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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...

On 3 February 2015, the Russian President signed into law a bill adopted by the State Duma on 27 January 2015. The new law lifts the ban on commercials for pay cable and satellite television channels that do not broadcast (or rebroadcast) foreign content. The ban, which prohibits any commercials on pay television channels if the channels do not hold a terrestrial broadcasting license or are not on the list of must-carry programmes, became effective on 1 January 2015 (IRIS 2014-8/34). Reportedly, it could negatively affect media plurality with the coming digital switchover, when hundreds of regional...