The Dutch media regulator Commissariaat voor de Media has published the rules for VOD services, which come into effect on November 1.
Regulation of VOD services was already in the Dutch Media law of 2008, but the exact rules were not published until this week. The law affects all professional catch-up TV and VOD services.
In order to be subject to the rules, each of five criteria need to be met
– The videos are offered as part of a catalogue;
– The main purpose of the service is delivery of programmes;
– The offer is subject to the editorial responsibility of the media company that offers the service;
– It is a mass media service
– The service is to be viewed as an economic service.
All parties active on the Dutch market have to submit their service to the regulator within a period of two weeks after the rules come into effect.
The rules include matters such as protection of minors (under 16s), product placement, commercials and sponsoring.
Because of the five criteria, advertisers who place videos on their own website, user generated videos and others will not fall under the regulations. All catch-up services from public and private broadcasters as well as commercial VOD services such as Videoland, Movie Max and those of the platforms (UPC, Ziggo, KPN) will be subject to the regulation.
