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There are over 1500 private radios in France using terrestrial frequencies, in compliance with the law. However, it has needed some 17 years to bring calm to the wavelengths. Back in the early 80's, the so-called "free" radios hijacked the FM waveband and successive regulatory bodies experienced great difficulty in bringing them to book, in other words making sure that a frequency could only be used with the authorisation of what is now the Audiovisual Supervisory Board ( Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel - CSA) . The CSA has recently found itself up against the problem of private radios (often...

A judgement handed down on 10 September 1996 by the Court of Justice of the European Communities (European Commission vs. Kingdom of Belgium - see IRIS 1996-10: 5-6) condemned the principle of prior agreement between the National Media Authority (CSA) and broadcasters from EU Member States before they can be distribued on cable networks (in the USA referred to as "cable systems"). It is now up to France to draw the consequences of this decision. Article 34-1 of the law of 30 September 1986 states that the cable operator, the body that makes up the programme package, has to obtain authorisation...

The Commercial Court (tribunal de commerce) and the Court of Appeal (cour d'appel) in Paris have just delivered the first decisions in a case being brought between the radio station Voltage FM and Médiamétrie, the company which is under contract to supply it with information on audience figures. In September 1997 the RTV Multicom which operates the music station questioned the results of a survey carried out by company Médiamétrie, according to which Voltage's audience had fallen by more than half, although the station had carried out considerable promotional operations in the previous month....

Advertising on French television is restricted by law to a certain number of minutes per hour, averaged out over the day, with a ceiling for any given hour. Advertising must be broadcast within special, clearly marked slots. The CSA has, however, noticed that over the past few months, television channels have been broadcasting more and more commercial-like messages during the actual programmes themselves. The Authority has therefore sent a letter round the broadcasters, in which it stresses the conditions of application of the law as it currently stands, while stating that programmes could nevertheless...

The Tribunal de Grande Instance (District Court) of Draguignan has made an important ruling on the topical question of the conflict between a trade mark and an internet domain name. The town of Saint-Tropez, the holder of the Saint-Tropez brand, noticed that a French company, Eurovirtuel, who had set up an internet site for the town at the address www.NOVA.fr/saint-tropez, was operating its own site at www.saint-tropez.com. The town consequently referred the matter to the court of Draguignan, thus giving the court the chance to define this new form of infringement of rights. Eurovirtuel address...