Search results : 241

On 22 June 2016 the State Duma (parliament) of the Russian Federation adopted a statute that amends the statutes on Mass Media (see IRIS 2001-9/25) and on Advertising (see IRIS 2006-4/34) by introducing rules for TV audience measurement services. In particular, the amendments prohibit foreign entities, foreign governments, international organizations, as well as Russian entities under their control or with foreign participation or foreign capital exceeding 20 percent, from engaging in television audience measurement services. From now on this activity will be allowed only under special authorization...

By a decree of 27 February 2016 the Government of Russia adopted “Rules on issuance, denial of issuance and reclaiming of an exhibition permit for a film”. The new rules supersede the current ones, which were issued in 1993. The permit is obligatory for film exhibition in a cinema, for rental of films in hard copy, or for both exhibition and rental. The Ministry of Culture is the governmental office in charge of the process. Within ten working days of submission it reviews applications together with copies of a set of documents related to the applicant and the film itself (including starting date...

On 29 August 2015, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an Ordnance of the Government of the Russian Federation that approved the amended Federal Target Programme (FTP) "Development of TV and radio broadcasting in the Russian Federation in 2009-2015” (see IRIS 2010-4/39). By the Ordnance, the Government now extends a complete digital terrestrial broadcasting switchover in Russia until the end of 2018. The FTP now states that, by early 2015, 85.3 per cent of the population had the ability to watch digital terrestrial must-carry TV channels, while 49 per cent could watch 20 free-access digital TV...

On 23 June 2015, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation at its regular Plenary Meeting adopted Resolution “On the Case Law Related to Certain Provisions of Section 1 of Part 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” (О применении судами некоторых положений раздела I части первой Гражданского кодекса Российской Федерации). Such resolutions routinely explain to the courts the statutory norms concerning particular topical issues of legal practice in Russia. According Article 126 to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as amended in 2014, “The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation...

In the context of coverage on Russian TV of events in and around Ukraine, notable are two decisions by the Public Collegium on Media Complaints (PCMC), a national Media Council in Russia, adjudicated on complaints on biased TV fare. In the first case, of the TV weekly newscast on Rossiya-1, the PCMC ruled on a complaint of its Ukrainian counterpart. In its decision of 13 February 2014, the PCMC refused to judge the programme in accordance with the standards of professional journalism, stating that it was beyond the scope of such standards. The PCMC instead found that it constituted a sheer piece...