The National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has decided to exclude 16 programmes from the list of programmes retransmitted in Latvia, as their representative in Latvia has not been known since February 1.
The NEPLP excludes the following programmes from the list of programmes to be retransmitted in Latvia: “REN TV Baltic”, “NTV Mir Baltic”, “Karusel International”, “NTV Serial” (“НТВ Сериал”), “NTV Stilj” (“НТВ Стиль”), “NTV Pravo” (“НТВ Право”), “Kinomiks” (“Киномикс”), “Nashe novoye kino” (“Наше новое кино”), “RODNOYE KINO” (“РОДНОЕ КИНО”), “INDIYSKOYE KINO” (“ИНДИЙСКОЕ КИНО”), “KINOKOMEDIYA” (“КИНОКОМЕДИЯ”), “KINOSERIYA” (“КИНОСЕРИЯ”), “KVN TV” (“КВН ТВ”), “Kukhnya TV” (“Кухня ТВ”), “BOKS TV” (“БОКС ТВ”) and “HD Life”.
The decision was made because NEPLPdoes not have information on the distribution representative or representatives of the aforementioned programmes in the territory of Latvia, who would be able to agree on the distribution of the programme in the territory of Latvia on behalf of the programme owners, likewise, the NEPLPhas not received any information from the programme owners regarding their desire to continue the distribution of these programmes in the territory of Latvia.
The decision came into force at midnight on 10 February.
“Considering that we have been unable to obtain evidence that there are any representatives of these programmes in Latvia, they have been removed from the list of retransmitted programmes. In order to protect the information space of Latvia, the NEPLPwill intensify its inspection of all programmes in the register of retransmitted programs in Latvia and, if similar cases are found, will act accordingly,” says Ivars Āboliņš, Chairman of the NEPLP.
The previous right holder SIA “TEM LV” has informed that since February 1, it is no longer entitled to these programmes, such information has also been provided by cable operators. The NEPLP has approached the potential new representative of programme distribution with a request to submit to the Council supporting documents regarding the distribution rights of the above-mentioned programmes in the territory of Latvia; however, no documents to support such rights have been received by the NEPLP.
Section 19 Paragraph One of the Electronic Mass Media Law provides that “for retransmission and distribution of programmes on public electronic communications networks, it is necessary to receive the consent of the owner (holder) of the programme to be retransmitted and a retransmission permit from the National Electronic Mass Media Council”.
According to the regulatory enactments, when submitting an application to the Council for inclusion of a programme in the list of audio and audiovisual programme retransmitted in Latvia, the programme owner's representative or electronic mass media must also submit documents or extracts confirming the rights of the programme owner's representative or electronic mass media to distribute the programme in the Republic of Latvia, namely - true copy of the license agreement or the authorization for the distribution issued by the owner of the programme, thus, in the case of the change of the representative of the owner of the programme, in order to ensure the distribution of programmes without infringing on the will and permissions granted by the owner of the programme, the same provisions shall be applicable.
The decision of the council is available here.