Search results : 78

The European Court of Human Rights in five judgments of 6 April 2010 came to the conclusion that Finland had violated the right of freedom of expression by giving too much protection to the right of private life under Article 8 of the Convention. In all five cases the Court was of the opinion that the criminal conviction of journalists and editors-in-chief and the order to pay damages for disclosing the identity of a public person’s partner amounted to an unacceptable interference with the freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights. All applicants...

The Finnish legislator intends to make some changes to the protection of the media’s information sources in cases in which the published information has been given in violation of a duty of secrecy, which is subject to punishment under a separate provision. The reason for this is the protection of privacy, as this right is guaranteed as a constitutional and human right. Nowadays it is impossible to breach the confidentiality of information sources during a pre-trial investigation unless the maximum punishment of the suspected crime which is to be investigated is at least six years imprisonment....

Currently, the legal status of the employer’s right to use the works of his/her employees in Finland is unclear, as there are no written provisions in the relevant legislation. However, there is currently one exception: according to the Finnish Copyright Act, copyright in a computer programme is transferred to the employer if the programme was created while fulfilling work tasks. The Finnish Ministry of Education drafted a proposal for an Act concerning the employer’s right to use works created as a result of an employment relationship. The introduction of an assumption was proposed according to...

The deadline for the transposition of Directive 2007/65/EC (Audiovisual Media Services Directive - AVMSD) into the national laws of the EU Member States was the 19 December 2009. In Finland, the final adoption of the Directive was scheduled for the beginning of 2010. At the moment, legislative proposals are before the Parliament and the Government bill (HE 87/2009 vp) suggests not only several changes to the Finnish Act on Television and Radio Operations (744/1998), but also some changes to the Finnish Copyright Act (404/1961). The latter have to do with amending Sections 25 b and 48 of the Copyright...

The culture ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (Nordic Council of Ministers) signed a five-year agreement with the Nordic Film & TV Fund on 11 May 2009 in Reykjavik. The aim of the agreement is to strengthen the Nordic region’s competitive position in the global film and television industry. In addition to production itself, the global marketing of Nordic films and talents is to be promoted. The agreement with the Nordic Film & TV Fund will run until the end of 2014 and an annual budget of approx. DKK 70 million will be made available. The agreement involves a total of 17...