Evaluation of Legal Limitations regarding the Mobility of Digital Media in the European Union

Digital Media is mobile by nature either being carried on physical devices, moved as files over the Internet or streamed online. Technical, regulatory, contractual or geographical limitations to such a digital mobility are therefore obstacles introduced by companies to serve and protect their commercial interests and intellectual property (IP). In 2012, the European Commission called for an industrial round table 'Licenses for Europe - Structured Stakeholder Dialogue 2013' under the auspices of Commissioner Michel Barnier to discuss the obstacles to digital mobility and its evolution on a voluntary basis [1]. The objective of this paper is to evaluate if under present European and national legislation and rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) such obstacles and limitations to the purchase and distribution of files and via streaming are contradictory to European laws and regulations and if they could be erased by a dedicated ruling of the ECJ instantly. The paper should also increase the sensibility of non-legal actors to understand that there are limits to the restriction of user experience and that consumer rights need to be considered as well when implementing technical or legal IP protection mechanisms.