Netflix, Prime Video Battle France Streaming Rules in Court
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Netflix and Prime Video filed separate legal challenges at France's Conseil d'État against the country's windowing system and 20% revenue investment mandate (in force since January 2022), while also negotiating with ARCOM and the film industry.
- Canal+ signed a $1.1 billion deal with France's film industry for five years, keeping its privileged six-month release window.
- Netflix invests over $287 million annually in French content — including roughly $68 million in theatrically released films such as Gilles Lellouche's Cannes-premiering 'Beating Hearts' — but its window slipped from 15 to 17 months after its industry agreement expired at the end of 2025.
- Netflix argues U.S. streamers could fund nearly half of all French production financing by 2030 under current rules, per estimates cited by Le Monde, and is now publicly calling for a cap on mandatory investment obligations.
- Prime Video is pushing for Disney's nine-month window with a revised proposal offering $103 million annually for a window longer than 12 months or $126 million for a 12-month window; its ARCOM convention was extended six months while talks continue.
- If Prime Video or Netflix are granted a 12-month window, Canal+'s agreement automatically triggers a three-month renegotiation that could cost the pay-TV giant its six-month exclusivity.
- Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos lobbied EU policymakers in Brussels during the AVMS Directive review, calling YouTube a 'straightforward direct competitor' not subject to comparable investment obligations.
Why it matters: The Conseil d'État rulings and the EU's upcoming AVMS review will determine whether Netflix's $287 million annual French-content spend and Prime Video's proposed investment become the ceiling or the floor for U.S. streamer commitments. Granting either Amazon or Netflix a 12-month window would force Canal+ into renegotiation and potentially cost it its six-month exclusivity, reshuffling the entire French theatrical windowing hierarchy.
