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On 10 January 2018, the Italian Communication Authority (AGCOM) issued Resolution No. 1/18/CONS to enact the provisions of the Par Condicio Law (Law No. 28 of 22 February 2000) applicable to private broadcasters during the electoral period preceding the general elections to be held on 4 March 2018. In particular, the resolution aims at ensuring the respect of some core principles, including pluralism, impartiality, independence and the completeness of media coverage of elections. With respect to broadcast media, specific rules are laid down to allot time in political communication programmes (that...

On 1 February 2018, the Italian Communication Authority (AGCOM) published guidelines to ensure equal treatment of parties/candidates on online platforms within the context of the next general elections. The guidelines are the result of the work performed within the context of a working group established by AGCOM containing representatives from major online platforms and newspapers. Although the guidelines constitute self-regulatory “soft law” and do not therefore have specific legal value, they nonetheless provide helpful insight into how operators and stakeholders are approaching Italian election...

On 28 December 2017, the final version of the legislative decree implementing the reform of the film review and governing the protection of minors in the audiovisual sector (Legislative Decree No. 203 of 7 December 2017) was published on the Official Journal. An article on the draft of this decree was included in IRIS 2017-10/24. In particular, the decree on the protection of minors introduces some significant provisions. First of all, distributors and producers are now required to classify cinematographic works with a view to balancing freedom of expression and the protection of minors. Depending...

On 28 December 2017, the final version of the legislative decree implementing the reform of the legal framework on cinema and audiovisual services with respect to the promotion of European and Italian works (Legislative Decree No. 204 of 7 December 2017) was published on the Official Journal (the draft of this decree was included in IRIS 2017-10/24). Yet, some significant amendments have been introduced to the relevant provisions, especially with regard to the decree governing the promotion of European works, which provides for a progressive increase of the content and investment quotas. As regards...

On 19 October 2017, the Italian Communication Authority (AGCOM) issued, by resolution No. 396/17/CONS, a new regulation on the collective management of copyright and related rights and the multi-territorial licensing of authors' rights in musical works for online use (“Regulation”). The new regulation has been adopted in accordance with the Legislative Decree No. 35 of 15 March 2017 (“Decree”) that implemented EU Directive 2014/26 on the collective management of copyright (see IRIS 2014-4/4) in Italy. This act aims at regulating the exercise of specific activities by AGCOM, including: the assessment...