No C 105 /6 Official Journal of the European Communities 16 . 4 . 93

Notice pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Council Regulation No 17 concerning a request for a negative clearance or an exemption pursuant to Article 85 (3 ) of the EEC Treaty — Case No IV/34.146 — BBC Enterprises and others ( 93/C 105/06)

1 . Subject of notification The licensees , with whom agreements have been concluded to date are various cable television under­ takings and undertakings proposing to operate MMDS services in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland), namely : In December 1991 BBC Enterprises Limited , a subsidiary Cablelink Limited , Cablelink (Waterford) Limited , of the British Broadcasting Corporation 'BBC', a United Cablelink (Galway) Limited , Cork Communications Kingdom based television broadcasting undertaking , Limited , Westward Cables Limited , Horizon TV Distri­ submitted a request for negative clearance or exemption bution Limited , Suir Nore Relays Limited , MMDS Tele­ in respect of a standard copyright licensing agreement vision Limited , Independent Wireless Cable Limited , ('the Agreement') for the purpose of facilitating retrans­ Cable Management Ireland Limited and Clane Cable mission of television programmes intended for general Systems Limited . reception in the United Kingdom to subscribers in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) to diffusion services i . e., cable networks and multipoint microwave distribution systems , 'MMDS'. MMDS is a local delivery 3 . Market system capable of distributing video voice and data signals by radio waves from a central transmitter to indi­ vidual locations . The retransmission in Ireland (excluding Northern Ireland) by cable and MMDS of television broadcasts intended for general reception within the United Kingdom . BBC Enterprises , itself a licensor, has submitted the request for negative clearance/exemption on its own behalf and in consultation with all other licensors party to the Agreement , which are , or represent, the owners of 4 . Factual background copyright and related rights in television programme services broadcast in the United Kingdom . Irish operators of cable and MMDS networks , in addition to having to obtain the necessary licences from the Department of Communications require the 2 . Undertakings concerned permission of the owners of copyright in any foreign broadcasts , in this case United Kingdom broadcasts , that are to be transmitted by cable and MMDS in Ireland . This entails not only the permission of the broadcasters The licensors under agreements concluded prior to but also of the owners of copyright in the contents of the 31 December 1992 are the following United Kingdom broadcasts . undertakings operating in the television broadcasting field : BBC Enterprises Limited, Independent Television Association , an organization representing programme Acquiring all the necessary authorizations can be contractors appointed by the Independent Broadcasting difficult in cases in which the cable or MMDS operator Authority , Channel 4 Television Company Limited and and the broadcaster operate in different Member States the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority together with the and where the broadcaster's service has not been following organizations owning , or representing owners designed , in contractual terms , for reception outside the of, copyright and related rights : Association de Gestion broadcaster's own Member State and the broadcaster Internationale Collective des Œuvres Audiovisuelles , does not have authority itself to authorize retransmission 'Agicoa', of Switzerland , the United Kingdom based of all the works included in the service in another Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society Limited , and Member State . The purpose of the Agreement is to Design and Artists Copyright Society Limited , together overcome such copyright difficulties faced by cable and with Irish Music Rights Organization Limited ' IMRO' MMDS operators in Ireland in obtaining permission and Phonographic Performance (Ireland) Limited . As related to United Kingdom television programme from 1 January 1993 the following changes will be made services . to the identities of certain of the licensors : Independent Television Association will be an organization repre­ senting Channel 3 licensees granted licences by the United Kingdom Independent Television Commission 5 . The Agreement under the United Kingdom Broadcasting Act 1990 ; Channel 4 Television Corporation will replace Channel 4 Television Company Limited ; and Sianel Pedwar Cymru The Agreement which is in standard form and is will replace the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority . intended by the licensors to represent the terms upon 16 . 4 . 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105 / 7 which licences will be granted to cable and MMDS effect from the end of 1992 on giving three months operators in Ireland , will be for a fixed term but the notice, they may cease transmitting one or more of the expiration date will not be later than 31 December 1994 . licensed programme services provided that they specify in The Agreement confers upon the licensee in each case a such notice which service or services they will cease to licence from the broadcasters mentioned in paragraph 2 transmit and from which date , and provided that they above in respect of the copyright and related rights they continue to perform and observe all their other respectively own in the television programme services (as obligations to the licensors under the agreements they defined in the Agreement), and in the contents thereof, have signed . and from the parties collectively owning or representing those who own other copyright or related rights in those In exceptional circumstances the licensors reserve the contents . There is appropriate provision in the right to prohibit the transmission of certain programmes Agreement for a new terrestrial broadcaster to become included in the programme services and , similarly, party thereto . Licensees will carry the present four licensees reserve the right in certain exceptional circum­ United Kingdom terrestrial channels (ITV, Channel 4 , stances not to transmit . BBC 1 and BBC 2), as the present licensees have requested to be authorized to do . However if a cable operator which has yet to be offered a licence were to 6 . On the basis of the above , the Commission state that it did not wish to carry all four channels then proposes to take a favourable position in relation to the an agreement would be made with that operator for a Agreement . The Commission invites interested third lesser number . parties to send their observations within one month from the date of publication of this notice , to the following If , by the same token , an existing licensee wished to address , quoting the reference IV/34.146 — BBC Enter­ cease transmitting one of the four channels during the prises and others : remainder of the term of its agreement, the rightsholders could agree to this , provided that (subject to the notice Commission of the European Communities , arrangements described below) the licensee continued to Directorate-General for Competition , be liable for the royalties payable under the Agreement . Directorate for Restrictive Practices , Abuse of Dominant Positions and other Distortions of Competition I , As regards the existing licensees , the licensors propose to 200 , rue de la Loi , implement this modification by notifying them that with B-1049 Brussels .