CODE OF TELEVISION AND RADIO OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

of July 27, 2006 No. 260-XVI

The parliament accepts this code.

Chapter I. General provisions

Article 1. Purposes and scope of application

(1) This code is intended for ensuring consumer protection of programs on adoption of the right and objective information that will promote free forming of opinions, providing the rights of the broadcasting organizations to publishing freedom and freedom of expression, approval of democratic principles of functioning of television and radio in the Republic of Moldova, and establishes the legal basis of regulation according to constitutional rights and freedoms:

a) creations, distribution and/or relayings by means of television and broadcasting of program complexes of the broadcasting organizations which are under jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova;

b) implementation of public control over activities of the teleradio organizations of the Republic of Moldova.

(2) This code does not regulate teleradio communication by means of the systems of television and broadcasting of the closed type which are not intended for mass transmit-receive and also activities of radio fans.

Article 2. Basic concepts

For the purpose of of this Code the following basic concepts are used:

a) broadcasting - primary distribution by means of electroradio waves, cable networks or the companion in the coded or not coded form of the program complexes intended for public;

b) relaying – acceptance and synchronous broadcasting by any technical means of the programs distributed by the broadcasting organizations or distributors and program complexes or their considerable parts intended for acceptance by public in full and without any changes;

c) the broadcasting organization – the legal entity – the owner of the license for the broadcasting granted by Coordination council on television and radio bearing complete responsibility, including publishing for broadcast of the program complexes intended for acceptance by public;

d) the public broadcasting organization - the national or regional teleradio organization with the status of the legal entity of the public law having publishing independence, supervision of which activities is exercised by society;

e) the private broadcasting organization - the teleradio organization with the status of the legal entity of private law;

f) the distributor of programs - any legal entity providing to public program complexes through any means of electronic communication, including by means of the companion, cable network or air, relaying them on the basis of contractual relations with the broadcasting organizations or other distributors of programs;

g) program complex - set of the teleradio programs or transfers delivered by the broadcasting organization;

h) teleradio communication (audiovisual communication) - provision to public by means of land frequencies and different technical means (transmitters, satellites, cable networks, etc.) of various program complexes;

i) the program or transfer - teleradio products differing in the name, content, duration, form or the author within one program complex;

j) domestic production – the programs made by the broadcasting organizations which are under jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova and/or independent vendors of programs from the Republic of Moldova including with use of technical and intellectual means of the Republic of Moldova;

k) ceased to be valid according to the Law of the Republic of Moldova of 30.03.2017 No. 50

l) advertizing - any form of the message on implementation of business, trade, professional activity directed to promotion of delivery of goods or rendering services for a fee, promotion of certain case or the idea or to receipt of any other expected effect by person who is engaged in advertizing, or the most broadcasting organization extended instead of tariff payment or other benefits on the basis of the agreement with public or private physical person or legal entity; any form of the message for the purpose of self-promotion;

m) the embedded advertizing - deliberate representation (by means of words, sounds or images) in the undeclared advertizing purposes of goods, services, names, trademarks or types of activity of the vendor of goods or the service provider; such form of representation is recognized deliberate in particular when it is performed instead of material benefit, response services or other benefits of this sort for benefit of the broadcasting organization or in own favor;

m-1) sexist advertizing – deliberate and/or inadvertent representation (by means of words, sounds or images) which promotes distribution of messages, incorrect, discrimination and/or humiliating from the gender point of view, and reproduces sexist stereotypes, negatively influencing image and advantage of one of floors;

m-2) sexist stereotypes – prejudices, prejudices and delusions concerning features of the personality and behavior of women and men, simply and in a wrong way the roles reflecting them on the basis of sex;

n) teletrade - bringing to public of direct offers on delivery of goods for a fee or about provision of services;

n-1) placement of product – any form of the representation consisting of inclusion of product, service or trademark or of the reference to product, service or trademark so that they were provided within the program instead of payment or counter provision.

o) sponsorship - any contribution performed by the physical person or legal entity which is not engaged in activities in the field of television and radio if this contribution is directed only to financing of teleradio programs for the purpose of promoting of the of name, trademark, image, types of activity or goods;

p) important event - any organized event which is important for considerable part of public;

q) the license for broadcasting - the official document which the Coordination council on television and radio provides to the broadcasting organization which is under jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova, the right to extend certain program complex in the established zone;

r) permission to relaying - the official document which the Coordination council on television and radio grants the right to relay any program complex in the territory of the Republic of Moldova;

s) ceased to be valid according to the Law of the Republic of Moldova of 31.07.2015 No. 167

