Providers of on-demand programme services must complete and send a notification form to the new regulator, ATVOD, on or before 29 April. There are penalties for non-compliance.

Providers of online video services must decide before the end of the month whether they fall within the scope of the new regulatory scheme for video on demand. If they do, they must submit information about their services to ATVOD in accordance with ATVOD's published procedures or face a possible penalty of up to £250,000 or 5% of their relevant turnover, whichever is the greater.

Guidance on scope is available on both the ATVOD and Ofcom sites. Deciding which side of the line a service falls is, however, not easy in some cases and if in doubt legal advice should be sought. This is particularly so in cases where video is provided on a site as part of a wider service. In those cases, Ofcom's guidance is at best misleading and at worst plain wrong (paragraph 2.4 of its Scope Guidance).

The AVMS Regulations require notifications for existing services (new services follow a different timetable) to be given "before" 30 April. ATVOD's 8 April Guidance says "by" 30 April. In the circumstances it would be prudent to take the deadline to be 29 April.

For further information, contact Tony Ballard.