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In a judgement delivered on 2 September 1998, the Brussels Court of Appeal overturned a judgement by the Brussels Commercial Court on 29 December 1997 which, in response to an application by the private-sector channel RTL-TVi, had prohibited RTBF inserting advertising breaks in American series broadcast in the afternoons. In the initial proceedings, the Commercial Court held that the advertising breaks were contrary to RTBF's contractual management regulations, according to which "advertising may not interrupt programmes, particularly films, or the various sequences of any one programme". On...

In a judgement of 15 December 1998 the Niedersachsen Higher Administrative Court ( Oberverwaltungsgericht OVG) dismissed the appeal of the television company RTL Television against a decision of the Land Media Authority of Niedersachsen. The subject of the original dispute was the observation that RTL Television, in broadcasting a programme, had violated the ban on surreptitious advertising. A repeat broadcast of the programme had also been forbidden. The children's programme concerned had been devoted to the "Barbie Doll", which was celebrating its thirtieth birthday. During the programme, phrases...

In a recently published judgement, the Wiesbaden Regional Court ( Landgericht) ruled that comparative advertising on the Internet was not in itself inadmissible (see also IRIS 1998-3:3 and IRIS 1998-7:6). In 1997 the defendant, a health insurance company, had introduced a facility on its Internet site enabling people to compare its prices with those of other health insurance companies. If the user inputted his or her personal data and other information, the company's premium appeared on the screen. Another health insurance company could then be selected and its own premium would be shown. The premiums...

Although the agreement containing the undertakings was given on behalf of Sport Newspapers Ltd (as publishers of the "Daily Sport" and "Sunday Sport"), the agreement is of general interest also to the audio-visual community. It was made under The Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations, 1988; the Regulations transpose the EC Directive on Misleading Advertising into UK law and came into force on 20 June 1988. The Director-General of the OFT is empowered to use the regulation to strengthen and complement existing rules concerning advertising. However, a breach of the agreement can result...

Satellite broadcaster VT4 was issued in December with a formal warning by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) for failing to comply with its advertising scheduling rules. VT4 is a satellite channel based in the UK (and therefore licensed by the ITC in the UK) but directing its service at the Belgian market. VT4 breached the advertising requirement that no more than 12 minutes of advertising or teleshopping spots should be scheduled in any one clock hour. A formal complaint received from the Flemish Ministry of Economic and Media Affairs drew attention to two specific periods. Further evidence...