Establishment of OTT Platforms Under Turkish Law
With the foreign OTT platforms starting to broadcast in Turkey and the establishment of local OTT platforms in the following period, the need to enact and develop the legislation on digital media broadcasting arose. There are several important regulations regarding the way investors who want to provide on-demand broadcasting services in Turkey should apply the following main steps.
According to Article 29.1 of “Law on The Establishment and Broadcast Services of Radio and Televisions No.6112”[1] all digital broadcasting platforms that will broadcast in Turkey must first be authorized by Radio and Television Supreme Council (“RTUK”) under Information and Communication Technologies Authority (“BTK”) supervision to provide electronic communication services. The administrative and financial requirements that media service providers, platforms and infrastructure operators must comply with, as well as the principles related to the broadcast license and broadcast transmission authority, are determined by RTUK. A “broadcast transmission certificate” is issued by RTUK to organizations that meet these requirements. All these obligations are explained by the “By-Law on Administrative and Financial Conditions which Media Service Providers and Platform and Infrastructure Operators are required to comply with”[2], published on 15/6/2011.
In the relevant regulation, the on-demand broadcasting service, known as VOD, is defined as a broadcasting service in which programs are watched or listened to at a time of the user's choice and at the individual request of the media service provider depending on a catalog of programs organized by the media service provider. According to the regulation, the listed requirements must be fulfilled for a broadcasting license for VOD services;
- The applicant must be established as a joint stock company;
- Non-public shares must be registered share;
- The articles of association of the company should clearly state the issues governing the partnership structure and issues of participation;
- No usufruct shares should be issued in favor of any person;
- Domestic and foreign shareholders should not own preferred stocks;
- The provisions of the sample articles of association prepared by RTÜK and published on its website must be included in the company's articles of association; and
- The capital amount of the organizations applying for a broadcasting license in order to provide on-demand broadcasting services must be at least 100.000 TL.
During the application, a document obtained from BTK in accordance with the “Electronic Communication Law No. 5809” must also be submitted by Platform and infrastructure operators.
According to Article 29/A added on 21.03.2018 of Law on The Establishment and Broadcast Services of Radio and Televisions, those who provide this service on the Internet will be able to operate under the provisions of the “By-Law on The Provision of Radio, Television and On-Demand Media Services via Internet Environment”[3] after obtaining the relevant license. Media service provider organizations that have temporary publishing rights and/or publishing licenses from RTUK can also submit their publications via the Internet with these rights and licenses by being registered by RTUK. However, Media Service Providers who want to provide broadcasting services only on the Internet should obtain a different license to broadcast on the Internet (one of the Internet-Radio, Internet-TV or Internet-OnDemand Broadcast Licenses). According to this Regulation. separate licenses must be obtained for the provision of each of these services.
Only joint stock companies are authorized to obtain a Broadcast License on the Internet. Unlike the “Broadcast License” the “Broadcast Transmission Authority on the Internet” which will be used by the Platforms providing the transmission of these services can also be granted to Limited Liability Companies. In this case, there is no need to submit the document obtained from BTK under the “Electronic Communication Law No. 5809”.
The Broadcast License fee for 10 years Media Service Providers that broadcast/will make broadcasts from the Internet must pay for Internet-OnDemand Broadcast (VOD) services is 406.107,00 TL for 2023 according to RTUK.[4] In addition, Media Service Providers that provide their broadcasting services to subscribers and/or users for a fee and through conditional access are required to pay 0,5% of their annual net sales to RTUK by the end of April of the following year. The fee for the Authorization of Broadcast Transmission from the Internet has also been determined as 406.107,00 TL for 2023.[5] In addition to this fee, Online Media Platform Operators providing conditional access have been obliged to pay 0,5% of their annual net sales to RTUK every year.
[1] https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/mevzuatmetin/1.5.6112.pdf
[2] https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/anasayfa/MevzuatFihristDetayIframe?MevzuatTur=7&MevzuatNo=15045&MevzuatTertip=5 ,for eng. https://www.rtuk.gov.tr/by-law-on-administrative-and-financial-conditions-with-which-media-service-providers-and--platform-and-infrastructure-operators-are-required-to-comply/4049/en
[3] https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2019/08/20190801-5.htm , for eng. https://www.rtuk.gov.tr/by-law-on-the-provision-of-radio-television-and-on-demand-media-services-via-internet-environment/4060/en
[4] https://www.rtuk.gov.tr/2023-yili-lisans-ve-yetkilendirme-ucretleri/1730
[5] https://www.rtuk.gov.tr/2022-yili-lisans-ve-yetkilendirme-ucretleri/1730, Access date:14.02.2022
Tagged with: Alper Law Office, Onur Alper, Başak Balcı Alper, OTT, RTÜK, Broadcast, BTK, Electronic Communication Law, Media, Entertainment, Media & Entertainment
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