Short videos on the website of a newspaper can be covered by the concept of program

MEDIA LAW

Videos of short duration under the subdomain of a website of a newspaper can be covered by the concept of program as laid down in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive

"In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the first question is that the concept of ‘programme’ within the meaning of Article 1(1)(b) of Directive 2010/13 must be interpreted as including, under the subdomain of a website of a newspaper, the provision of videos of short duration consisting of local news bulletins, sports and entertainment clips."

Principal purpose of a service making videos available offered in the electronic version of a newspaper depends upon whether that service as such has content and form which is independent of that of the journalistic activity of the operator of the website at issue, and is not merely an indissociable complement to that activity

"In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the second question must be that, on a proper interpretation of Article 1(1)(a)(i) of Directive 2010/13, assessment of the principal purpose of a service making videos available offered in the electronic version of a newspaper must focus on whether that service as such has content and form which is independent of that of the journalistic activity of the operator of the website at issue, and is not merely an indissociable complement to that activity, in particular as a result of the links between the audiovisual offer and the offer in text form. That assessment is a matter for the referring court.
36 In the case in the main proceedings, it appears from the statements of the referring court and the documents submitted to the Court that very few press articles are linked to the video clips at issue. Moreover, according to the information in the documents before the Court, the majority of those videos can be accessed and watched regardless of whether the articles of the electronic version of a newspaper are consulted. Those factors tend to show that the service at issue in the main proceedings could be regarded as having form and content which is independent of that of the journalistic activity of the appellant in the main proceedings and, therefore, as constituting a distinct service from the other services offered by that appellant. Such an assessment is a matter for the referring court."

IPPT20151021, CJEU, New Media Online

C-347/14 - ECLI:EU:C:2015:709