BROADCASTING (SHORT NEWS REPORTING) REGULATIONS

BROADCASTING (SHORT NEWS REPORTING)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 350.28

BROADCASTING (SHORT NEWS REPORTING)

REGULATIONS

1st July, 2007

LEGAL NOTICE 198 of 2007.

The title of these regulations is the Broadcasting (Short

News Reporting) Regulations.

The Prime Minister is, in terms of article 37(1) of the

Broadcasting Act, hereby giving directions to the Broadcasting

Authority to conform, through these regulations, with Malta’s

international obligations under article 9 of the Council of Europe’s

E u r o p e a n C o n v e n t i o n o n Tr a n s f r o n t i e r Te l e v i s i o n d o n e a t

Strasbourg on 5th May 1989, as amended.

(1) The right to short news reporting of an event where

exclusive rights for their television broadcast have been acquired

shall be regulated in terms of this regulation.

(2)

For the purposes of this regulation

"event" means an event of high interest to the public which is

transmitted on an exclusive basis by a primary broadcaster;

"exclusive rights" means the rights acquired by a broadcaster

contractually, from the organizer of an event or the owner of the

premises where the event takes place, the authors or other right

holders, with a view to the exclusive television broadcast of the

event by that broadcaster for a given geographical zone;

"primary broadcaster" means the broadcasting organization

which holds the exclusivity for the television broadcast of an event;

"secondary broadcaster" means any broadcasting organization

wishing to provide information, by means of short reports, on an

event in which the primary broadcaster holds the exclusive rights;

"short report" means brief sound and picture sequences about an

event such as to enable the viewers of the secondary broadcaster to

have a sufficient overview of the essential aspects of such an event.

(3) In order to enable the public to exercise its right to

information, the property right of the primary broadcaster shall be

the subject of limitations, in accordance with terms and conditions

set out hereafter.

(4) Any secondary broadcaster shall be entitled to provide

information on an event by means of a short report. Such access

shall be granted

(a) by allowing the secondary broadcaster to freely choose

short extracts from the primary broadcaster’s signal.

Unless impossible for reasons of practicality, the

secondary broadcaster shall identify the source of the

extract as originating from the primary broadcaster; or

BROADCASTING (SHORT NEWS REPORTING)

(b) by having access to the site to cover the event, for the

purpose of producing a short report

Provided that the implementation of the provisions of this

sub-regulation shall not be impeded, restricted or delayed by reason

of any claim for charges made by the primary broadcaster or by the

event organiser, as the case may be.

(5) For the implementation of the foregoing arrangements, the

following aspects shall be taken into consideration

(a) if an organised event is composed of several

organizationally self-contained elements, each self-

contained element shall be deemed to be an event;

(b) if an organised event takes place during several days,

it shall give the right to produce at least one short

report for each day; and

(c) the short report shall be used exclusively by the

secondary broadcaster and only in regularly scheduled

news bulletins.

(6)

Short extracts shall not -

(a) exceed 90 seconds;

(b) be transmitted before the event is concluded or, for

sports events, before the end of a single day’s play,

whichever is the earlier;

(c) be screened later than 24 hours after the event;

(d) be used to create a public archive;

(e) omit the logo or other identifier of the primary

broadcaster.

(7) The primary broadcaster shall be entitled to appropriate

compensation for technical costs incurred. In any event, no

financial charge shall be required of the secondary broadcaster

towards the cost of television rights.

(8) If the secondary broadcaster is granted physical access to

the site, the event organiser or site owner shall be able to charge the

secondary broadcaster for any necessary additional expenses

incurred. Such charge shall be reasonable.

(9) Where an event organiser or a site owner refuses or

impedes the secondary broadcaster from gaining physical access to

the site, the secondary broadcaster shall be entitled to file an

application with urgency before the Civil Court, First Hall

demanding that the event organiser or site owner be ordered to

grant such access forthwith.