MA Y 2 0 1 1 No U.K. Levy For Sky+ Box The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled in favor of U.K. satellite broadcaster Sky in a legal battle with U.K. Revenue and Customs over customs duties on imports of the satcaster’s Sky+ box. The European Court of Justice ruled that the program decoder should not be subject to a 13.9 percent import tax. The Sky+ box is made for Britain’s BSkyB, the U.K.’s main supplier of digital satellite TV services. It has a communication function that contains a hard disk drive, allowing the user to record programs that Sky broadcasts. However, the recording service is not the main function of the Sky+ box. TheU.K. Revenue andCustoms, which is responsible for ensuring that taxes are levied, argued that the satellite receiver should be classified as a recording device under E.U. rules, making it subject to the import duty. However, the E.U. court disagreed, stating that decoders with a hard disk drive, such as the Sky+ box, must be classified as settop boxes with a communication function, rather than as recording apparatuses. This classification protects the Sky+ box from the 13.9 percent import duty. Calculating Formats’ Costs The London-based Format Recognition and Protection Association (FRAPA) marked its 10th anniversary by launching in late March a new website (www.frapa. org) and offering additional services to its members. One of the new features on the enhanced website is thought to be the very first format-rights price calculator. The online calculator is available free to FRAPA members and is intended to help format creators place a realistic commercial price on the formats they generate. The tool was perfected over six months, and calculations are based on input from some of the most experienced brokers and traders in the formats world. Another new feature on FRAPA’s revamped website is a format contract generator, which is also available free to FRAPA members. This tool will rely on the most commonly used format license and option deals to establish standard contracts. Naturally, the specific details of these contracts can be altered according to the particular circumstances of the deal being drawn up. In addition, FRAPA recently increased its collaboration with the United Nations agency World Intellectual Property Organization, thereby improving its mediation services. It has also increased its presence at international TV events. Telefilms’ Big 50 Year Bash This year, Buenos Aires, Argentina-based distribution company Telefilms is celebrating its 50 year anniversary. As part of a yearlong celebration, the firm is taking advantage of the L.A. Screenings for one of its milestone commemorations. President Tomas Darcyl described the celebration thus: “We are celebrating our 50th anniversary during the entire year, there is not a unique day. The company was created in 1961 in a yearlong process.” He added, “During the L.A. Screenings, we will share a special cocktail with our clients and friends, and of course, present all of our new releases for 2011 and the next year. It’s a gift for us to have their presence, and we are very proud and excited to show them all of our new products.” Telefilms was founded by Tomas Darcyl’s father, Leon Darcyl, who is pictured below with his wife Dina and, on the left, Tatsunoko Production’s Kenji Yoshida, who sold to Telefilms the Japanese anime series Speed Racer. The younger Darcyl described his father as “a visionary man who eyed the Latin American TV market before many others did.” With a half a century under its belt, Darcyl noted that the company is, as always, dedicated to becoming “the most important distributor of independent films in Latin America.” Swiss Television - Sales Office 6903 Lugano, Switzerland 7el 9 03 )a[ 9 03 salesoffice@rsi.ch Our complete catalogue on rsi.ch/sales Documentaries Fiction Children Entertainment Classical Music -a]] 3oS 5ocN Programs Christians in Iraq is a highly topical journey to a country ravaged by violence. A journey based on the accounts of families plunged into despair, of people forced to abandon their homes, of others who have taken up arms to protect churches and neighbourhoods, and of courageous priests who are on the front line every day. CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ A flashback to the early Italian Renaissance brings us a sample of the art of treating love and passion with irony in this classical music style destined for popularization. LA FARSA DEL BARBA RENAISSANCE WITTY COMEDY MusicScenic Opera – 58’ Documentary – 52’
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