg es on the subscr iber for the access to and the use of the online 
cont ent service pursuant to paragraph 1.
3. The obligati on set out in paragraph 1 shall not exte nd to any quality requirements applicable to the deliver y of an 
online cont ent service that the provider is subject to when providing that service in the Member State of residence, unless 
other wise expressly agreed between the provider and the subscr iber.
The provider shall not take any action to reduce the quality of deliver y of the online content service when providing the 
online cont ent service in accordance with paragraph 1.L 168/8 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union 30.6.20174. The provider shall, on the basis of the information in its possession, provide the subscr iber with information 
concer ning the quality of deliver y of the online cont ent service provided in accordance with paragraph 1. The information 
shall be provided to the subscr iber prior to providing the online cont ent service in accordance with paragraph 1 and by 
means which are adequate and propor tionate.
Article 4
Localisation of the provision of, access to and use of online content services
The provision of an online content service under this Regulation to a subscr iber who is temporari ly present in a Member 
State, as well as the access to and the use of that service by the subscr iber, shall be deemed to occur solely in the subscr iber ’s 
Member State of residence.
Article 5
Verification of the Member State of residence
1. At the conclusion and upon the renewal of a contract for the provision of an online content service provided agains t 
payment of money , the provider shall verify the Member State of residence of the subscr iber by using not more than two of 
the following means of verification and shall ensure that the means used are reasonable, propor tionate and effective:
(a)an identity card, electronic means of identifica tion, in particular those falling under the electronic identification schemes 
notif ied in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1), or any 
other valid identity document confi rming the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence;
(b)payment details such as the bank account or credit or debit card number of the subscr iber;
(c)the place of installation of a set top box, a decoder or a similar device used for supply of services to the subscr iber ;
(d)the payment by the subscr iber of a licence fee for other services provided in the Member State, such as public service 
broadcasting;
(e)an inter net or telephone service supply contract or any similar type of contract linking the subscr iber to the Member 
State;
(f)registration on local electoral rolls, if the information concer ned is publicly available;
(g)payment of local taxes, if the information concer ned is publicly available;
(h)a utility bill of the subscr iber linking the subscr iber to the Member State;
(i)the billing address or the postal address of the subscr iber ;
(j)a declaration by the subscr iber confi rming the subscr iber ’s address in the Member State;
(k)an internet protocol (IP) address check, to identify the Member State where the subscr iber accesses the online cont ent 
service.
The means of verificati on under points (i) to (k) shall only be used in combination with one of the means of verification 
under points (a) to (h), unless the postal address under point (i) is included in a publicly available official register .
2. If the provider has reasonable doubts about the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence in the course of the duration 
of the contract for the provision of an online cont ent service, the provider may repeat the verification of the Member State 
of residence of the subscr iber, in accordance with paragraph 1. In such a case, however , the means of verification under 
point (k) may be used as a sole means. Data resulting from the use of the means of verificati on under point (k) shall be 
collected in binar y format only .30.6.2017 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union L 168/9
(1) Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identificati on and trust 
services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (OJ L 257, 28.8.2014, p. 73).3. The provider shall be entitled to request the subscr iber to provide the information necessar y to determine the 
subscr iber ’s Member State of residence in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2. If the subscr iber fails to provide that 
information, and as a result the provider is unable to verify the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence, the provider shall 
not, on the basis of this Regulation, enable the subscr iber to access or use the online cont ent service when the subscr iber is 
temporar ily present in a Member State.
4. The holders of copyright or related rights or those holding any other rights in the cont ent of an online cont ent service 
may author ise the provision of, access to and use of their cont ent under this Regulation without verification of the Member 
State of residence. In such cases, the contract between the provider and the subscr iber for the provision of an online content 
service shall be suffi cient to determine the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence.
The holders of copyright or relate d rights or those holding any other rights in the cont ent of an online cont ent service shall 
be entitled to withdra w the author isation given pursuant to the first subparagraph subject to giving reasonable notice to the 
provider .
5. The contract between the provider and the holders of copyright or related rights or those holding any other rights in 
the cont ent of an online cont ent service shall not restr ict the possibility for such holders of rights to withdra w the 
author isation refer red to in paragraph 4.
