Qatar’s beIN Media and its Miramax film studio have made a detailed submission to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) about pirate broadcaster beoutQ, which it claims is based in Saudi Arabia and supported by the Gulf kingdom’s government.

Submissions have also been made by the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (representing 26 leading audiovisual organisations); the Sports Coalition (on behalf of six major US sports leagues); the NBA and US Tennis Association; and international broadcasters Sky and Canal+.

They are all demanding Saudi Arabia be identified as a priority foreign country or be placed on the priority watch list due to the mass scale and sophisticated nature of this content piracy.

In addition, the US Chamber of Commerce and the International Intellectual Property Alliance, which comprises seven trade associations representing US companies that produce copyright-protected material, filed submissions in which they too noted the threat posed by beoutQ’s blatant piracy.

European rights holders have previously informed the European Commission and EU Member States of the piracy, requesting action. The World Trade Organisation has also established a dispute settlement panel to investigate the matter.

Through 10 encrypted channels, BeoutQ illegally broadcasts live sports every day, stealing content fromevery major sports rights holder in the world including FIFA, UEFA, the Premier League, LaLiga and other football leagues as well as the NFL, the NBA, world tennis, Formula 1 and the Olympics. Entertainment content is also distributed through embedded IPTV apps, through which its set-top boxesstream pirated live television and on-demand movie content from all over the world, including over 10,000 international films and up to 35,000 TV show episodes in different languages, claims beIN Media.

In its submission to the US Government, beIN Media and Miramax said: “Saudi Arabia has permitted, and indeed facilitated, the operation within its territory of the boldest, most sophisticated pattern of broadcast piracy that the world has ever seen – piracy that continues to spread around the globe. While such piracy was initially focused on sports content (including US sports content), it has since expanded to cover the most popular movies and television programming in the world, much of which is produced in the United States.

“While the Saudi Government could easily put an end to the widespread piracy emanating from within its borders, it has chosen not to do so. As a result, the economic damage to beIN, its rights holders, and the international sports and entertainment industries continues to grow each day.”