Who: German federal states
Where: Germany
When: 20 July 2020
Law states as at: Autumn 2020
The New State Treaty on Media (also known as the Medienstaatsvertrag (MStV) or Interstate Media Treaty) is expected to come into force in Germany in November 2020. The MStV will partially implement the amendments to the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive from 2018 into German law and will make some changes in the area of advertising regulation.
Advertising specific aspects including product placement being prohibited in news, programmes for political information and children’s programmes. However, product placement must be clearly indicated for example at the beginning and end of a programme and its continuation after an advertising break.
In addition, there are stricter rules in respect of overlaying advertising. In the case of smart TVs, for example, it will be prohibited to overlay the smart TV’s advertising on the classic television or streaming signal. Furthermore, advertising in video-sharing platform services will be subject to the regulations of the German Treaty on the Protection of Minors (also known as the Youth Protection Treaty) that are intended to protect children and young people from content that impairs their development. These regulations include broadcasting time restrictions or the establishment of age verification systems and parental access control systems.
Violations can be punished as administrative offences with fines of up to €500,000.
A more detailed analysis of the MStV by Martin Soppe can be found here.
