Abstract

ALVAREZ AMEZQUITA, DAVID FELIPE; VALLEJO -TRUJILLO, FLORELIA  and  PADILLA -HERRERA, JULIO CÉSAR. Implications of ‘Must Carry’ Obligations for Copyright Law. Rev. Derecho [online]. 2024, n.62, e451.  Epub Feb 02, 2024. ISSN 0121-8697.  https://doi.org/10.14482/dere.62.025.451.

The “Must Carry” rule by which cable operators are forced to allow access to open national and regional TV channels without additional charge to their subscribers, implies that audiovisual copyrighted contents may be retransmitted through the given signals. Colombian laws have established this rule since 1985. The possible implications of this rule regarding copyright for audiovisual works will be studied here. Colombian retrospective evolution of this rule and the Andean and Colombian copyright law will be revised in what is related to the “Must Carry” rule. Then, some other jurisdictions’ approaches to the problem will be examined. From this, it will be established that the retransmission comprehends an act of communication to the public which, in spite of any legal mandate to retransmit from national TV public policies, falls under the right holder’s control. In addition, it will be proposed that two concepts developed in the Andean jurisprudence might fall under the acte clair doctrine recently adopted by the Tribunal of Justice of the Andean Community. One is the definition of retransmission within the communication to the public framework. The second consists in differentiating the authorizations that broadcasting organizations are required to provide for the retransmission of their signals, and the authorization required for the retransmission of the copyrighted content traveling through such given signals.

Keywords : Copyright; retransmission; economic rights; acte clair doctrine; neighboring rights; compulsory licences.

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