The streaming service Molotov
suffered a new conviction from the Paris court. He is sanctioned to the tune of several million euros in compensation to TF1 for ” counterfeit “.
The weeks go by and look the same for Molotov. The Parisian streaming platform, recently passed under the American flag, has a series of setbacks as a tiktokeur uploads videos. Capital tells us that the start-up located in Paris was again severely condemned on Friday, January 7. The Paris court has in fact ordered Molotov to pay 8.5 million euros to TF1. The judges give him 15 days to comply with the decision, under penalty of a heavy penalty of 75,000 euros per day of delay.
TF1 and Molotov plunged into a dead end …
This is yet another blow for Molotov. The application which serves as a TV streaming service was ordered to pay 8.5 million euros to the TF1 group, which claimed double. Since 2019, Molotov has been broadcasting the channels of the television group without a contract or authorization. For TF1, it was not a question of prohibiting Molotov from integrating its channels into its service, but of obtaining remuneration for broadcasting.
In the past, this relationship existed between the two entities, since Molotov paid 1.5 million euros per year to the TF1 group. But the experimental contract had ended in the course of the year 2019. The TF1 group then proposed a new price list, decreasing according to the number of subscribers, with all the same a minimum of 4 million euros per year. . But this proposal was refused by Molotov, who considered it unfair, especially in view of the lower amount paid by telecom operators to broadcast the channels via their internet boxes (in relation to the number of users).
Molotov tried to negotiate by highlighting its number of active users, which is only 4 million, after the company has already repeatedly boasted of more than 17 million users. An argument that does not hold, according to the judges.
Already an agreement with M6, maybe a similar one with TF1?
Another trial is underway between TF1 and Molotov. The Paris Commercial Court will soon rule on a procedure initiated by the streaming platform. But it is quite possible that Molotov will not have to pay the 8.5 million euros resulting from his conviction. Molotov and TF1 are still discussing, and it is likely that an amicable agreement will soon be found between the two parties, so as to allow the channels to be broadcast. Especially since there was a recent precedent.
At the beginning of December, Molotov was convicted in a similar procedure, this time for having broadcast the channels of the M6 group beyond the agreement that bound the two companies until March 2018, still therefore for ” counterfeit “. The Paris court then sanctioned Molotov with a fine of 7 million euros to be paid to M6.
About ten days later, on December 17, Molotov and M6 announced that they had reached an amicable agreement putting an end to a conflict which dated back four years. Since then, Molotov can continue to broadcast the channels of the M6 group, but in a paid version of the application (reserved for subscribers, and no longer for simple users), Molotov Plus, available for 3.99 euros / month. For the moment, the TF1 group’s channels remain accessible free of charge on the platform.
Source: Capital
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