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On 6 May 2008, the Commission sent Spain a reasoned opinion for failing to comply with European advertising rules. The move constitutes the second and final stage in the infringement procedure initiated in July 2007, before the case is referred to the European Court of Justice. According to Article 18(1) of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (former article 18(2) of the old Television without Frontiers Directive), “the proportion of television advertising spots and teleshopping spots within a given clock hour shall not exceed 20%”, i.e. 12 minutes per hour. The Commission takes the term “advertising...

The Swedish Supreme Court has come to a spectacular decision on the infringement of moral rights. The Court found that commercial breaks during films on television constitute an infringement of the directors' moral rights and that the possibility of waiving these rights is limited. In the case at hand, two well known Swedish directors complained about the broadcasting of their respective films on TV4, where the films were interrupted with commercial breaks. TV4 is Sweden's largest commercial free TV channel. At first, the directors complained to the Swedish Broadcast Commission. The Commission,...

On 12 February 2008, the Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Council for Electronic Media – CNA) signed a co-operation protocol with the Autoritatea Naţională pentru Protecţia Consmatorilor (Consumer Protection Authority – ANPC) in order to better guarantee compliance with Act No. 363/2007 on combating unfair commercial practices for consumers and harmonising provisions with European consumer protection legislation. The protocol is designed to improve the mutual exchange of information about known unfair commercial practices in the audiovisual sector and to warn consumers about such...

The courts have finally intervened in the "opposition" debate between the Bureau de Vérification de la Publicité (advertising regulatory board – BVP) and the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory authority – CSA) over the commercial for the sale of medicines not refunded under the health service in Leclerc hypermarkets (see IRIS 2008-5: 8). Disregarding the BVP's negative opinion, the CSA had authorised the broadcasting of the commercial in which the chain of hypermarkets, noting that the increase in the prices of medicines sold in chemist's dispensing shops that were not refunded...

On 13 November 2007, the daily edition of the news programme - “btv News” - broadcast at 7 p.m. by the btv channel (owned by Balkan News Corporation EAD, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp.) was interrupted twice by advertisements. The normal duration of the said news programme is between 7 and 8 p.m. each day, comprising two main sets of news (starting at 7 and 7.30 p.m., respectively), divided by a short commentary called “Small Commentary”. The whole programme starts at 7 p.m. and the final notes (captions) are provided at the end of the programme at around 8 p.m. In the beginning of March...