Search results : 119

On 3 May 2012 the Nordic Consumer Ombudsmen presented a Joint Position regarding marketing in social media. These kinds of guidelines are not legally binding, but are generally well regarded and relied upon by Swedish courts when determining good market practices. In the Joint Position, the Nordic Consumer Ombudsmen confirmed that Marknadsföringslagen (the Swedish Marketing Practices Act - MPA) is technology neutral and applies in full to social media. The Joint Position deals among other things with issues such as (i) unsolicited commercial messages, especially relating to Facebook as this was...

On 19 March 2012 Granskningsnämnden för radio och TV (the Swedish Broadcasting Commission - GRN) delivered a decision regarding the promotion of a commercial interest in an improper manner in a television program. The case concerned the application of sections 5:5, 17:5 and 19:4 of Radio- och TV-lagen (The Radio- and Televisions Act - RTL). The RTL is based inter alia on Directive 89/552/ECC, as amended by 97/36/EC. Section 5:5 of the RTL states that programs that are not advertising may not encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services or provide other marketable foreign elements, or highlight...

On 19 April 2012, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgment in the case of Bonnier Audio AB and others v. Perfect Communication Sweden AB. Bonnier Audio and others are publishing companies, which hold, inter alia, exclusive rights to the reproduction, publishing and distribution to the public of 27 audiobooks. The publishing companies claim that their exclusive rights are infringed by public distribution of the 27 audiobooks, without their consent, via an online filesharing programme. Based on Article 53c of the Swedish Copyright Act, the publishing companies applied...

The Grand Chamber of the European Court has, more firmly than in its Chamber judgment of 2 November 2010 (see IRIS 2011/1-1), confirmed that a Swedish professor, Mr. Gillberg, could not rely on his right to privacy under Article 8, nor on his (negative) right to freedom of expression and information under Article 10 of the Convention to justify his refusal to give access to a set of research materials belonging to Gothenburg University, on request of two other researchers, K and E. Mr. Gillberg was convicted of misuse of office. He was given a suspended sentence and a fine of the equivalent of...

In a judgment of 9 February 2012 the European Court has ruled that Sweden did not violate the right to freedom of expression in a case about ‘hate speech’. The criminal conviction of the applicants for distributing leaflets that contained anti-gay offensive statements was considered necessary in a democratic society in order to protect the rights of homosexuals. It is the first time that the Court applies the principles relating to freedom of expression and ‘hate speech’ in the context of sexual orientation. In 2004 Mr Vejdeland, together with three other persons, went to an upper secondary school...