European Union: Directive (EU) 2019/789 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations [...]

June 7, 2019

European Union: The Directive (EU) 2019/789 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on May 17, 2019, and entered into force on June 7, 2019.

The Directive:

(i) facilitates the clearance of copyright and related rights of radio and certain TV content for cross-border digital broadcast and retransmissions;

(ii) complements the existing Directive 93/83/EEC (Satellite and Cable Directive), pertaining only to cross border satellite broadcasting and retransmission by cable of TV and radio programs;

(iii) establishes the "country of origin" principle, i.e. within the European Union, copyright and related rights in applicable radio and television programs must be cleared only for the broadcaster's country of principal establishment and not in any other Member State in which the broadcaster intends to make such programming available;

(iv) extends the system of mandatory collective management previously applicable to cable retransmissions to all types of retransmission of relevant television and radio programs, to allow for a simplified method of rights clearance; and

(v) clarifies the legal framework of the so-called transmission by "direct injection", whereby broadcasters exclusively transmit programs to distributors that are responsible for public dissemination, such that rights holders are afforded appropriate opportunities for remuneration and the exercise of their rights.

The Directive has an impact on broadcasting organizations and the retransmission of content online.

Member States now have two years, i.e. until June 7, 2021, to implement this Directive into their own national legislation.