Self-Regulation and Policy in the Spanish Audiovisual Sector: The Catalan Code of Best Practices

The regulatory framework of the audiovisual sector in Spain can be defined as huge, disperse, and obsolete. The first part of this paper provides an overview of the major challenges of the Spanish audiovisual sector as a result of the convergence of platforms, services and operators. In the second part, we will present an example of self-regulation through the future Code of Best Professional Practices of the Catalan Audiovisual Union. Fostering dialogue and bringing more stakeholders in the field may fit the new scenarios built up by the Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web. The Spanish Audiovisual Sector The EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), as the main instrument of the European audiovisual regulatory policy, calls on Member States to reform their legislation on this field with the aim of harmonizing and reforming the different regulations covering the audiovisual sector. The Audiovisual Media Services Directive provides a more general but flexible regulation in comparison with the Television Without Frontiers Directive (TWF). The new rules respond to technological developments and represent the opportunity to improve common minimum standards in Europe for traditional broadcasting and emerging on-demand audiovisual media services. It is crucial, especially in order to avoid distortions of competition, to improve legal certainty, to 1 Directive 2007/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007 amending the Council Directive 89/552/EEC on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities. 2 Council Directive 89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (updated in 1997 and 2007). 3 Television broadcasting includes: analogue and digital television, live streaming, web casting and near-video-on-demand. help the internal market and also to safeguard certain public interest. In this regard, the Directive attempts to preserve cultural diversity, protect children and consumers, safeguard media pluralism, fight racial and religious hatred and guarantee the independence of national media regulators. In sum, the AVMSD Directive provides the key concepts on audiovisual regulation based on the objective of convergence of technologies, businesses, contents and services. In Spain, with the exceptions considered below, there is not a general law regulating audiovisual communication services. The deadline for Spain to transpose into national law the EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) was December 2009. For the time being, the regulatory framework of the audiovisual sector in Spain may be defined as huge, disperse and obsolete. Historically, regulations concerning broadcasting have been produced under governmental control, and it is almost impossible to obtain agreements from all the stakeholders involved in order to pass a general law for the audiovisual sector. The most important Spanish Acts covering the audiovisual sector are: Act 25/94 of 7 June modifying law 22/1999 on the implementation of the TVWF Directive Act 10/2005, on urgent measures for the promotion of digital terrestrial TV, liberalization of cable and promotion of media pluralism Act 22/2005, on Catalan Audiovisual Communication Act 17/2006, on national public radio and TV Act 55/2007, on the Cinema Law 4 On 7 January 2010, the Constitutional Commission of the Spanish Congress passed the Spanish General Audiovisual Communication Law, incorporating the amendments proposed by different parties. The legislative process will be ended when the Spanish Senate passes the final legal text, probably during the following months.