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On 20 October 2015 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) confirmed that the interference with a press photographer’s right to freedom of expression and newsgathering as a result of disobeying a police order to leave the scene of a demonstration that had turned into a riot, can be said to have been “necessary in a democratic society” within the meaning of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The Grand Chamber comes to the same conclusion as the earlier judgment of the Fourth Section finding that the arrest, detention, prosecution and conviction...

An interesting judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recently became final, in which the Court confirmed the right of journalists to express severe criticism in strong wording on matters of public interest. The judgment clarifies that this right is also protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) when the criticism relates to journalistic reporting by other media, and focuses in casu on a journalist who produced two TV documentaries broadcast by the Finnish public service broadcaster. In this case, the journalist, Mikko Veli Niskasaari, and the...

Provisions on the protection of, and interferences with, the confidentiality of sources were amended in June 2015. For the most part, the provisions correspond to previous ones so far as substance is concerned. The amendments concern the numbering, division, and wording of provisions, as well as introduce some new provisions. The reform was conducted as part of a wider modernisation of procedural legislation, especially provisions on evidence and witnesses. The amendments enter into force 1 January 2016. Section 16 of the Act on the Exercise of Freedom of Expression in Mass Media (460/2003 - FEA)...

After proceedings at national level over eight years, and after a preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE) on 16 December 2008 (Case C-73/07), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has delivered a judgment in a highly interesting case of conflicting rights between the right of privacy and the right to freedom of expression, in the domain of protection of personal data and data journalism. The Court has come to the conclusion that a prohibition issued by the Finnish Data Protection Board that prohibited two media companies (Satakunnan Markkinapörssi Oy and Satamedia...

New provisions on the adjustment of contract terms on transfer of copyright by the original author were included in Section 29 of the Finnish Copyright Act (404/1961). Previously, Section 29 only referred to the general provisions of the Contracts Act (228/1929), Section 36 of which provides for adjusting or setting aside contract terms which are unfair or the application of which would lead to an unfair result. A “lex specialis” has been included in the Employment Contracts Act (55/2001), among others. The new provision entered into force on 1 June 2015. According to the new Section 29(1), a term...