11320 - Information and Communication Law (A-L)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students know the most relevant legal aspects concerning the operators of the information system, including their responsibility to ensure, on the one hand, a proper and complete circulation of knowledge and, on the other hand, to respect the civil rights or the public safety needs and the proper performance of the institutions. Students also know the rules that govern the different areas in which the activities of information and communication take place. Finally, they are able to find, read and analyze legal texts (including laws and judgments).

Course contents

Part I – Institutions of public law

This first part aims at analyzing the fundamental institutions of public law, in particular:

Introductory knowledge

- The State: conception and main features

- Forms of State

- Unitary state, federal state, regional state

- Forms of Government

The system of law sources

- Regulations and legal order

- The Constitution of the Italian Republic

- Ordinary law and secondary legislation

Notes on Community legal order

- Community law sources

- European Union bodies

- The European Constitution and other community law sources

Constitutional bodies

- The electorate

- The Parliament

- The Government

- The President of the Republic

- The Constitutional Court

- The Superior Council of Judges and the judicial power


Part II – Freedom of information and communication

In this second part, students analyze the main constitutional provisions concerning freedom of information and communication, in particular freedom of press in its different branches (judicial reporting, criticism, satire, interview). On the opposite side, the analysis focuses on the explicit and implicit limitations of these freedoms. Further attention is given, from time to time, to the topic of “new rights”, which emerged as a result of the spread of new technologies.

1. Freedom of expression – substantial profile

- The Italian Constitution: previous regulations and foreign legal orders

- Article 21 of the Italian Constitution

- The structure of article 21

- Subjective profile and objective profile

- Connections and distinctions with other constitutional rights

- Freedom of expression, negative freedom: the right to silence

1.1. Limitations to the freedom of expression

- The explicit limit: public morals (article 21, paragraph 6); main definitions from the civil code and penal code of Italy

- Implicit limits

- The acceptability of implicit limitations and the interpretation of article 2 of the Constitution

- The role of interpretation and balance of the Constitutional Court of Italy

- The classification of the implicit limits:

§ Limitations resulting from the constitutional protection of legal positions of individuals or social formations

§ Limitations resulting from the existence of constitutionally protected interests of public nature


2. Freedom of expression – instrumental profile

2.1. Right to inform and the limit of honor

a) Freedom of press

- Limitations: honor and dignity

- Analysis of article 51 of the Italian penal code

- Set of rules for journalists

b) Other forms of the right to inform

- Criticism

- Satire

- Interview

- Political communication (notes)

- Advertising communication (notes)

c) Other limitations to the right to information

- Right to privacy

- Secrets

- Right to image

- Right to personal identity

- Right to oblivion

- Crimes of opinion, propaganda, public defamation (notes)

- Right of reply

2.2. Right to be informed

- Right holders

- Individuals responsible for fulfilling the right

- The right to receive news as a social right

- Interest in pluralism of information and right to information

- Pluralism: internal, external, total

2.3. Right to obtain information

- Right of access to administrative acts

- Right holders

- Individuals responsible to fulfilling the right

- The regulation of the access to acts issued by public administrations

- Limitations to the right of access

3. Freedom of correspondence and communication

- Article 15 of the Italian Constitution: previous regulations

- Article 15 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic

- Right holders

- Object of the right

- Extensions and requirement for the communication

- Protection of privacy and choice of the communication medium

- Guarantees and limitations

- Relations between article 21 and article 15 of the Constitution


Part III – Media

This part focuses on the main features of the regulation of the different sectors of information and communication (press, terrestrial television and radio, telecommunications, Internet) and on the role of the authorities, which govern and control the whole system in Italy.


1. Press

- A brief historical overview

- Press Act, law 47/1948

- Publishing and editorial products Act, law 62/2001

- Publishing companies

- Press funding policy

- Regulation of the Journalist Association and Register

- Journalists: rights and duties

- Freedom of information and criticism within media companies

- Journalistic activity and protection of privacy



2.Television and radio

- A brief historical overview
- The role of the Constitutional Court in the evolution of the broadcasting system

- European Union and broadcasting system

- Terrestrial television and radio and antitrust

- The Gasparri Act and the Unified Code on TV and Radio

- The Integrated System of Communication

3. Telecommunications

- A brief historical overview

- Community law and liberalization of the communication sector

- Regulation of the communication sector in Italy

- The technological convergence

- Notes on the main telecommunication services

§ Telephony

§ Cable TV and satellite TV

§ Pay TV and interactive television

- Internet


Part IV – Freedom of culture and freedom of artistic expression – The entertainment sector

In this part, students analyze the constitutional provisions on freedom of art and culture, by focusing, in particular, on the reading of the different provisions and on the role of values such as aesthetics and culture in the Constitution of the Italian Republic. Afterwards, students explore the limitations to these freedoms, specifically the relation among art and obscenity.