Article 6
Cross-border por tability of online content services provided without payment of money
1. The provider of an online content service provided without payment of money may decide to enable its subscr ibers 
who are temporari ly present in a Member State to access and use the online cont ent service on condition that the provider 
verifies the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence in accordance with this Regulation.
2. The provider shall inform its subscr ibers, the relevant holders of copyright and related rights and the relevant holders 
of any other rights in the content of the online content service of its decision to provide the online content service in 
accordance with paragraph 1, prior to providing that service. The information shall be provided by means which are 
adequate and propor tionate .
3. This Regulation shall apply to providers that provide an online cont ent service in accordance with paragraph 1.
Article 7
Contractual provisions
1. Any contractual provisions, including those between providers of online cont ent services and holders of copyright or 
related rights or those holding any other rights in the content of online cont ent services, as well as those between such 
providers and their subscr ibers, which are contrar y to this Regulation, including those which prohibit cross-border 
portability of online cont ent services or limit such portability to a specific time period, shall be unenf orceable.
2. This Regulation shall apply irrespective of the law applicable to contracts concluded between providers of online 
cont ent services and holders of copyright or relate d rights or those holding any other rights in the cont ent of online content 
services, or to contracts concluded between such providers and their subscr ibers.
Article 8
Protection of personal data
1. The processing of personal data carried out within the framework of this Regulation including, in particular , for the 
purposes of verificati on of the subscr iber ’s Member State of residence under Article 5, shall be carried out in compliance 
with Directives 95/46/EC and 2002/58/EC. In particular , the use of the means of verification in accordance with Article 5 
and any processing of personal data under this Regulation, shall be limited to what is necessar y and propor tionate in order 
to achieve its purpose.
2. Data collected pursuant to Article 5 shall be used solely for the purpose of verifying the subscr iber ’s Member State of 
residence. They shall not be communicated, transferre d, shared, licensed or other wise transmitte d or disclosed to holders of 
copyright or related rights or to those holding any other rights in the cont ent of online content services, or to any other 
third parties.
3. Data collected pursuant to Article 5 shall not be stored by the provider of an online cont ent service longer than 
necessar y to complet e a verification of a subscr iber ’s Member State of residence pursuant to Article 5(1) or (2). On 
completion of each verificati on, the data shall be immediatel y and irreversibly destro yed.L 168/10 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union 30.6.2017Article 9
Application to existing contracts and rights acquired
1. This Regulation shall apply also to contracts concluded and rights acquired before the date of its application if they 
are relevant for the provision of, access to and use of an online cont ent service, in accordance with Articles 3 and 6, after 
that date.
2. By 21 May 2018, the provider of an online cont ent service provided against payment of mone y shall verify, in 
accordance with this Regulation, the Member State of residence of those subscr ibers who concluded contracts for the 
provision of the online content service before that date.
Within two months of the date upon which the provider of an online content service provided without payment of money 
first provides the service in accordance with Article 6, the provider shall verify, in accordance with this Regulation, the 
Member State of residence of those subscr ibers who concluded contracts for the provision of the online content service 
before that date.
Article 10
Review
By 21 March 2021, and as required thereaf ter, the Commission shall assess the application of this Regulation in the light of 
lega l, technological and economic developments, and submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a repor t 
thereon.
The repor t referred to in the first paragraph shall include, inter alia, an assessment of the application of the verification 
means of the Member State of residence refer red to in Article 5, taking into account newly developed technologies, industr y 
standards and practices, and, if necessar y, consider the need for a review . The repor t shall pay special attention to the imp act 
of this Regulation on SMEs and the prot ection of personal data. The Commission’s repor t shall be accompanied, if 
appropr iate, by a legislative proposal.
Article 11
Final provisions
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
Europe an Union.
2. It shall apply from 20 March 2018.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Strasbourg, 14 June 2017.
For the European Parliament
The President
A. TAJANIFor the Council
The President
H. DALLI30.6.2017 EN Official Jour nal of the European Union L 168/11