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On 19 October 2017, AGCOM (Italian Communications Authority) ordered the internet service providers under Italian jurisdiction, pursuant to its Regulation on copyright protection online (see IRIS 2014-3:1/31), to disable access to two IPTV servers for massive copyright infringements. The decisions were taken in conclusion of two proceedings deriving from complaints presented on 10 October 2017 by Mediaset Premium S.p.A., whose entire pay-TV offer was systematically made available via content delivery network (CDN) selectors. Access to the pirated service was given upon payment of a fee, which was,...

On 2 October 2017, the Italian Government released the draft of three legislative decrees implementing the reform of the legal framework on cinema and audiovisual services started last year (see IRIS 2017-1/23). The new decrees concern the promotion of European and Italian works by audiovisual media service providers; the protection of minors; and employment in the audiovisual sector. Further to the government’s preliminary approval, the draft decrees will be submitted to parliamentary committees, the Council of State and the State-Regions Conference in order to seek relevant opinions; the deadline...

On 7 September 2017, Advocate General (AG) Szpunar delivered his opinion on the case of VCAST v. RTI SpA. The case concerns the question of whether the private copying exception covers the services of an online platform that allows users to store copies of free-to-air TV programmes in private cloud storage spaces. VCAST’s platform enables users to record television programmes broadcast by the main digital terrestrial television channels in Italy (such as RTI) and store them in the cloud. After signing in to VCAST’s website, the user chooses the programme or timeframe he wishes to record. VCAST...

On 13 September 2017, the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) was notified with compliance measures submitted by Vivendi SA pursuant to Resolution no. 178/17/CONS (see IRIS 2017-6/24). Under this Resolution, AGCOM found Vivendi to be in breach of Article 43, paragraph 11 of Legislative Decree 177/2005 by exceeding the concentration limits within the Integrated System of Communications (SIC), as a consequence of the shares owned in Telecom Italia S.p.A. and Mediaset S.p.A. Vivendi was thus ordered to take appropriate steps to get themselves out of this situation, namely by disinvesting part...

With decision no. 2833 published on 29 April 2017, the Court of Appeal of Rome confirmed in its entirety last year’s ruling issued by the First Instance Court of Rome in the RTI vs. Break Media case (see IRIS 2016-6/18). Break Media is an Internet portal that publicly offers free videos, created by Break Media itself or uploaded by users, on a platform that bases its business model on advertising. The platform, in fact, has an editorial team which manually categorises the videos on the basis of several criteria. Along with the videos, users are shown targeted advertising decided on the basis of...