t) the consumer of programs - any physical person or legal entity accepting the program complexes broadcast or relayed in the territory of the Republic of Moldova;

u) the prime time – periods 6.00–9.00, 17.00–23.00 Monday through Friday and 6.00–24.00 on Saturday and Sunday for television channels and 6.00–13.00, 17.00–20.00 for radio stations;

v) information space - range of radio frequencies or land electroradio waves;

w) the European audiovisual works - creative works which production and coproduction is controlled by the European physical persons or legal entities;

z) multiplex – system of structuring packet of the program complexes and additional services integrated into digital flow and transferred by means of radio channel of digital land television;

z-1) the supplier of multiplex – registered in the Republic of Moldova and according to the law the physical person or legal entity authorized by the central public regulating authority of the market of services in the field of electronic communications and information technologies which activities consist, fully or partially, in installation, operation and management of electronic communications of own network by means of which the multiplex is implemented;

z-2) television of standard clearness (Standard-definition television, SDTV) – the digital format of television broadcasting according to the SMPTE 259M standard using permission of 720х576 points, which is not considered as television of high definition;

z-3) television of high definition (High-definition television, HDTV) – the digital format of television broadcasting providing reproduction of the hi-res picture and disaggregation with the resolution of 1920x1080 or 1280x720 points;

z-4) the slot – part of digital flow as a part of multiplex, sufficient for broadcasting/relaying of one program complex;

z-5) information security – the protected condition of information resources, persons, societies and the states, including package of measures for ensuring protection of persons, societies and the states from possible attempts of misinformation and/or information manipulation from the outside and non-admissions of the provocations of media nature directed against the Republic of Moldova.

Article 3. Distribution of the European audiovisual works

(1) For the purpose of this law the European audiovisual works are:

a) the works created in the Republic of Moldova or member states of the European Union;

b) the works created in the third European State Parties of the European convention on cross-border television, answering to part conditions (3);

c) the works created in other European states, answering to part conditions (4).

(2) Provisions of Items b) and c) parts (1) are applied on condition of rejection of discriminatory measures by the relevant states to the works created in the Republic of Moldova or member states of the European Union.

(3) the Works specified in Items a) and b) parts (1), are the works created mainly by authors and resident workers of one of the relevant states and answer one of the following conditions:

a) are created by one or several vendors with the location in one or in several relevant states;

b) their products are really controlled by one or several vendors with the location in one or in several relevant states;

c) the contribution of soproizvoditel from these states in the total amount of expenses on coproduction is prevailing, and coproduction is not controlled by one or several vendors with the location outside the relevant states.

(4) the Works specified in Item c) to part (1), are the works created only or together with vendors with the location in one or in several European states with which the Republic of Moldova or the European Union signed agreements in the field of television and radio if these works are created generally by authors and resident employees of one or several European states.

(5) the Works which are not European according to part (1), but created on the basis of the bilateral agreements about coproduction signed with the third countries are recognized the European works for the purpose of of this Code if soproizvoditel from the Republic of Moldova or from member states of the European Union provide the prevailing percent in joint expenses on production, and the last is not controlled by one or several vendors with the location outside the Republic of Moldova and member states of the European Union.

(6) the Works which are not European according to parts (1) and (5), but created generally by authors and resident workers of the Republic of Moldova or member states of the European Union, are recognized the European works for the purpose of of this Code in proportion to percent of contribution of soproizvoditel from the Republic of Moldova or from member states of the European Union the total amount of expenses on production.

(The broadcasting organizations which are under jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova will provide 7) After the entry of the Republic of Moldova into the European Union to the European works at least 51 percent of the time of broadcasting, except for time selected for information transfers, sports events, entertainment programs, advertizing, services of teletext and teletrade.

(8) To the entry of the Republic of Moldova into the European Union considerable part of broadcasting time is provided to domestic and own works. This ratio, taking into account information, educational, cultural and entertaining obligations of the broadcasting organization to the public, will be progressively implemented, according to Article 11 provisions.

(9) the Coordination council on television and radio exercises supervision of application of provisions of parts (7) and (8), determining specific mechanisms of their realization.

(10) Provisions of parts (1) - (6) are not applied to program complexes of the local and regional broadcasting organizations which are not part of national network.

Article 4. The broadcasting organization which is under jurisdiction of the Republic of Moldova

(1) For the purpose of of this Code the broadcasting organization satisfying to one of the following conditions is recognized the Republic of Moldova which is under jurisdiction:

a) its main office is in the Republic of Moldova and its publishing decisions on program complexes are made in the Republic of Moldova;

b) its main office is in the Republic of Moldova and the main part of the employees who are engaged in ensuring broadcasting work in the Republic of Moldova;

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