Search results : 115

The Supreme Court (“Court”) overruled the decision of the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission of the Slovak Republic (“Council”) with its ruling of 30 October 2013, imposing a fine of EUR 500 on a provider of audiovisual on-demand services for the open promotion of marihuana usage. The Court’s decision became final on 27 November 2013. The provider (also publisher of Slovakia’s largest tabloid) disseminated an interview with a young hip hop artist about his comment on “thanking the green magical herb for inspiration” during his acceptance speech at the major Slovak musical awards (covered...

On 22 October 2013 the Slovak Parliament passed an Amendment (No. 374/2013 Coll., hereinafter “Amendment”) of Act. No 516/2008 Coll. on funding of the audiovisual sector (hereinafter “Act”). The Amendment was signed by the President on 11 November and will enter into force on 1 January 2014. The main purpose of the Amendment is to increase the international competitiveness of the Slovak audiovisual industry by attracting international audiovisual productions to the Slovak Republic with cash rebates. While the present system of contributions for the domestic audiovisual sector remains the same,...

On 22 October 2013, the Slovak Parliament passed an Amendment (No. 373/2013 Coll. - hereinafter “Amendment”) of Act. No 308/2000 Coll. on broadcasting and retransmission (hereinafter “Act”). The Amendment was signed by the President on 11 November 2013 and entered into force on 1 January 2014. Among other changes it entitles the broadcasters to broadcast not only in Slovakian, but also in other languages of the European Union. According to the official explanation of the amendment, the necessity of this change arose from the consultations with the European Commission and their concerns regarding...

On 19 June 2013, the Supreme Court (“Court”) confirmed the decision of the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission of the Slovak Republic (“Council”) imposing a fine of EUR 100 on a major Slovak cable operator for providing TV channels without the consent of the respective broadcasters. According to Slovak law, providers of retransmission services may provide TV channels only with the explicit consent of the respective broadcaster. In 2009, broadcasters of major Czech TV channels that are popular in Slovakia informed the Council of the revocation of their consent for the retransmission of their...

On 27 June 2013, the Supreme Court (“Court”) confirmed the decision of the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission of the Slovak Republic (“Council”) imposing a fine of EUR 5,000 on a major Slovak commercial TV broadcaster for violating human dignity in its programme. In March 2012, the Council received a complaint regarding reports aired within the news programme called “Crime” concerning the tragic suicide of a middle-age man from a small town in Slovakia. In their complaint, the bereaved of the deceased man stated that they explicitly asked the broadcaster not to report about the tragic...