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On 17 May 2013 the United Kingdom Copyright Tribunal upheld the BBC’s (British Broadcasting Corporation) decision to pay a monthly interim royalty of GBP 10,000 excluding VAT (Value Added Tax) to the Welsh music licensing body Eos-Yr Asiantaeth Hawliau Darlledu Cyfyngedig (Eos) pending the determination of a final licence fee. Subsequently, at the full hearing and the approved decision granted on 16 December 2013, the Copyright Tribunal held that the BBC were entitled to use the Performing Rights Society (PRS) Alliance Agreement as a starting point to calculate royalties. Although Welsh Music was...

Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has determined that RT (formerly known as Russia Today) breached the requirements of due impartiality in ‘Syrian Diary’ broadcast on 17 March 2013. RT is a global news and current affairs programme produced in Russia, broadcasting on UK satellite and digital-terrestrial channels. The programme was made by journalists from Rossiya 24, owned and controlled by the State-owned All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code requires that due impartiality be preserved on matters of political or industrial policy and matters...

On 7 November 2013, the BBC Trust published its review into BBC Worldwide’s acquisition and ownership of Lonely Planet. In 2007 BBC Worldwide (the BBC commercial arm) acquired 75% of Lonely Planet, the publisher of travel guides; it acquired the remaining 25% in 2011. The total price was £132 million and it invested £20 million during its ownership. In 2013 Lonely Planet was sold for £52 million, a substantial loss. The BBC Trust required the BBC Executive to commission a report on lessons learned, and this has now been published. The report made a number of highly critical findings. The forecasts...

As from the 1st November 2013, the UK government has implemented new regulations, The Copyright and Duration of Rights in Performances Regulations (the Regulations), in order to implement Directive 2011/77/EU amending Directive 2006/116/EC on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights. In accordance with the new Regulations, copyright protection is extended for sound recordings and performers rights in such recordings, from 50 years following publication of a sound recording, to 70 years. The 50 years rule is contained in section 13 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act...

Ofcom’s decision of 23 October 2013, considered that material broadcast on ITV’s daytime programme ‘This Morning’ constituted unjust and unfair treatment by revealing a person’s identity, and not giving the person a right of reply. One of Ofcom’s duties under section 3(2)(e) of the Communications Act 2003 (The Act) is to ensure that programmes broadcast on television adequately protect the public from the inclusion of offensive and harmful material. Also, under section 3(2)(f) of the Act there is a duty to protect persons from (i) unfair treatment in programmes included in a TV broadcast; and (ii)...