President Bronislaw Komorowski has signed a controversial media bill which has been the subject of recent criticism, notably due to proposed regulations on audiovisual content on websites registered in Poland.

President Komorowski signed the document, Monday, although the new version of the bill dropped the regulation that Internet sites offering on-demand audiovisual content would have to register with the National Broadcasting Council.

“We had no intent on controlling the Internet in any way, not to mention censorship,” Culture Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski said, adding that “it was decided to scrap the regulation on audiovisual content.”

More Polish tunes

The new media bill also guarantees a higher percentage of Polish music which will have to be played by radio stations throughout the country.

Thirty-three percent of monthly broadcasts will have to contain music with Polish lyrics, 60 percent of which must be aired between 5 am and 12 midnight. Pieces of music performed by Polish debut artists will count double time towards the quotas.

Previously the requirement for Polish music broadcasts were set at 33 percent per month.

Product placement

The new bill states that product placement will still be banned from children’s TV programmes, although will be allowed in cinematic productions, films, and serials. Sports and entertainment programmes are also allowed to use product placement.

Greater concessions for disabled viewers

At least 10 percent of TV programmes aired quarterly will have to contain elements which will make them easier to watch for the blind and hard-of-hearing.

The new media bill is in line with the EU’s audiovisual directive, which pushed Poland to review its media regulations by the end of 2009. In March this year, the European Commission demanded that Poland update its laws within two months or face the EU’s Court of Justice for failure to implement the directive. (jb)

Source: PAP