Search results : 810

On 7 October 2013, Ofcom’s decided that material broadcast on CBS Reality’s Caught on Camera programme was offensive and not justified by its context. Ofcom derives its statutory authority to regulate the standards of television pursuant to the Communications Act 2003. One of Ofcom’s duties pursuant to section 3(2)(e) of the Communications Act 2003 is to ensure that programmes broadcast on television adequately protect the public from the inclusion of offensive and harmful material. Rule 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code requires broadcasters to ensure that broadcasted material that may cause offence...

On 27 September 2013, Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, overturned two determinations by the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) for editorial content. Ofcom oversees providers of on demand programmes via the internet, On Demand Programme Service (ODPS) providers. Ofcom works in conjunction with two co-regulators: the ATVOD and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for advertising content. ATVOD makes determinations, appealable to OFCOM, regarding what constitutes an ODPS; whether or not a person is providing an ODPS; what constitutes a programme included in an ODPS; and whether...

On 3 October 2013, the Court of Justice gave a preliminary ruling in the Case of Peter Pinckney v. KDG Mediatech AG, C-170/12, regarding the jurisdictional rules set out in the Council Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001. Mr Pinckney claimed to be the author of 12 songs which were recorded by the group Aubrey Small on a vinyl record. The record was then, without his consent, reproduced on compact discs by an Austrian company named Mediatech, which were subsequently sold by companies in the United Kingdom on their website. This website was accessible from Toulouse, France, where Mr Pinckney lived. He sued...

In a decision on 23 August 2013, Ofcom (Office of Communications) considered whether Takbeer TV Limited (TTVL) was in breach of its obligations to act responsibly regarding the content of religious programmes and to ensure a particular religion or religious denomination was not subjected to religious abuse pursuant to the Broadcasting Code. Ofcom derives its statutory authority to regulate the standards of television and radio pursuant to the Communications Act 2003. One of Ofcom’s duties under section 3(2)(e) of the Communications Act 2003 is to ensure that programmes broadcast on television and...

On 27 August 2013, Ofcom found the long-running soap on UK TV, Hollyoaks, which is broadcast on Channel 4 each weekday evening, in breach of its Code. The cast contains characters who are mainly between 16 and 35 years old and the principal target audience is teenagers and young adults. There was a complaint from one viewer about one scene. It depicted one of the main characters being killed, having been being pushed into the path of a fast train. The concern was raised that this scene was unsuitable for viewing before the watershed, in particular because it would have been expected to have been...