Film Distributor May Lose EU Permit

The European Union is unlikely to renew an antitrust exemption that gives United International Pictures a privileged position in distributing American movies in Europe.

“We’ve been looking into this for a considerable amount of time [and] we’ve come to the conclusion we don’t have to tolerate it,” the EU’s antitrust chief, Karel Van Miert, said Thursday.

UIP distributes films in Europe for American studios Paramount, Universal and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In 1989, the joint venture was granted an exemption from antitrust rules because the EU believed that European cinema owners--and ultimately moviegoers--would benefit from better organization of film distribution.

UIP asked for a renewal of the exemption in 1993, but Europe’s film industry, especially the French movie sector, has lobbied hard against that.