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The Broadcasting and Communications Acts provide that entities responsible for broadcasting should have the appropriate licence; failure to have such a licence when required is a criminal offence (s 13(1) Broadcasting Act 1990). Conversely, only the persons who have "general control over which programmes and other services are comprised in the service" are the persons deemed to be providing the service for the purposes of the Act. A licensee cannot sub-let its licence, nor can it be the puppet of another body.  Ofcom has provided guidance as to what this means in practice. There...

On 3 February 2021, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the United Kingdom’s regulator of advertising across all media, banned Ryanair’s “jab and go” TV campaign on the grounds that it encouraged the public to act irresponsibly once they had received a coronavirus vaccination shot. The ban came just days after the Ryanair chief executive, Michael O’Leary, stated in a BBC Radio 4 interview that he expected a revival of European beach holidays in the summer of 2021. The two controversial television advertisements were launched on Boxing Day and were seen between...

In late January 2021, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) published its draft Audiovisual Media Services (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (referred to as the “2021 AV Regulations” for ease in this note). The objective of these new 2021 AV Regulations is to address the deficiencies that were not earlier addressed during the run-up to the UK's full withdrawal from the European Union. When enacted, the UK’s 2021 AV Regulations will update certain technical elements of the existing framework established by the European Union’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (the...

On 16 October 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published undertakings dated 1 October 2020 given by Facebook Ireland Ltd, which operates Instagram in the United Kingdom, committing to tackling hidden advertising on the photo- and video-sharing platform. The undertakings were issued pursuant to section 219 (4) of the Enterprise Act 2002. The CMA had been investigating hidden advertising on Instagram concerning too many social media influencers posting content about businesses without clarifying whether they had been paid or incentivised to do so, and whether Facebook was adequately addressing...

Lockdowns and strict social distancing measures implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) meant that 2020 was a difficult year for Europe's live music and events industry. Thankfully, many artists were able to create studio-quality recordings from their residences and upload them to the ever-growing number of online music and audiovisual platforms. As such, some singers, composers and other musicians were able to be as productive as ever. Venues may be closed, and tours may be cancelled, but - and perhaps accordingly - the music streaming industry enjoyed a phenomenal year...