Croatia

[HR] Act Amending the Electronic Media Act

IRIS 2013-8:1/38

Nives Zvonarić

Ministry of Culture, Zagreb, Croatia

On 15 July 2013, the Croatian Parliament has adopted the Act Amending the Electronic Media Act.

The new Act harmonises the Electronic Media Act with the General Administrative Procedure Act, the Act on Administrative Disputes, the Criminal Code, the Concessions Act and the Services Act, implements terminological alignment with the Lisbon Treaty (OJ C 306) and changes the definition of electronic publications.

It terminologically revises and amends the definitions of audiovisual programme, audiovisual commercial communication, advertising, surreptitious audiovisual commercial communication, sponsorship, teleshopping as well as product placement.

The new Act defines the status of non-profit providers of media services and electronic publications as well as non-profit producers of audiovisual and/or radio programmes and prescribes that it is not allowed to restrict the provision of encrypted services or associated services which originate from other European Union Member States or the free trade of conditional access modules.

Further it regulates the co-financing of programmes and content from the Fund for the Promotion of Pluralism and Diversity of Electronic Media (in addition to co-financing the former beneficiaries of the Fund) and the co-financing of non-profit providers of electronic publications, non-profit producers of audiovisual and/or radio programmes, non-profit providers of on-demand media services and non-profit providers of media services who have been licensed by the Council for Electronic Media for satellite, Internet, cable transmission and other legitimate forms of transmission of audiovisual programmes and/or radio programmes.