Search results : 238

The Copyright and Related Rights Act of 30 June 1994 (published in the Belgian Gazette on 27 July 1994) has been amended on several occasions. One of the most significant amendments was the transposition into Belgian law of European Directive 2001/29/EC of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society by the Act of 22 May 2005 (published in the Belgian Gazette on 27 May 2005). Following the transposition of Directive 2001/29/EC, the 2005 version of the Belgian law on copyright contains new provisions concerning: - the rights of reproduction,...

On 14 October 2009, the Belgian Jury voor Ethische Praktijken inzake Reclame (Jury for Ethical Practices Concerning Advertising) issued a decision on a complaint, lodged by a member of the public, against the Flemish public broadcasting corporation VRT. The Jury for Ethical Practices Concerning Advertising is the self-disciplinary authority of the advertising and marketing sector in Belgium. It examines the compliance of advertisements with self-disciplinary advertising codes, such as the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Code of Advertising Practice, either after a complaint by...

On 8 October 2009, the European Commission decided to close an infringement procedure against Germany relating to European “must-carry” provisions, as set out in the Universal Services Directive. The Directive forms part of the EU’s Telecoms Package, which is currently under revision. Under the Directive, Member States are obliged to ensure a minimum level of availability and affordability of basic services, as well as a basic set of rights for the benefit of European consumers. According to Article 31, proportionate and transparent “must-carry” rules can be set for clearly defined general interest...

As part of the television programme “Volt”, a report covering the “prescription behaviour” of physicians was transmitted on 22 October 2008 by the Flemish public broadcaster (VRT). For the report, four physicians had been videotaped on a hidden camera during a consultation. The physicians’ faces had been blurred, but their voices had not been changed. The report was also accessible via the website of the television programme. Subsequent to the transmission, the physicians lodged a complaint with the Vlaamse Raad voor de Journalistiek (Flemish Council for Journalism Ethics). First of all, the Council...

On 26 June 2007, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media (Flemish Regulator for the Media) issued a decision admonishing the Flemish public broadcasting organisation (VRT) for breach of its obligation of impartiality and non-discrimination (former Article 111bis of the Media Decree). Prior to the federal elections of 10 June 2007, the VRT had organised two television debates during which three top politicians (Leterme, Vande Lanotte and Verhofstadt), who all held first place on the list of representatives of their respective political parties in the Senate, were invited. The fourth politician in this...