Search results : 805

The issue concerned the showing of an advertisement for a granola product placed by the Kellogg Marketing and Sales Company (UK) Ltd. The advertisement appeared between episodes of the Mr Bean cartoon. The complainant was the Obesity Health Alliance which argued that it was an ad for a product that was high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS product) that was advertised in programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal to audiences below the age of 16. As such, it infringed the Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice’s (BCAP) Code rules 32.5. and 32.5.1, namely: These...

Channel 5 News, produced by Independent Television News Limited (ITN), was found in breach of rules 5.1 and 5.2 by Ofcom when its newscaster incorrectly stated during its bulletin on the 6th September 2018 that former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, who were victims of a Novichok (a nerve agent) attack which occurred in Salisbury, England on 4th March 2018, had died from their poisoning, when in fact they had survived. Furthermore, the news channel had failed to act quickly, taking over a week to broadcast a correction. Rule 5.1 of the Ofcom Code states: “News, in whatever...

On 21 November 2018, the High Court of Justice in England held in EasyGroup Ltd v Easy Fly Express Ltd & Chowdhury that a court had erred in granting permission to serve the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim on the defendants outside the jurisdiction. This was because the claimant had no real prospect of establishing that the defendant had targeted the UK and EU markets. The claimant in this case was the well-known proprietor of several “easy-” prefixed registered UK and EU trademarks, including the words “EasyJet” and “easyFlights”, registered in relation to the transportation of goods by air....

On 26 November 2018, the EU Commission initiated proceedings for infringement of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union against 17 member states for non-compliance with the Directive requiring the transposition into national law of the Marrakesh Treaty (Directive (EU) 2017/1564) (see IRIS 2017-9/4 and IRIS 2016-9/4). The Marrakesh Treaty is a WIPO-administered convention that was signed on 27 June 2013 and entered into force on 30 September 2016, after the first 20 ratifications. The Treaty facilitates access to print works in formats adapted for persons who are blind, visually impaired...

On 18 September 2018, Ofcom launched its discussion paper entitled “Addressing Harmful Online Content” (the report) which considers ways to regulate social media, especially in the context of children and young people, whilst respecting freedom of expression. The report follows the DCMS’s (Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) July 2018 interim report entitled “Disinformation and Fake News” (see IRIS 2018-8:1/27). Furthermore, this coming winter, the UK Government will publish a White Paper setting out its intention to legislate in order to improve online safety. Ofcom’s report flagged...