New EU copyright rules could ban geo-blocking

Brits abroad may soon be able to enjoy Nextflix, BBC's iPlayer and other on-demand services such as Sky Go, if new proposals laid out by the European Commission on Wednesday are approved.

At the moment, Europeans travelling within the EU may be cut off from online services providing films, sports broadcasts, music, e-books or games that they have paid a subscription for in their home country.

However, under new cross-border portability regulations put forward by the EU Commission, consumers will be able to access a wide legal offer of content while ensuring that authors and other rights holders are better protected and fairly remunerated.

Once adopted, the new rules will be directly applicable in all 28 EU member states.

Andrus Ansip, vice president for the Digital Single Market, said: "People who legally buy content – films, books, football matches, TV series – must be able to carry it with them anywhere they go in Europe."

“This is a real change, similar to what we did to end roaming charges. Today, we also set out our vision for a modern copyright regime in the EU – and the gradual steps to achieve it. Our aim is to widen people's access to cultural content online and support creators.”

The BBC said in a statement that it welcomed the European Commission’s proposals.

“We are interested in being able to allow UK licence-fee payers to access BBC iPlayer while they are on holiday in the EU,” it said.

However, it added that there are complex technical issues to resolve and aspects of the Commission’s proposal need clarification.