All EU member states notified the European Commission of the transposition of the Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMS) in their national legislations.

Ireland was the last country to notify its transposition legislation (the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act) in February 2023 and the new law will enter into force on 15 March 2023.

Cullen International has updated its benchmarks that compare implementing rules across 12 member states. This report covers the most interesting insights.

• Several countries have introduced detailed enforcement rules and imposed notification obligations on video-sharing platforms (VSPs). Special enforcement powers given to media NRAs include in Italy, the power to require Internet service providers to block access in the territory to an infringing service. In the Netherlands, a YouTuber that uploads more than 24 videos a year, that has more than 500,000 subscribers and that makes money out of it (or receives benefits in kind), is regulated as a video on-demand (VOD) service provider.
   
• Thirteen member states are so far making use of the possibility to impose (under conditions) financial contributions in favour of EU works on VOD services that target their territory but are established in another member state. In France, VOD services must invest in EU works a share of their annual net turnover which could reach 25% for subscription services.
   
• Some of the covered countries did not implement rules that were included in the directive to give more flexibility for (or to benefit certain) TV channels in the new media ecosystem. Rules to ensure the prominence of services of general interest have so far been introduced in Belgium (Flanders), Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy (pending detailed implementing rules). Germany introduced rules on user interfaces linked to media platforms to ensure the easy findability of those TV channels (and certain VOD services) that make a significant contribution to the diversity of opinion.

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