Colombia. After the Court of Justice of the Andean Community (CAN) ruled on the dispute that began in 2014 between the private channels Caracol and RCN with the cable operators for the transmission of signals in high definition or HD, the National Television Authority is allowed to inform the public that:
1. The preliminary ruling before the Court of Justice of the Andean Community does not constitute a decision on the merits, but is part of the judicial process that is being carried out before the Superior Court of Bogotá, in which the appropriateness of the precautionary measures adopted by the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce will be defined in second instance.
2. Although the Court of Justice of the CAN recognises the right of broadcasters to authorise or prohibit the retransmission of their broadcasts, it lays down a limitation in cases where there are compulsory or legal licences which are governed by internal (national) legislation, within the meaning of Article 32 of Decision 351 of the Cartagena Agreement.
3. Consequently, the ANTV, based on the provisions of article 11 of Law 680 of 2001 and the interpretation of the Constitutional Court (C-654 of 2003), reminds broadcasters that they will have to guarantee the retransmission of their signal.
4. The ANTV will wait for the final judicial decision on the matter to be adopted and, therefore, urges the operators of the closed television service and the broadcasters to strictly comply with the provisions of current regulations.
