Connect with us

EU

Italian media make cynical attempt to block coverage of Pope’s visit to Strasbourg

SHARE:

Published

12 years ago

on

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

PopeItalian broadcaster RAI and the TV distribution agency LA7 were discovered to have attempted to block TV coverage of the Pope’s visit to Strasbourg to all other European broadcast and online media, by claiming exclusive copyright over broadcast pictures provided by the European Parliament’s audio-visual service from inside the European Parliament and Council of Europe.

EU Reporter has featured both the Pope’s speeches in full on via its YouTube channel. At 11h on 26 January, EU Reporter was alerted by its Strasbourg correspondent Peter von Kohl to the fact that its video coverage had been blocked by YouTube pending resolution of a claim of exclusive copyright on video of the Pope’s visit by RAI.

As a result, immediate contact was made with the European Parliaments Audio-Visual Unit to establish the truth.

In response to EU Reporter’s request for clarification, Oliver Hirsch of the European Parliament’s audiovisual unit said: “There are no such restrictions concerning the footage produced and distributed by the AV Unit of European Parliament, including EBS. The copyright remains at the European Parliament. There is, in this context, no exclusive contract with the RAI.”

“This was a cynical attempt by Italian broadcasters to prevent all other EU media from covering the Pope’s visit,” said EU Reporter publisher Colin Stevens. “I am pleased that the European Parliament has resolved this through the strong response of their audiovisual unit. For Italian television to try to limit access to pictures of the visit of the head of the worldwide Catholic Church to the European Parliament and Council of Europe, is beyond belief. It was fraudulent.”

Full coverage of the Pope’s visit is available on EU Reporter’s YouTube channel and can be viewed here.  See also here, here and here. 

Advertisement

Share this article:

Share this:
Related Topics:
EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter. Please see EU Reporter’s full Terms and Conditions of publication for more information EU Reporter embraces artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance journalistic quality, efficiency, and accessibility, while maintaining strict human editorial oversight, ethical standards, and transparency in all AI-assisted content. Please see EU Reporter’s full A.I. Policy for more information.
Advertisement

Trending