Search results : 305

In a recently published decision, the Österreichische Oberste Gerichtshof (Austrian Supreme Court - ÖOGH) explained in what circumstances the right to freedom of expression justifies the infringement of copyright and performance protection rights. On the one hand, the economic interests of the author must not be harmed and, on the other, the infringement of copyright and performance protection rights must be essential to the exercise of the right to freedom of expression. In the relevant legal dispute, a photographer had instigated proceedings against an Austrian national daily newspaper, which...

The Austrian communications authority (KommAustria) initiated a consultation procedure in late August with regard to the definition of the relevant national markets subject to its sector-specific regulation. In accordance with Art. 36 [3] in combination with Art. 128 of the Austrian telecommunications law of 2003 (TKG 2003), interested parties have the opportunity to state their position on the authority's intention to issue an ordinance defining the relevant markets for terrestrial broadcasting transmission in a way that differs from the Recommendation of the European Commission. In the Recommendation...

On 20 August 2003, a law was published amending the Privatfernsehgesetz (Private Television Act) and authorising the use of terrestrial digital transmission capacities. logue broadcasting licences to transmit their programmes digitally on a trial basis "in order to test out digital broadcasting techniques". The regulatory body is required to allow the public service broadcaster ORF and private TV companies as defined in the Privatfernsehgesetz to test digital broadcasting techniques and programme-related developments in accordance with available transmission capacities. According to Section 54.3...

On 19 May 2003, the Bundeskommunikationssenat (Federal Communication Senate - BKS) responded to complaints from several commercial radio broadcasters against the public service broadcaster ORF relating to advertising in the programme Starmania. The decision addressed some fundamental questions concerning the ORF's right to advertise. The BKS noted that, under Article 14.5 of the ORF-Gesetz (ORF Act), ORF is prohibited from using so-called "product placement" unless it is necessary within the context of the programme. Consequently, a large proportion of the product placement in the Starmania programme...

On 25 June 2003 the Verfassungsgerichtshof (Constitutional Court -VfGH) published a decision in the proceedings involving the new Act concerning the Österreichischer Rundfunk (Austrian public service broadcasting organisation - ORF). Inter alia, the claimant, the Vienna Land Government, considered the provision of the ORF Act to be unconstitutional, according to which “…at all events, for the prime-time evening programmes (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.), as a rule, a selection of intellectually demanding broadcasts should be on offer,“ (§ 4 (3) Section 2, the ORF Act). This apparently constituted direct interference...