Media Study - Medija centar Beograd

Denmark
In Denmark, owners of cable systems are obliged to transmit the programme of the public service broadcasters,
including regional programs within their coverage area and local channels. If a cable system has more than eight
channels, one channel must also be available for local television programs within the coverage area. These rules
must also be respected within program packages distributed via cable. The Ministry lays down rules concerning
cable networks which may include provisions for consumer influence on program selection. The regulatory agency
oversees compliance with these rules and may impose related obligations on the owners of cable networks.
Austria
In Austria, cable network operators are obliged to re-transmit public service television programs. This obligation
extends also to the carriage of local programs. The media regulatory authority can oblige the cable operator to
retransmit programmes from private television station in order to resolve a conflict concerning cable access.
Some EU Member States have adopted additional regulation in addition to the AVMS Directive. For example,
“must-carry” obligations apply to fixed IPTV operators in numerous EU countries, such as the French-speaking part
of Belgium, France, Sweden, and the UK (although in practice, the parties have negotiated commercial
arrangements).
Legal Systems Comparison
Serbia has addressed issues relating to broadcasting in the Broadcasting Act and in a number of other laws. In the
context of this chapter, the laws on Advertising and on Public information are of particular relevance. It appears to
the study team the rationale behind this split approach is that each of these laws deals comprehensively with one
subject across all relevant industry sectors (e.g. the Law on Advertising applies to all industry sectors), but also
contain specific issues by industry sector as necessary. By contrast, other countries take different approaches,
addressing all specific issues relating to one sector in a sector specific law. Copyright legislation was upgraded by
the end of 2009 so as to introduce mechanisms for negotiating and ultimately establishing an appropriate level of
license fees which can be requested by collective rights management bodies. It is too early to assess whether the
implementation of these provisions is successful.
In Serbia media literacy is generally an evolving field and does currently not seem to be encouraged directly by the
Law.
2.7 PUBLIC SUPPORT – BROADCASTERS, PRINT AND NEWS AGENCIES
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