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DRAFT RECOMMENDATION No. R (2003) ...
OF THE COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS TO MEMBER STATES

ON THE RIGHT TO SHORT REPORTING ON MAJOR EVENTS
WHERE EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED

(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on ...
at the ... meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,

Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage;

Bearing in mind its Recommendation No. R (91) 5 on the right to short reporting on major events where exclusive rights for their television broadcast have been acquired in a transfrontier context;

Noting that, since the adoption of the above Recommendation, a number of developments have taken place making it necessary to complement and update it in order to guarantee the public's right of access to information;

Noting, in particular, the development of new information services, on electronic communication networks, as well as the increasing competition between new providers of information services to acquire the exclusive right to report on major events;

Taking into account the relevant provisions of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television,

Recommends the governments of the member States to take measures to safeguard the public's right of access to information on major events where exclusive rights have been acquired, taking into account the principles set out below;

Instructs the Secretary General to transmit this recommendation to the States Parties to the European Convention on Transfrontier Television which are not members of the Council of Europe.

Definitions

For the purposes of this recommendation:

"Major event" means any event in which a provider of information service holds exclusive reporting rights and which is considered by one or more other providers of information services as being of particular interest for its (their) public.

"Exclusive rights" means the rights acquired contractually by a provider of information service from the organiser of a major event and/or from the owner of the premises where the event is taking place, as well as from the authors and other rights holders, with a view to the exclusive reporting on the event for a given geographical zone.

"Provider of information service" means any natural or legal person who offers on a professional basis an information service to the public, in the form of texts, images and/or sounds, whether in return for remuneration or not.

"Primary provider" means the provider of information service which holds exclusive reporting rights on a major event.

"Secondary provider" means any provider of information service wishing to provide information, by means of short reports, on a major event for which the primary provider holds exclusive reporting rights.

"Short report" means such brief picture and/or sound sequences about a major event as will enable the public of the secondary provider to have a sufficient overview of the essential aspects of such an event.

Principles

Principle 1 - Conditions for the exercise of the public's right to information

In order to enable the public in a given country to exercise its right to information, the property right of the primary provider should be subject to limitations which are in accordance with the terms and conditions set out hereafter.

Principle 2 - Making of short reports

1. Without prejudice to other contractual agreements between the providers of information services concerned, any secondary provider should be entitled to provide information on a major event by means of a short report :

a. by recording the signal of the primary provider, for the purpose of producing a short report; and/or

b. by having access to the site of the major event in order to carry out its own filming or recording, for the purpose of producing a short report and/or of making his own comments, unless access is impossible for security reasons.

2. In the implementation of the foregoing principle, the following aspects should be taken into consideration :

a. if a major organised event is composed of several organisationally self-contained elements, each self-contained element should be deemed to be a major event;

b. if a major organised event takes place over several days, it should give the right to produce at least one short report for each day;

c. the authorised duration of a short report should depend on the time needed to communicate the information content of the major event.

Principle 3 - Use of short reports

Without prejudice to other contractual agreements between the providers of information services concerned, the following should be taken into account when fixing the conditions or the use of short reports by the secondary provider(s):

a. the short report should be used exclusively by the secondary provider and only [in regularly scheduled news bulletins or in point-to-point information services / for information purposes];

b. in the case of a major organised event, the short report should not be provided before the primary provider has had the opportunity to report on the major event;

c. unless otherwise agreed by the providers concerned, the short report should mention the name and/or insert the logo of the primary provider as the source of the material, where the short report has been made from the signal of the primary provider;

d. a short report which has already been disseminated should not be reused, unless there is a direct link between its content and another topical event;

e. all original programme material within the possession of the secondary provider which has been used for the making of the short report should be destroyed after production of the short report, and the primary provider should be informed of its destruction;

f. short reports may be preserved in archives but may not be reused except in the circumstances referred to in paragraph d.

Principle 4 - Financial terms

1. Without prejudice to other agreements between them, the primary provider should not be able to charge the secondary provider for the short report. In any event, no financial charge should be required of the secondary provider towards the cost of reporting rights.

2. If the secondary provider is granted access to the site, the event organiser or site owner should be able to charge for any necessary additional expenses incurred.