Information Sources

Article 1.1. of the Statute of the European Audiovisual Observatory states that the Observatory's aim is "to improve the transfer of information within the audiovisual industry, to promote a clearer view of the market and a greater transparency.  In doing so, the Observatory shall pay particular attention to ensuring reliability, comparability and compatibility of information." The IRIS Merlin database is part of the Legal Information dpeartment's contribution to fulfilling this mission.

The Observatory gathers the information contained in the database with the help of the IRIS network. This network currently comprises four partner institutions, five partner magazines and more than 60 correspondents from 36 countries and from various international organisations.

The following partner institutions cooperate with the Observatory:

	Institute of European Media Law
	EMR Nell-Breuning-Alleee 6 66115 SAARBRÜCKEN GERMANY	Contact:  Alexander SCHEUER, Attorney in Law Tel.: +49 / (0) 681 99 275 11 Fax: +49 / (0) 681 99 275 12 http://www.emr-sb.de
	Institute for Information Law
	IViR Rokin 84 1012 KX AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS	Contact: Prof. P. Bernt HUGENHOLTZ Tel.: +31 / 20 525 34 06 Fax: +31 / 20 525 30 33 http://www.ivir.nl/
	Moscow Media Law and Policy Center (MMLPC)
	MMLPC Journalism School, MSU Room 338 9 Mokhovaya Street 103914 MOSCOW RUSSIA	Contact: Andrei RICHTER Tel.: +7 / 095 203 9388 Fax: +7 / 503 737 3371 http://www.medialaw.ru/
	The Media Center at New York Law School
	The Media Center at New York Law School 57 Worth Street NEW YORK, N.Y. 10013 USA	Contact: Michael BOTEIN Tel.: +1 / 212 431 2160 Fax: +1 / 212 966 2053 http://www.cmcnyls.edu

The following partner magazines regularly contribute to the database:

• Legipresse - Paris/France
• Medialex - Lucerne/Switzerland
• Medien und Recht - Vienna/Austria
• Mediaforum - Amsterdam/Netherlands
• Auteur & Media - Brussels/Belgium

The names of the IRIS network correspondents, and the institutions they represent, are given below the title of each article they have authored.  The IRIS network correspondents include professors and staff of various research institutes, employees of regulatory authorities, ministries and broadcasters, and other representatives of the audiovisual industry, lawyers, and employees of professional associations, to name but a few examples.  They are all experts on legal questions affecting the audiovisual domain in the geographic area (as a rule, a country or a region) that they cover.  They all are committed to objective, factual reporting and refer to original sources in their articles.

Together with the current IRIS network, we are striving to constantly expand the existing network.

Go to IRIS Merlin database

Your contact persons for IRIS Merlin at the European Audiovisual Observatory are:

• Francisco Javier Cabrera Blázques
  Analyst, Department Legal Information
  E-mail: Francisco.CABRERA@coe.int
  
  
• Dr. Susanne Nikoltchev
  IRIS Coordinator
  Head of Department Legal Information
  E-mail: Susanne.NIKOLTCHEV@coe.int

For other contacts at the European Audiovisual Observatory, see: "Team".