The Autorité starts inquires ex officio into the online video content creation sector in France and launches a public consultation
Background
The Autorité de la concurrence has decided to start inquiries ex officio to analyse the competitive functioning of the online video content creation sector in France. As part of its inquiries, the Autorité is today launching a public consultation open to all stakeholders (content creators, sharing platforms, creator agencies, sponsors, advertisers, etc.) until 15 September 2024. Stakeholders are invited to submit their responses to: avis.creationdecontenu@autoritedelaconcurrence.fr.
The opinion will analyse competition between online video content creators in France and assess the relationship between content creators, creator agencies and video content sharing platforms.
The online video content creation sector: a mature sector
Video content creation involves the production of content in video format by a video maker and the sharing of the video, usually via an online sharing platform, in order to reach an audience and, in some cases, earn income. The sector is structured around several different types of players: content creators, creator agencies (or talent management agencies), sharing platforms, viewers and advertisers.
Video content creation has grown considerably since the end of the 2000s to become an integral part of the French audiovisual environment, with the most popular video makers boasting several million subscribers.
The growth in the video content creation sector is reflected in several trends: the increase in the number of users on video content sharing platforms (such as YouTube, Dailymotion, Twitch and TikTok), the diversity of topics covered in videos (humour, gaming, lifestyle, news, etc.) and the variety of formats used (short, long and live videos).
Video content creation has become more structured and professional. In particular, the possibility of earning income (via the monetisation of videos or commercial partnerships) has transformed video content creation into a genuine economic activity within the meaning of competition law.
The Autorité starts inquires ex officio
In the opinion, the Autorité will analyse competition between online video content creators in France and assess the relationship between content creators, creator agencies and video content sharing platforms.
First, the Autorité will examine the intensity and characteristics of competition between content creators, as well as the substitutability of user demand vis-à-vis video content. In addition, the Autorité will factor into its analysis the characteristics of sharing platforms, which could affect competition between the content produced by video makers (SEO, video recommendations, etc.). Furthermore, the Autorité will look at competition between content creator agencies in France.
Second, the Autorité will analyse the relationship between content creators, creator agencies and video content sharing platforms, in order to assess the respective bargaining power of each operator. In its analysis, the Autorité will take into account the three-sided nature of sharing platforms, which connect content creators, users and advertisers.
The Autorité launches a public consultation until 15 September 2024
In order to gather feedback from stakeholders, the Autorité is launching a public consultation. The information gathered will feed into the work of the Autorité, which will issue its opinion in 2025.
Stakeholders in the online video content creation sector in France are invited to complete the document and submit their responses to the Autorité by 15 September 2024 to: avis.creationdecontenu@autoritedelaconcurrence.fr.
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