Search results : 94

On 18 November 2011 the Royal Norwegian Ministry for Culture announced that, as of 1 January 2012, all Norwegian feature films (i.e., films screened publicly in cinemas) that have received public funding will be required to be screened with subtitles. The requirement applies to films in ordinary commercial distribution. An exemption is made for special screenings, festival screenings and other similar events. The legal basis for the measure will be amendments to Articles 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-5 and 2-6 of the 2009 Regulations on Support for Audiovisual Productions. The final wording of these amendments...

On 24 June the Ministry of Culture circulated for public consultation a proposal to amend the Broadcasting Regulation to include a list of sporting events that are considered to be of major importance for society and which accordingly should be available on free-to-air television. The need for such a regulation has constituted an ongoing debate in Norway for years and the Government has consulted the public on the matter at least twice before. However, this is the first time the Government has actually drafted a list of events that should be available on a non-exclusive basis. The Government considers...

The Board of Governors of the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI) in late May issued a report on “Equality in the film sector”. The report follows an announcement on national television in January by the Minister for Culture Anniken Huitfeldt, in which the Minister declared herself “prepared to take political action to attain the goal of 40 per cent” women in leading functions in film production. The announcement was interpreted as raising the possibility of introducing legislation in order to correct the under-representation of women in the film sector, but the Minister opted to refer the matter to...

A proposal to amend the Broadcasting Act with provisions intended to grant the Media Authority a more independent role in the broadcasting area was sent to Stortinget (the Norwegian Parliament) on 22 October 2010. The proposal includes the establishment of an independent complaints board with a mandate to handle complaints on decisions made by the authority. The Media Authority is an administrative body placed under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and is responsible for handling cases relating to the Broadcasting Act, the Media Ownership Act and the Act on Film and Videograms. The Authority is...

On 25 August the Ministry of Cultural Affairs circulated for public consultation a report assessing whether the current activities on the new media platforms of Norsk rikskringkasting AS (Norwegian public service broadcaster - NRK) qualify as public service. The examination, carried out by the Norwegian Media Authority has been undertaken as a preparatory step towards a new ex ante regime requiring a public value test for any significant new service NRK wants to launch (see IRIS 2010-1: 1/126). The main conclusion in the report is that most of NRKs existing services are in compliance with the public...