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A bill sent to the House of Representatives by the government proposes extensive amendments to the Law on Radio and Television Organisations that regulates commercial services of broadcasters. The bill was long expected in order to adjust the Act to aspects of the new media - i.e. a fully digital environment - and to further harmonise the Act with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU (AVMSD). According to the Explanatory Memorandum attached to the proposal, better harmonisation with the AVMSD is sought, in particular with relation to Articles 2(4), 4(8), 5(1)(d), 6, 9(1)(f), 10(1),...

On 3 October 2013, the Court of Justice gave a preliminary ruling in the Case of Peter Pinckney v. KDG Mediatech AG, C-170/12, regarding the jurisdictional rules set out in the Council Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001. Mr Pinckney claimed to be the author of 12 songs which were recorded by the group Aubrey Small on a vinyl record. The record was then, without his consent, reproduced on compact discs by an Austrian company named Mediatech, which were subsequently sold by companies in the United Kingdom on their website. This website was accessible from Toulouse, France, where Mr Pinckney lived. He sued...

On 23 July 2012, the European Commission announced that it had written to Portugal, Slovenia, Finland (concerning the region of Åland) and the United Kingdom (concerning Gibraltar) to seek information on the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive. In 2011, the European Commission had already sent fact-finding letters to twenty-four member states (including Finland and the United Kingdom). The European Commission is looking for clarifications on the following issues: the country of origin principle and jurisdiction issues; audiovisual commercial communications; the protection...

On 4 July 2012, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers (CM) adopted a Declaration on the Desirability of International Standards dealing with Forum Shopping in respect of Defamation, “Libel Tourism”, to Ensure Freedom of Expression. The CM firstly notes that although everyone is entitled to freedom of expression, the media have specific rights, because they play an essential role in democratic societies. Freedom of expression, as guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, is applicable not only to ‘information’ or ‘ideas’ that are favourably received or regarded...

On 29 May 2012, the Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Audiovisual Council - CNA) adopted Decision no. 320 on the provision of on-demand audiovisual media services. The Decision, adopted in order to further the transposition of the Directive 2010/13/EU (Audiovisual Media Services Directive), was published in the Official Journal of Romania no. 434 of 30 June 2012 (see IRIS 2009-3/30). The provisions of the Audiovisual Law no. 504/2002, as amended, and the Audiovisual Code (Decision no. 220/2011 regarding the Regulatory Code of the Audiovisual Content) apply to on-demand services, bearing...