Search results : 103

In one of its first judgments of 2010 the European Court of Human Rights has clarified how court and crime reporting can rely on the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Convicting a journalist or a publisher for breach of the secrecy of a criminal investigation or because of defamation of a politician can only be justified when it is necessary in a democratic society and under very strict conditions. The applicant in this case, Mr Laranjeira Marques da Silva, was the editor of the regional...

The Portuguese Act Nº 16/2008 of 1 April 2008 is a transposition of the European Directive 2004/48/CE of the Parliament and Council of 29 April 2004 regarding intellectual property. In terms of Portuguese law, it corresponds to the third change introduced to the Industrial Property Code, the seventh alteration of the Code of Authors Rights and Related Rights and the second change to Law-Decree Nº 332/97 of 27 November. Being a transposition of an EU Directive, Act Nº 16/2008 establishes and updates the necessary measures and procedures to guarantee full respect for intellectual property rights....

On 28 October 2009, the Portuguese Minister responsible for Parliamentary Affairs and for the Media Sector, Jorge Lacão Costa, signed a decree (Despacho nº 23951-A/2009) containing the list of events which must be broadcast by national terrestrial open access television channels. The decree has been published in the Official Journal of the Portuguese Republic. According to Article 32 of the Lei n.º 27/2007 de 30 de Julho (Portuguese Television Law), the government should publish annually a list of general interest events that cannot be exclusively broadcast by restricted access channels. The list...

On 3 September 2008, the Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (Portuguese media regulatory body - ERC), handed down a decision holding bullfighting to be “an integrant part of the Portuguese ethos” and stating that there are no reasons that justify its interdiction from television programming. The deliberation 13/CONT-TV/2008 results from a complaint put forward by Mr. Pedro Henrique Assunção Grilo, who argued that the private channel Televisão Independente (TVI) should not have broadcast a bullfight on 5 June 2008 before 22:30h and without an identifying symbol advising viewers on the...

On 19 June 2008, the Council of Ministers of the Portuguese government approved a Proposta de Lei do pluralismo e da não concentração nos meios de comunicação social (Draft law on pluralism and non-concentration of the media). The draft law was sent to the national Parliament, where it will be discussed and most probably approved, as the government party has the majority of the votes. According to the Council of Ministers, this law aims to promote pluralism and independence vis-à-vis political and economic powers and to avoid media concentration. In order to achieve these general goals, the proposed...