Pursuant to Article 14b of the Law on Public Information (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 43/03, 61/05 and 71/09), the Minister of Culture adopted the Rules on the Management of the Public Media Register, (“Official Gazette of RS”, 82/09), which entered into force on 14 October 2009, pursuant to Article 9 of the aforesaid Rules.
With the enactment of these Rules, the founders of print daily media have acquired the obligation to apply for registration with the Public Media Register kept by the Serbian Business Registers Agency, within 30 days from the effective date of these Rules, and the he founders of other public media must fulfil the same obligation within 90 days from the effective date of this By-Law.
All of the media set forth in Article 11 of the Law on Public Information (“Official Gazette of RS” no. 43/03, 61/05, 71/09), are subject to registration in the Public Media Register, specifically:
- newspapers
- radio programs
- television programs
- services of news agencies
- internet editions of public media (if this is the only form of publishing-broadcasting)
- other internet editions of public media
- other public information media which by way of word, picture or sound publish ideas, information and opinions intended for public distribution and undetermined number of users.
According to Article 12 of the Law on Public Information, the following are not considered public media:
- periodicals in a specific specialist field intended for the sole purpose of informing or educating a specific group of professionals
- publications, catalogues and programs containing ads, advertising and information intended for the market
- newsletters, bulletins and similar publications intended for purposes of internal information which are not distributed publicly
- official media of the state, territorial autonomy units and local self-government, as well as other official media
- leaflets, posters and other forms of public information are also not considered public media.
A public medium does not have the capacity of legal entity.
The founder of a public medium can be a publishing or broadcasting domestic legal entity (one).
If the contents of a public medium (print, radio or television) is published on the internet, this shall not be regarded as a separate public media but as the internet edition of a public medium, (the website address has to be indicated in the application, in the section provided for the name of the internet, electronic or other edition of a public medium).
For the registration of a public medium in the Register, to be submitted along with the application for registration, (which you can download from SBRA’s website free of charge), are the following documents:
- copy of entry from the corresponding public register, to prove the identity of the founder, if the founder is not registered with the Register kept by the Serbian Business Registers Agency,
- a document on the cataloguing, required for print media, (this document is issued by the Serbian National Library); or a broadcasting licence for radio and television programs, (issued by the Broadcasting Agency); or a document on the website address for internet public media, (search from the database of the Register of National Internet Domains of Serbia – RNIDS)
- decision of the founders on the appointment of the editor-in-chief of the public medium
- proof of payment of the registration fee.
The application for registration is to be submitted by the authorized representative of the domestic legal entity which is the founder of the public medium, or the person designated by the authorized representative. Please note that if the person designated by the authorized representative is not an attorney, then the power of attorney must be certified by the signature certifying authority (court or municipality).
The Agency’s Public Media Register shall process the application for registration within the prescribed term and publish registration data on the Agency’s website on the same day.
For all information regarding registration with the Public Media Register please contact: media@apr.gov.rs