Sky and the studios now have the opportunity to defend themselves, and the outcome of that dialogue will determine whether the commission launches full-on antitrust case.

The European Commission charged Sky UK and six major U.S. film studios on Thursday with illegally limiting access across the European Union to movies shown on pay-TV channels.

The European Commission, which began investigating the seven companies and their territorial contracts in January 2014, also said that some of the American studios had agreed to not offer their services to any British or Irish company other than Sky. Without the contract restrictions, Sky UK could choose to sell its pay-TV services beyond the UK and Ireland, according to the EC.

The agreements between the parties require Sky UK to block access to films through its online or satellite payment services, withholding access for some EU customers based on their location.

Under European rules consumers should be able to access the services of Sky and other service providers regardless of where they are located.

Licensing agreements involving the studios and European broadcasters Canal Plus of France, Sky Italia, Sky Deutschland in Germany and Spain’s DTS are also under investigation by the EU. As part of its ongoing enquiry, we have received a statement setting out the Commission’s preliminary views.

If the allegations are confirmed, each firm would have breached European competition rules prohibiting anti-competitive agreements, the Commission said. While the Statement of Objections issued today is a formal accusation, it’s merely preamble.

Sky and the six film studios now have to reply with their defenses to the Commission.

Morgan CampbellDisney was hit with antitrust chargesThe European Commission is filing antitrust charges against Sky UK and pretty much all of the major US film studios for unfairly restricting content.