1. Constitutional principles on arts and culture

- Law and artistic and cultural production: a brief historical overview

- The system of constitutional rights

- Article 9 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic

- Promotion, development and protection of culture

- Aesthetics and culture as fundamental values of the Italian legal order

- Article 33 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic

- Freedom of art, science and of their teaching

- Freedom of artistic expression as a positive freedom

- Right to image

- An overview of the main regulations: logic and limits of public intervention in the cultural field

- Cultural pluralism

- The assignment of functions between State and regions in the artistic and cultural field


1.1. Limitations to the artistic expression

- Art and obscenity

- Connections between the limits in article 21 and article 33

- Evolution of the constitutional case law on art and obscenity


Part V – The entertainment sector: cinema, theatre and live performance

This part focuses on the main features of the regulation in the fields of cinema, theatre and live performance; the assignment of functions between State and regions; finally, the system of direct and indirect intervention of public institutions in these sectors, with particular reference to the discipline of the Fondo Unico per lo Spettacolo (FUS) that is the Fund for the Performing Arts.

- A brief historical overview

- The role of State and government bodies in the sector of entertainment

- Direct intervention

- Indirect intervention: Fondo Unico per lo Spettacolo (FUS) and other form of censorship

- Main reforms of theatre and live performance

- Main reforms of cinema

- Theatre foundation


Part VI – Protection of intellectual property

In this part, students study the main features of the discipline of copyright in Italy, with particular attention to the protection of figurative art, photography, cinema, audiovisual and television.



- Copyright in Italy: main features and sources

- Law enforcement

- Protected works

- Rights connected to the author

§ Moral rights

§ Exploitation rights

§ Collecting societies: organization and functions of the Società Italiana degli Autori e degli Editori (SIAE) that is the Association of Italian Authors and Publishers

Readings/Bibliography

1. R. Bin e G. Pitruzzella, Diritto pubblico, Giappichelli, 2018, limited to Percorso 1, Chapters I, II, III, IV e Percorso 2, chapters I, II, III, VII, VIII, IX

or, as an alternative

S. Battini, C. Franchini, G. Vesperini, R.Perez e S. Cassese, Manuale di Diritto Pubblico, Giuffrè,  2014, limited to chapters I, II, III, V, VI, VII (only the EU bodies and legal sources) IX, X, XI, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX e XXII

or, for foreign students

G.F. Ferrari, Introduction to Italian Public Law, Giuffrè Editore, 2008, limited to chapters 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14

2. G. Gardini, Le regole dell'informazione. L'era della post-verità, IV edizione, GIAPPICHELLI editore, EDIZIONE 2017

3. F. Rimoli , voce L'arte, in S. Cassese (a cura di) Trattato di Diritto Amministrativo, Diritto Amministrativo Speciale, Tomo II, pag.1513 e ss. (limited to 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2).

4. G. Spedicato, Il diritto d'autore in ambito universitario, disponibile nel circuito Unibo al link http://amsacta.cib.unibo.it/3018/ (limited to chapters I and II, pagg. 3-82, and the Appendice normativa, pagg. 99-225).

It is also recommended to read some of the laws and judgments presented during the taught classes; texts can be downloaded from the website of the publisher Bruno Mondadori.

Teaching methods

The course will be based on taught classes. A seminar will be dedicated to the methods and tools of the legal research and the attendance will be compulsory for the students that are willing to defend their thesis on this subject. In addition, other seminars will take place, in order to deepen the students' knowledge on particularly relevant elements or issues of topical interest, to which scholars, representatives of institutions, professionals and experts on the topic will be invited.

Assessment methods

COMPULSORY WRITTEN EXAM (except for foreign students, who undergo the oral exam only)

It takes place the day of examination.

The written exam is divided in two different parts: the first one is a multiple choice test (20 questions) and the second one is a open question test (3 questions).

The multiple choice test is preliminary and preparatory to the open question test, and students must give 15 correct answer out of 20.

The final grade is determined by the result of the open question test.

Therefore:

- if students do not answer at least 15 questions in the first part, they won't be able to undergo the second part and their exam finishes

- if students give 15 (or more) correct answer in the first part, they will continue the exam by undergoing the second part. The examining board will assess this second part.

NON-COMPULSORY ORAL EXAM (compulsory for foreign students)

It takes place on the second day of examination, if students passes the compulsory written exam, they will be able to undergo a noncompulsory oral exam to improve their final grade.

During the second day of examination, but only on that day, students will be able to view their written exam.

In any case, the deadline for the registration of the grade obtained in the written exam will be within 6 months, from the date of the written test.

Foreign students undergo the oral exam during the second day of examination, in which the registration of the grade obtained in the written exam and the non-compulsory oral exam for students who passed the written exam take place. Foreign students are asked to enroll writing an email to filcom.didatticadonati@unibo.it


Please note:


Starting from may 2015 ALL students must study the readings listed in the 2014/2015 bibliography.

Teaching tools

Further course materials will be available on the distribution list.

Office hours

See the website of Daniele Donati