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Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji - KRRiT) has refuted concerns expressed by the US State Department in relation to a fine imposed against the broadcaster TVN. TVN is owned by the American company Scripps Networks Interactive, which is soon to be taken over by Discovery Communications. The disagreement follows the KRRiT’s decision to fine TVN around EUR 352 000 for allegedly biased and distorted reporting on demonstrations outside the Polish Parliament. The US State Department expressed concern about how the fine might affect the Polish media landscape....

On 28 November 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in MAC TV s.r.o. v. Slovakia, which concerned the fining of a broadcaster over a television programme’s commentary on the death of the late President of Poland. The case involved MAC TV, which operates two private television channels, and broadcasts the television programme “JOJ PLUS”. During an episode of the programme broadcast in April 2010, following the fatal plane crash in which the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, had been travelling, a commentary was delivered entitled “Compassion in Accordance with...

Broadcaster TVN has announced plans to take legal action to recover taxes that it was forced to pay in Poland in relation to the sale of its DTH platform. A DTH (‘direct-to-home’) platform is a method of receiving satellite television and was used by TVN to broadcast various channels until it sold its platform in 2012. TVN paid PLN 110 million (around EUR 26 million) in tax, under protest. At the same time, both TVN and Scripps Networks Interactive, which had since acquired TVN, said that they “strongly disagreed” with the decision of the tax authority concerned and would file an appeal with the...

The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) has decided that advertising by Vectra Ltd was anti-competitive because it had failed to sufficiently inform customers that the price would be increased after the promotional period. Vectra Ltd provides telecommunications services such as cable TV, Internet access and fixed-line telephony in Poland. Between September and December 2015, it organised a sales promotion under the slogan “You can have it all for 10 zlotys”. During that period, all services offered by the company were available for PLN 10. The various advertisements for...

On 25 January 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its judgment in OTK v. SFP, concerning the issue of the Enforcement Directive (2004/48/EC) and “hypothetical royalties”. The case arose following a dispute between the Polish broadcaster Oławska Telewizja Kablowa (OTK), and Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich (SFP), an organisation collectively managing copyright in Poland, in particular audiovisual works. As part of the proceedings, the Polish Supreme Court referred a question to the CJEU on whether Article 79(1)(3)(b) of Poland’s copyright law was compatible with EU...