Search results : 1132

The European Commission has formally closed procedures under EC Treaty State aid rules (article 88) probing into the financing mechanisms of public service broadcasters in three Member States. Italy, France and Spain have been the object of the Commission's scrutiny since the end of 2003. Its main concern was to ensure that no market distortion could arise from state aid granted to national broadcasters entrusted with the fulfilment of a public service mission. In its 2001 Communication on applying state aid rules to public service broadcasting, the Commission has clarified both what is to be defined...

The Act of 6 August 2004 amending the Act of 6 January 1978 on information technology and data protection introduced a new Article 9-4 that enables the companies that collect and manage royalties and related rights and bodies that defend the profession's interests to process personal data relating to infringements, and more particularly those covered by the CPI (Code de la propriété intellectuelle - French intellectual property code). Under Article 30 of the original Act, this was not previously allowed. As the Constitutional Council recalled, the declared purpose of the new provision is to promote...

On 22 March 2005 the CSA (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel - audiovisual regulatory body) issued a recommendation to all radio and television services regarding the referendum on the European Constitution to be held on 29 May 2005. The recommendation applies from 4 April until the day of the referendum, and refers mainly to news in connection with the referendum. It recalls that audiovisual services must ensure that "political parties or groupings enjoy equitable presentation and broadcasting access". 'Equitable" does not mean 'equal'; strictly equal treatment of candidates is only required by...

Article 88 of the 2004 Budget Act amending Article 220(e) of the CGI (Code général des impôts - French tax code) and the corresponding implementing decree of 7 January 2004 created and defined a scheme that allows production companies to obtain a tax credit for the cinema in respect of films shot in France (see IRIS 2004-2: 11), the intention being to encourage companies to shoot and produce films in France. A year later, at the time of adopting amendments to the 2004 Budget Act, the Government has extended the scheme to audiovisual production, starting on 1 January 2005. Thus, under Article 220(e)...

The court of appeal in Montpellier has upheld the acquittal by the regional court in Rodez (see IRIS 2004-10: 10) of an Internet user who downloaded one-third of the 488 CD-ROMs seized at his home from peer-to-peer networks and copied the remaining two-thirds from CD-ROMs lent to him by friends. The defendant said he had made the copies exclusively for his own private use and that he knew it was against the law to copy films using the Internet. He also said that he had never sold or exchanged any of the CDs he had copied. On the basis of Articles L. 122-3, L. 122-4 and L. 122-5 of the Code de la...