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On 15 December 2005, the Court of First Instance delivered its judgment in the case Infront WM AG v. Commission of the European Communities. The dispute concerned the legality of the Commission's letter holding the measures adopted by the UK Government in accordance with Art. 3a of the Television without Frontiers Directive to be compatible with Community law. Art. 3a of the Directive provides that each Member State may take measures to ensure that television broadcasters in its territory do not broadcast exclusively events of major importance for society in such a manner as to deprive a substantial...

Piccadilly Radio, based in Manchester, England (part of the Emap Radio Group) has been fined GBP 125 000 by the UK regulator, Ofcom, for remarks made by a presenter during late-night phone-in carried by its station, Key 103. The fine is the largest ever imposed on a radio station. The presenter concerned has been dismissed. In addition to the fine, Ofcom issued a Direction to Piccadilly Radio to broadcast the “statement of finding” three times a day for one week. The sanctions were imposed because of findings of breaches of Rule 1.1 (Offence to Public Feeling) of Ofcom's (ex- Radio Authority) Programme...

The UK regulator, Ofcom, has upheld complaints against the broadcast of a wrestling bout involving the depiction of an Arab by Sky Sports 1. Sky had broadcast `The Great American Bash', produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., live from the USA at 1am on 25 July 2005. The programme had featured a wrestling bout between two characters who called themselves `The Undertaker' and `Mohammed Hassan'. The latter described himself as Arab-American and wore an Arab head-dress; his act included references to religious practices and the use of emotive language such as `martyr', `sacrifice' and `infidel'....

The British regulator, Ofcom, has upheld complaints in a significant decision relating to advertising breaks in the series `Lost' broadcast by Channel 4. A number of viewers and one television company had complained about the amount of advertising and the placement of commercial breaks in the imported US series. The net length of each episode, without breaks, was around 41 minutes; it was however placed in a 65 minute slot. It contained three advertising breaks, usually of 3 minutes 50 seconds each with a longer end break of 5-7 minutes. In addition, sponsor credits and programme trailers were...

For the first time ever, and following a twelve-week consultation period, a 'Cultural Test for British Films' has been announced for films applying for tax incentives. The test establishes a points system to “provide a clear and measurable definition of what a British film is”. It will be necessary for Parliament to amend Schedule 1 of the Films Act 1985. Currently, the definition of a British film is based on “spend”, i.e., at least 70 per cent of a film's production costs has to be spent on film production activity carried out in the UK. From now on, to qualify as a “British film”, it must pass...