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On 25 May 2016 the European Commission published a proposal to amend the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). As the Commission noted in its press release, the aim of the proposal is: “to achieve a better balance of the rules which today apply to traditional broadcasters, video-on-demand providers and video-sharing platforms, especially when it comes to protecting children. The revised AVMSD also strengthens the promotion of European cultural diversity, ensures the independence of audiovisual regulators and gives more flexibility to broadcasters over advertising”. The main changes pertain...

By a decree of 27 February 2016 the Government of Russia adopted “Rules on issuance, denial of issuance and reclaiming of an exhibition permit for a film”. The new rules supersede the current ones, which were issued in 1993. The permit is obligatory for film exhibition in a cinema, for rental of films in hard copy, or for both exhibition and rental. The Ministry of Culture is the governmental office in charge of the process. Within ten working days of submission it reviews applications together with copies of a set of documents related to the applicant and the film itself (including starting date...

On 8 February 2016, the Agency for Electronic Media adopted a Rulebook on electronic publications which introduces the first specific rules for the functioning of online media. All electronic publications are obliged to register with the Agency for Electronic Media and to align their operations with the Rulebook by mid-April 2016. The Rulebook defines electronic publications as editorially-shaped internet pages and/or portals that contain programme content with audio or video materials that are transmitted to the public, as well as electronic versions of print media and/or media information which...

The report of the review by Dame Janet Smith into the BBC’s culture and practices during the Jimmy Saville and Stuart Hall years has now been published. Saville was a highly popular television presenter; it was revealed after his death that he had carried out a large number of acts of sexual abuse, especially against young girls, and many of these had been committed in relation to his work at the BBC. Hall was another popular TV presenter; he was imprisoned after admitting 14 charges of abuse against young girls aged between 9 and 17 years over a period of three decades, once more in connection...

According to media reports, in a judgment of 1 December 2015 (Case U 74/15) the Kammergericht Berlin (Berlin Higher Regional Court) ruled in appellate proceedings that advertising for virtual products in an online role-playing game should not necessarily be regarded as a direct invitation to children to buy the items. There was, the Court said, no breach of competition law as the advertising messages in the game were not aimed specifically at minors but at all players. The Court had to rule on a complaint from the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (Federation of German Consumer Organisations) concerning...