ARCOM (French audiovisual and digital communication regulator)

ARCOM, the Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique, is the independent public authority created on 1 January 2022 from the merger of the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel and the Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur internet, pursuant to the Act of 25 October 2021 on the regulation and protection of access to cultural works in the digital age. It combines the regulation of audiovisual media and online platforms with the protection of copyright and related rights on the internet.

The missions of protecting works

ARCOM is responsible for protecting works against online infringements, monitoring lawful and unlawful uses, encouraging legal offerings and regulating technological protection measures, in particular by guaranteeing interoperability and the effective benefit of exceptions. It has sworn officers empowered to record offences. It does not deliver judicial decisions and does not compensate rightholders, its action complementing that of the judicial courts, which alone have jurisdiction over copyright infringement.

The graduated response

ARCOM operates the graduated response, based on the obligation on the holder of an internet subscription to ensure that the connection is not used for acts of infringement. When seised by rightholders who have recorded unlawful sharing, it sends the subscriber successive warnings, and may then refer the file to the public prosecutor with a view to prosecution for gross negligence. This mechanism targets peer-to-peer sharing and leaves streaming and direct downloading outside its scope, which explains the development of blocking tools.

The fight against unlawful sites and blocking

ARCOM keeps a list of online services that seriously and repeatedly infringe copyright, on the basis of a decision finding such infringements, and this listing enables advertisers and payment intermediaries to dry up the resources of those sites. Where a court decision has ordered the blocking and delisting of a site, the Authority may ask internet access providers and search engines to extend those measures to mirror sites. In sports matters, it implements the dynamic orders obtained by broadcasters and organisers against the unlawful retransmission of competitions, by notifying intermediaries of the new services identified during the season.

Other powers

ARCOM monitors compliance by audiovisual services and platforms with their obligations to contribute to the production of works and to observe the media release windows. It may also be seised by beneficiaries of exceptions who come up against a technical lock.

Key points

ARCOM is the authority which, since 2022, has concentrated the regulation of audiovisual media and the protection of works online, through the graduated response, the list of unlawful sites and the extension of judicial blocking measures to mirror sites. It does not replace the courts and does not compensate harm. A rightholder should first obtain a judicial blocking decision, then apply to the Authority to extend its effects to mirror sites.

---

This glossary entry is general in scope and does not constitute legal advice.

Dhenne Avocats is a patent litigation firm. Matters outside that field, such as trade marks, designs, copyright and IT contracts, are handled by practitioners the firm works with regularly, and by the firm itself when they arise in a patent dispute.

Intellectual property attorney · Tell us about your situation