Germany: New Investment Obligation for Video Streaming Services

In brief

On 27 May 2026, the German Federal Cabinet approved the government draft of the Media Services Investment Obligation Act (Mediendienste-Investitionsverpflichtungs-Gesetz – "MedienInvestVG" or the "Act"). The new regime obliges streaming services and other on-demand audiovisual media services that target the German market to invest a defined percentage of their German revenues in European audiovisual works.

The Act implements Article 13(2) of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/1808 – "AVMSD"), which permits Member States to require both domestically established services and cross-border services targeting their territory to make direct investments in European works. With the new Act, Germany now aligns itself with other EU jurisdictions that have had comparable obligations in place for some time, such as France, Italy and Spain.

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