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A long-standing dispute, involving several Muslim organisations, over broadcasting time has finally been resolved by the Dutch Media Authority (see IRIS 2007-6: 14). Article 39f of the Dutch Media Act sets out the rules concerning religious broadcasting time and has enabled several different faiths existing in the Netherlands to reach out to their followers by airing programmes by means of allocated broadcasting time. Different organisations representing Dutch Muslims had been vying for air time since 1 September 2005. That date marked the beginning of the Dutch Media Authority’s reshuffling of...

In May 2007, the extreme-right, anti-immigration party Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest - VB) started a lawsuit against all newspapers/publishing groups in the Flemish community in Belgium. The newspapers had all refused to publish the political advertisements of VB in the pre-election period, a few weeks and days before the federal elections of 10 June 2007. The newspapers did, however, publish advertisements from other political parties. Only one newspaper was not targeted by VB: the left-wing orientated De Morgen (the VB probably did not even consider the possibility of having an electorate amongst...

On 25 July 2007, the Dutch District Court of Amsterdam delivered its judgment in a case pitting the interests of the public broadcasting organisation NOS (the umbrella organisation representing all of the Netherlands’ public service broadcasters) against the recently dismantled commercial television broadcaster Talpa - previously owned by media magnate John de Mol, one of the founders of the Endemol media empire (famous for the Big Brother reality show). The dispute concerned the coveted broadcasting rights of the national soccer league. These rights had been purchased by Talpa during the auction...

The summer months have brought good news to the Dutch film industry. On 12 July 2007, the European Commission approved two new film measures: the Suppletieregeling Filminvesteringen Nederland (Supplement to Dutch Film Investments Arrangement)and a revised version of the Regeling Lange Speelfilm (Long Feature Film Arrangement). These measures create new funds, worth a total of EUR 162 million, meant to support the production of Dutch films. The Dutch Film industry has benefited since 1999-2000 from various forms of aid. One in particular, the Film- Commanditaire Vennootschap (Film-Limited Partnership),...

The Dutch Media Authority is inter alia responsible for the practical implementation of broadcasting legislation. It fulfils this duty by means of instruments such as “policy rules”. It has recently amended existing policy rules concerning sponsorship of both commercial and public service broadcasters. Where commercial broadcasters are concerned, the Media Authority is seeking to create and promote a level playing field for the commercial television market. A number of innovations include the following: - The inclusion of the name or trademark (the latter includes logos) of a sponsor in the title...