IRIS Plus
This publication series from 2015 covers a selection of topics that are high on the European regulatory agenda, offering comparative and reliable information on a chosen topical issue in the perspective of the ongoing reforms of the legal framework on European and national level.
For each chosen topic, this new publication looks into:
- the economic and technological backdrop
- the international and European regulatory framework
- the national implementation of these provisions
- self- and co-regulation
- case-law
- recent trends.
The former version of the IRIS Plus series (until 2014) was a paid-for publication that featured a combination of a lead article, related reporting and a Zoom section, comprising overview tables, market data or practical information.
- All published issues are available for free in PDF format (see below).
- Print versions for publications prior to 2022, may be purchased from the Council of Europe online shop.
IRIS Plus 2010-5: New Services and Protection of Broadcasters in Copyright Law
A European Audiovisual Observatory publication had already investigated one aspect of the debate in autumn 2004. In IRIS plus “The Legal Protection of Broadcast Signals”, Lucie Guibault and Roy Melzer described in detail current provisions for the international protection of broadcast signals....
IRIS Plus 2010-4: Public Service Media: Money for Content
There have been many public statements on the funding of public service broadcasting and the expectations associated with it. As far as the European Union is concerned, mention might be made of the Communication from the Commission of 27 October 2009 on the application of state aid rules to...
IRIS Plus 2010-3: Product Placement
There are areas of law that are so complex that legislators evidently find it hard to get to grips with them, and one of these areas is presumably product placement. The starting-point for the harmonisation of national solutions, which was the aim of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive...
IRIS Plus 2010-2: Digital Cinema
The European cinema of the near future will be digital. This much seems to be agreed upon by anyone who has a say in the matter. But the road there requires special efforts and may indeed be long and winding. This IRIS plus asks where we stand in the roll-out of digital cinema and it does so with...
IRIS Plus 2010-1: Digital Television
Imagine turning on your television and not receiving any signal. For an increasing number of television viewers this could have been the case had they not re-equipped themselves for digital television. To mention only the early birds: Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden completed the...
IRIS Plus 2009-6: The "Telecoms Review": New Impetus for Audiovisual Media?
This IRIS plus examines the review of the European telecommunications regulatory framework. The lead article is as multilayered as the theme itself. Market regulation, spectrum policy, new distribution methods, interoperability, network neutrality, investment protection, "must-carry" obligations,...
IRIS Plus 2009-5: SatCab Revisited: The Past, Present and Future of the Satellite and Cable Directive
In this article, Bernt Hugenholtz explores not only the history, goals and application of the Satellite and Cable Directive but also the question of how its future might look like.
IRIS Plus 2009-4: The Public Service Remit and the New Media
This IRIS plus discusses the involvement of public service broadcasting in the new media. The author examines to what extent and under what conditions the public service remit covers such an involvement and where the limits to legitimate state funding currently lie. She therefore goes in some...
IRIS Plus 2009-3: An Introduction to Music Rights for Film and Television Production
More often than one might expect, basic issues concerning music rights are unknown territory for producers of music works, film composers and musicians. Reading this IRIS plus is a first step towards understanding the complex legal matter.
IRIS Plus 2009-2: Filtering the Internet for Copyrighted Content in Europe
One issue that has been frequently discussed in the IRIS plus series is the unauthorised supply of copyright protected works via the Internet. The resulting threat of copyright infringements could, at least partly, be prevented through the use of Internet filters, an option that forms the subject...