IRIS Special

The publications in the IRIS Special series tackle current issues in media law and related legal fields.
The themes covered are of direct practical relevance and are explored with academic rigour. The particular value of the IRIS Special series lies in its international approach or the comparison of different legal systems as the case may be. Recognised as a reliable source of information, the series has a track record of supplying both the audiovisual industry and also legislators and other decision makers at national and European level with highly useful data, overviews, ideas and analyses. The European Audiovisual Observatory publishes one or two IRIS Specials annually. Depending on their theme, they each contain 50-150 pages. In many cases, background material – standard-setting legal texts for example – is included.
- All published issues are available for free in PDF format (see below).
- Print versions, may be purchased from the Council of Europe online shop at cost price.

IRIS Special 2004 - Digital Television Glossary
This Digital Television Glossary was commissioned by the Observatory from the Institute of European Media Law (EMR) with a view to creating this IRIS Special and in preparation of the workshop. Concretely, we asked for a description of the functioning of digital television and – in parallel to...
IRIS Special 2004 - Political Debate and the Role of the Media - The Fragility of Free Speech
This IRIS Special examines the significant issue of whether the media should be doing what they are able to do when it comes to political debate.
IRIS Special 2004 - Regulating Access to Digital Television - Technical Bottlenecks, Vertically-integrated Markets and New Forms of Media Concentration
Every single aspect of digital television is affected by the question of access control: the compilation and preparation of content to be transported; the transmission and reception of content (encrypted or not), including the necessary technical devices; content bundling; programme selection...
IRIS Special 2003 - Co-Regulation of the Media in Europe
This publication explains co-regulation, offers current examples of its use and discusses possible areas in which it may be applied. It describes the characteristics and legal requirements of co-regulation, as well as the chances and risks associated with it.
IRIS Special 2002 - Jurisdiction over Broadcasters in Europe - Report on a Round-table Discussion & Selection of Background Materials
What are the remaining difficulties in determining jurisdiction? What disputes were brought before the courts and how have they been solved? What clarifications should be made to European legislation? The workshop aimed to penetrate the many facets of these questions and to fuel the discussion...
IRIS Special 2001 - Television and Media Concentration - Regulatory Models on the National and the European Level
This book is intended first and foremost to contribute to a better understanding of the variety of legal problems and regulations that are relevant to limiting concentrations of power in the medium of television.


All of our legal publications are available for free download as pdfs from this page.
Some are available as print versions in the Council of Europe online bookshop

