Since April 2019 a new function has been added to the competence of the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the RTCL).

On 1 April 2019 amendments to Article 78 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Copyright and Related Rights came into force. The amendments provided an alternative, which allowed owners of copyright, related rights and sui generis rights when defending their rights to apply to the RTCL with a request to give binding instructions to Internet access service providers to block the illegally published content online.

The binding instructions apply to all Internet access service providers operating in Lithuania, including branches or representative offices of foreign legal persons registered in the Republic of Lithuania, which provide Internet access services. The RTCL has the right to issue binding instructions to Internet access service providers to remove access to illegally publicly published copyrighted content by blocking an Internet domain name that identifies a website on which such content was published until the copyrighted content is removed.

Since the 1st of April 2019 the RTCL has made five decisions following the amendments of the said law.

It should be noted that this type of the RTCL’s decisions must first be approved by the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court and only then they take effect.