Search results : 121

On 24 June 2010, the European Commission issued a set of reasoned opinions to 12 member states (Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia) requesting that they proceed with updating their national broadcasting legislation in order to bring it into compliance with the Audiovisual Media Service (AVMS) Directive. The Directive, which replaced the Television without Frontiers Directive of 1989 (as amended), was adopted in December 1997 with the intention of bringing the EU’s broadcasting rules up to speed with the digital age. The...

A fact-finding copyright Committee, appointed by the Swedish Government, recently introduced a report on the Swedish Copyright Act. The main tasks of the Committee have been to review the provisions on the transfer of copyright and to look over certain issues concerning extended collective licences and related matters. Two years ago, the Swedish government entrusted this expert Committee with conducting a review of the provisions of the Swedish Copyright Act. On 8 April 2010, the Committee published an interim report (SOU 2010:24) proposing that the Copyright Act provide for clearer and more modern...

On 18 March 2010 the Swedish government presented a bill for inter alia a new Radio- och TV-lagen (Radio and Television Act - RTL). The new RTL is intended to implement the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2007/65/EC, which amended Directive 89/552ECC. The new RTL is proposed to enter into force on 1 August 2010. The bill includes among others the following: Under the new RTL it will be easier for broadcasters to place sponsoring messages and advertisements during TV programmes. For instance, the general rule that advertisements should be placed between programmes has been abolished. However,...

On 17 February 2010, Regeringsrätten (the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court) delivered a judgment in a case regarding the placement of commercial breaks in the film ‘Clear and Present Danger’, starring Harrison Ford, broadcast by the Swedish nationwide television channel TV4. Granskningsnämnden för radio och TV (the Swedish Broadcasting Commission - GRN) initiated proceedings against TV4 claiming, inter alia, that it had violated section 7:7 of Radio- och TV-lagen (the Radio and Television Act - RTL), since TV4 had placed a commercial break in connection to a scene where the drama of the film...

The rapid growth of the market for mobile content services, such as weather and news reports, has brought with it an opportunity for mobile operators to sell personal data to content providers. In a joint project, the Swedish Data Inspection Board (DIB) and the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) have reviewed how personal data is handled in mobile content services. One of the project’s findings was that many stakeholders in the market have different opinions on what rules apply to their activities, leading to an uncertain situation as to who is responsible for the processing of the personal...