Press Release Strasbourg, 6 October 2009 Convergence, copyright and transfrontier television Observatory publishes a new IRIS plus report		of this report
		Information on IRIS publications
		Legal database IRIS Merlin
		IViR Institute for Information Law

In today’s audiovisual world, boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred, whether they be of a geographic nature or indeed the traditional separation between the various forms of media. In this context of increasing convergence in the European and global audiovisual sectors, it is useful to stop and reflect on the consequences of this convergence for cable and satellite broadcasting as well as on the legal instruments which regulate these activities and the implications for copyright.

The Strasbourg-based European Audiovisual Observatory has chosen to deal with this subject in its latest IRIS plus publication freely downloadable here:

Author of the leading article Bernt Hugenholtz of the Institute for Information Law (IViR) provides an essential analysis of the SatCab Directive, the main legal instrument regulating cable and satellite broadcasting in Europe with respect to copyright considerations affecting the actual content being beamed across the borders. A new section added to the format of this bi-monthly report – ZOOM – gives practical, industry-related information linked to the lead article. In this issue, ZOOM offers a statistical overview of international satellite broadcasting in the European Union useful in measuring the impact of certain provisions of the SatCab Directive.

The report offers a useful background to the origins of the SatCab Directive as one of the panoply of legal instruments aimed at eliminating copyright-related barriers to transfrontier broadcasting services within the EU. The author points out the innovative nature of the Directive in that it introduced a “mechanism of mandatory collective exercise of cable retransmission rights”, thus putting the management of cable rights in the hands of the collecting societies. Unwieldy, one to one negotiations with the individual rights holders were therefore avoided.

Moving on to the deal with Satellite broadcasting, the author points out that the SatCab Directive cannot wholly open the door for pan-European licensing of content as the market reality of the buying and selling of content actually works against this principle: “Film distributors rarely allow the licensing of broadcasts of their films on the pan-European level, but cherish the principle that national markets within the European Union have their own dynamics, depending on national cultural characteristics and audience preferences.” Broadcasters also have limited interest in acquiring pan-European rights, says Hugenholtz, as there is “little incentive for a broadcaster to pay a (much) higher licence fee to acquire “European” rights when its market or public service mandate is limited to a single Member State.”

Regarding the scope of the SatCab Directive in the field of copyright for concerning Cable retransmission, the report states that the European Commission’s review of the Directive in 2002 saw a necessity for exceptions to the compulsory collective rights management enshrined in the Directive. Hugenholtz states that the Commission rather “favoured the exception to the rule of compulsory collective management, which allows broadcasters to deal with cable retransmission rights at the source, acting as a “one-stop shop” for cable rights” but points out that, while this arrangement may spell good news for broadcasters and cable operators, it’s less favourable to authors and artists who rely on collecting societies for remuneration.

Concluding his report, the author clearly feels that the multi-territory licensing issues so crucial to the field of cable and satellite broadcasting will not be solved in the short term. The European Commission has recommended that a study on the legal, economic and cultural aspects of multi territory licensing be carried out. As for the legal instrument currently regulating copyright issues for cable and satellite broadcasting, Hugenholtz concludes that it will probably not undergo the same careful revision as the Audiovisual Media Services Directive: “More likely, it will slowly fade away, as contractual practice, technological measures, media convergence and the “horizontal” rules of European copyright law gradually supersede it.”

Journalists, please contact:
Alison Hindhaugh, Information and Press Officer
MIP COM telephone: + 33 (0)6 84 35 27 43
Tel.: +33 (0) 3 90 21 60 10 - E-mail: alison.hindhaugh@coe.int

To take out a subscription to our IRIS monthly legal review with its IRIS plus supplement, click here or contact: markus.booms@coe.int

For further information on the content of our IRIS products, please contact our legal department:
susanne.nikoltchev@coe.int - francisco.cabrera@coe.int

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The European Audiovisual Observatory Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's mission is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 37 member states and the European Union, represented by the European Commission. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and works alongside a number of partner and professional organisations from within the industry and with a network of correspondents. In addition to contributions to conferences, other major activities are the publication of a Yearbook, newsletters and reports, the compilation and management of databases and the provision of information through the Observatory’s Internet site (http://www.obs.coe.int).