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On 23 July 2012, the European Commission announced that it had written to Portugal, Slovenia, Finland (concerning the region of Åland) and the United Kingdom (concerning Gibraltar) to seek information on the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive. In 2011, the European Commission had already sent fact-finding letters to twenty-four member states (including Finland and the United Kingdom). The European Commission is looking for clarifications on the following issues: the country of origin principle and jurisdiction issues; audiovisual commercial communications; the protection...

In August 2010 the UK communications regulator Ofcom referred to the general competition authority, the Competition Commission, the supply and acquisition of subscription pay-TV movie rights and packages. It has the power to do this if it has reasonable grounds for suspecting that competition is not working effectively in a market. The Commission has to decide whether any feature or combination of features of a relevant market restricts or distorts competition in the UK. The Commission has decided that Sky’s position in the acquisition and distribution of movies in the first pay window does not...

On 17 May 2012, the English High Court overturned the decision of a lower court that had required a number of broadcasters, including Sky, the BBC and Independent Television News, to hand over to the police footage of violent disorder accompanying the eviction of the inhabitants of a travellers’ site. The police had applied under s.9 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, which empowers a court to grant access to ‘special procedure material’, including journalistic material, if there are reasonable grounds for believing that a serious offence has been committed, if the material would be...

On 2 May 2012, the English High Court made an order under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to require the major internet service providers to block customer access to The Pirate Bay peer-to-peer file sharing website. The Act (as amended) implements the 2001 Information Society Directive 2001/29/EC. The case was brought by record companies on their own behalf and on behalf of the British Recorded Music Industry and Phonographic Performance Ltd. The Act empowers the High Court to grant an order against a service provider where the latter has ‘actual knowledge’ of another person using their...

On 12 April 2012 the UK Government ratified a co-production treaty with the Palestinian Authority. The aim of the treaty is to strengthen the relationship between the film industries in the UK and the Palestinian Occupied Territories by encouraging British and Palestinian producers to make films together that reflect the creativity and diverse culture and heritage of both territories. The Treaty provides a number of benefits for co-productions. These include temporary import and export - free of duties and taxes - of equipment necessary for making such productions. Personnel employed in the making...