EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and transitional directive implementation: Article 16 (freedom to conduct a business) and article 17 (acquired legal position) of Charter do not preclude limited compensation for short news reports of major events under article 15(6) of Audivisual Media Services Directive: priority is given to the public access to information over contractual freedom.
"39. An economic operator, such as Sky, which, after the entry into force of Directive 2007/65 on 19 December 2007, has acquired exclusive broadcasting rights by means of a contract – on 21 August 2009 in this instance – cannot, in the light of European Union law, rely on an acquired legal position, protected by Article 17(1) of the Charter, as the Member States were required to transpose that directive, which they might do at any point and had to do by 19 December 2009 at the latest.
66. In the light, first, of the importance of safeguarding the fundamental freedom to receive information and the freedom and pluralism of the media guaranteed by Article 11 of the Charter and, second, of the protection of the freedom to conduct a business as guaranteed by Article 16 of the Charter, the European Union legislature was entitled to adopt rules such as those laid down in Article 15 of Directive 2010/13, which limit the freedom to conduct a business, and to give priority, in the necessary balancing of the rights and interests at issue, to public access to information over contractual freedom."
IPPT20130122, CJEU, Sky Osterreich v ORF
C-283/11 - ECLI:EU:C:2013:28
