}
T
would be no point in doing so if they were competitive instead of
complementary.
12.
A number of companies in the Rediffusion Group act as
broadcasters as well as relay operators. The programmes which these
companies provide are not broadcast through the ether but distributed
to subscribers over a network of cables in exactly the same way as the
wireless programmes which they relay. This dual function may be the
cause of some of the confusion. In Hong Kong, for example, the
company concerned Rediffusion (Hong Kong) Limited ("the Company") uses
its networks in a limited way to relay the programmes of Radio Hong Kong
and Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasts Limited. Such relays have never
been questioned or criticised by the broadcasters concerned.
Company itself originates programmes and distributes these over its
cables to its subscribers just as a wireless station originates programmes
and transmits them through the ether. The only difference is the means
of transmitting the signals to the public.
But the
1. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that the provision of the
Company's own programmes over the wires is not a relay operation.
It is,
in fact, a broadcasting operation and is quite separate and completely
distinct from the relay function.
ly, The relay operator neither misappropriates a broadcaster's
programmes nor does he attract to himself any part of the revenue which a
broadcaster might expect to receive. He may indeed help to increase the
broadcaster's revenue, usually derived from licence fees or advertising,
by providing facilities enabling some members of the public to receive
programmes which might not be receivable by wireless means, thus adding
to the number of listeners and viewers, and thus increasing the revenue
from licence fees or advertisements.
15. It is also important to note that, in countries such as the
United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom no broadcaster has
claimed a copyright fee in respect of the relay of his programmes.
4.