Lithuania

[LT] Rules on the Licensing of Broadcasting and Re-broadcasting Activities Adopted

IRIS 2011-6:1/23

Jurgita Iešmantaitė

Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania

On 13 April 2011 the revised Rules on the Licensing of Broadcasting and Re-broadcasting Activities came into force.

A new point is that according to the revised Law on the Provision of Information to the Public, which came into force on 18 October 2010, the Rules are to be adopted by order of the Minister of Culture upon the Radio and Television Commission’s (RTCL) proposal. According to the provisions of the former Law the adoption of these Rules was within the RTCL’s competence (see IRIS 2011-1/39).

It should be noted that the prerogative to grant licenses for broadcasting and re-broadcasting activities as well as to control the licensed activities still belongs to the RTCL as before.

The Rules on the Licensing of Broadcasting and Re-broadcasting Activities determine the types of licences, the procedure for issuing or refusing a licence, the tender procedure, the requirements for submitting the required documents, the rules for the amendment and specification of the terms and conditions of licences and temporary suspension or cancellation of their validity, as well as the duties and obligations of the licence holders, the supervision of compliance with the licence etc.

The revised Rules also specify the must-carry rules. According to the provisions of the Rules the RTCL on its initiative or on request of a broadcaster can grant a must-carry-programme status for another television programme when envisaged by the Law, or exempt the obligatory television programme from re-broadcasting. When taking such decisions, the RTCL takes into consideration the artistic value of the television programme, its relevance for the viewers residing within the territory of the licensed activity of the re-broadcaster as well as other criteria provided for in the revised Rules.

The Rules oblige the RTCL to publish on its website the drafts of the RTCL‘s decisions concerning a must-carry television programme or an exemption of such for public consultation.