The 12th EBU News Assembly in Amsterdam has approved a number of significant amendments to the Eurovision News Exchange (EVN) Principles and Rules document (2013) which regulates the operation of the News Exchanges. 

The rules have been revised to ensure they are able to protect and strengthen the News Exchange after a number of breaches. They also better reflect the use of Exchange material online and on social platforms and the increased sharing of user generated content. Other changes have been made to strengthen the distinctiveness of the Exchange as a supplier of trusted content.

A working party of news and legal representatives from the EBU and Member organisations revised the rules on behalf of the EBU’s News Committee.  The new rules have been previously approved by the Legal and Public Affairs Assembly at their meeting in October.

The full amended rules are available here (Members only) and will come into force from the 1 January 2018.

MAIN RULE CHANGES

Use of material on Social Media:

New rules maximise the flexibility of Members in using social platforms but also require that material is clearly identified as from that Member. An arrangement must also exist with the platform being used and/or that platform must have procedures to protect editorial and copyright controls.

A new annex also gives more detailed guidelines on publishing EVN content produced by other Members, on social media platforms and the provision for use of content on third party platforms.

User Generated Content:

There is a greater stress on the requirement of rights clearance and an annex which outlines best practice and details the approach used by the EBU News Department in acquiring such material. The obligation to respect restrictions which have been officially communicated has also been dealt with.

Rules Enforcement:

Rule breaches are now more clearly defined, with a distinction between occasional and continuous breaches. The importance of adhering to usage restrictions has been emphasised and while such restrictions should be occasional or exceptional it is important that when they are communicated they are adhered otherwise the member will be in breach of the rules and liable to sanction.

The new rules provide a significant increase in the range of possible penalties and sanctions for dealing with any breaches.

The benefits for Members adhering to the rules and making significant contributions have also been enhanced.

Principles and Obligations:

The requirement for Members to share their content promptly has been emphasised. The importance of the adherence to the EBU Core Values by the members of the Exchange has been underlined as well.  It is now stated that the content will be produced according to the EBU Values and editorial guidelines and that the rules and principles apply both to how the content is gathered and used.