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Section
One: Core Elements
The
Eurovision Song Contest is a state-of-the-art, world-class
television production of a competition between musical acts
representing countries of the Members of the European Broadcasting
Union (EBU). The Contest Final includes a Qualifying Round
and a Grand Final.
The Grand Final shall take place on Saturday, 15 May 2004
from 21.00 CET to approximately 24.00 CET, and shall be transmitted
live to Participating Broadcasters over the Eurovision satellite
network.
EBU Members from a total of 24 countries shall compete in
the Grand Final. There shall be 14 guaranteed places in the
Grand Final, i.e. for the Host Broadcaster, EBU Members from
France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany, and EBU Members
from the nine highest-scoring countries from the 2003 Eurovision
Song Contest (not including any of the foregoing Members).
Should any Member from the abovementioned nine decide not
to participate in the 2004 Contest Final, its place shall
be offered to the Member in the next ranked country.
All other Participating Broadcasters, up to a maximum of 26
countries, on a first come first served basis, shall participate
in the Qualifying Round for a place in the Grand Final. The
ten countries with the highest scores in the Qualifying Round
shall participate in the Grand Final.
The Qualifying Round shall take place on Wednesday, 12 May
2004, and shall be transmitted live to ESC Participating Broadcasters
over the Eurovision satellite network.
The format of the Qualifying Round and the Grand Final shall
consist chiefly of successive presentations by the artist(s)
of their national songs.
The winner of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest is invited
to host the 2004 Contest Final, subject to agreement with
the Host Broadcaster rules, including the presentation of
a financial guarantee. Should that winner not accept or abide
by any of tho se rules, the option to host the Contest Final
shall pass to another EBU Member, subject to its acceptance
of the Host Broadcaster rules.
The Eurovision Song Contest "Reference Group" shall
liaise direct with the EBU to guide and approve the major
elements of the concept, development and preparation of the
2004 Eurovision Song Contest.
All EBU Members intending to participate in the 2004 Contest
Final must confirm their participation by 1 October 2003,
to the EBU using the official form provided with the rules.
On the basis of the confirmations received, the preliminary
participation fees shall be made known to the Participating
Broadcasters by October 15th 2003.
After notifying its confirmation, but before 1 December 2003,
a Participating Broadcaster may withdraw without incurring
any financial penalty. However, in case of withdrawal after
that date the broadcaster concerned shall be liable for 100%
of the quoted participation fee.
If after 1 December 2003 a Participating Broadcaster is disqualified
for non-compliance with these Rules (see Section 11), it shall
remain liable for 100% of the quoted participation fee.
In any of the above-mentioned circumstances, the EBU remains
free to decide whether or not to replace the broadcaster which
is disqualified or has withdrawn by another EBU Member if
this is still compatible with the schedule for preparing the
Contest Final.
The EBU is the sole rightsholder of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Those rights shall be marketed in conjunction with the exclusive
marketing agent appointed by the EBU, TEAM Marketing AG (TEAM).
The Host Broadcaster and the Participating Broadcasters shall
cooperate with the EBU in relation to the designated marketing
programme, approved by the Eurovision Song Contest Reference
Group.
Section
Two: Financing of the Contest
The
cost of financing the production and staging of the Eurovision
Song Contest shall be shared by the Host Broadcaster and the
Participating Broadcasters.
Within a a pre-established budgetary frame, the final budget
shall be proposed by the Host Broadcaster, in consultation
with the EBU Executive Supervisor, and approved by the Reference
Group by 1 October 2003.
The contribution of the Participating Broadcasters to the
Contest Final shall be 50% of the overall budget.
All Participating Broadcasters shall be liable to pay their
contributions to the EBU 30 days before the Contest Final.
Failure to pay in due time may result in a broadcaster being
disqualified and/or access to the live satellite transmission
being denied.
The Host Broadcaster shall pay the totality of the remaining
budget of the production of the 2004 Contest Final.
All expenses incurred by each Participating Broadcaster in
relation to its own entry, such as fees, travel, and subsistence
costs for the delegation, shall be the full responsibility
of that Participating Broadcaster.
Section
Three: Sharing of Marketing Revenue
All
Participating Broadcasters acknowledge that any sharing of
the marketing revenue between the EBU, the Host Broadcaster
and the other Participating Broadcasters shall be subject
to a separate arrangement for each year.
A guaranteed minimum of the 2004 marketing revenue, shall
be shared among the Participating Broadcasters to reduce their
participation fees.
The share of the total revenue shall be distributed to Participating
Broadcasters during a period between 30 days before and 90
days after the Contest Final, depending on when such revenue
is received by the EBU from the marketing partners.
In consultation with the EBU and TEAM, the host broadcaster
shall explore national marketing opportunities in the host
country which would not be in conflict with the main international
sponsorship s or other exclusive arrangements.
Section
Four: Marketing (Commercial Exploitation) Rights
All
rights to the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest are exclusively
owned and managed by the EBU for the benefit of the participating
Members and the Host Broadcaster.
Section Five: The Entries
Each
Participating Broadcaster shall enter a national song. The
national selection procedure will be decided by each broadcaster
as it deems fit.
The entry (lyrics and music) must not have been commercially
released before 1 October 2003.
The maximum duration of each song is three minutes. Any entry
which is longer than three minutes may be disqualified by
the EBU after consultation with the Reference Group.
Each act may consist of a maximum of six people on stage.
All artists must be aged at least 16 on the day of the Eurovision
Song Contest 2004 Contest Qualification Final (12th May 2004.)
Each artist may compete for only one country in the Contest
Final. It is not permissible for any artist to compete on
behalf of two or more countries.
Participating Broadcasters may decide what language their
artists may sing in.
Artists shall perform live on stage, accompanied by a recorded
backing-track without vocals of any kind or any vocal imitations.
The Host Broadcaster shall verify respect of this rule.
Artists may make a written request to the Host Broadcaster
to have a drum kit, and/or grand piano, available on stage.
Such written request must be made at the latest by the Heads
of Delegation meeting, March 22 2004.
Artists may make a written request to the Host Broadcaster,
during the Heads of the Delegation meeting, March 22-23 2004,
at the latest, to have other instruments and /or stage design
elements on stage for decorative purposes. No such instruments
on stage shall be connected to a micropho ne. (Dummy microphones
shall be possible). If the request is acceptable to the Host
Broadcaster, the latter shall confirm its permission in writing.
Changes to the lyrics, the name of the artist or group, the
title of the song and the language of the song's performance
(i.e. all elements that appear in printed material such as
brochures, CD covers and booklets) shall be allowed only up
until the Heads of Delegation meeting, March 22-23 2004. Any
later changes may only be approved by the Host Broadcaster,
in consultation with the EBU Executive Supervisor.
The lyrics and/or performance of the songs shall not bring
the Contest Final or the Eurovision Song Contest as such into
disrepute.
Section Six: Duties of the Participating Broadcasters
Each Participating Broadcaster shall ensure that it complies
with the Broadcasting Rules (see Section 13) for the Contest
Final 2004 and that its entry and artists are in compliance
with the rules laid down in Section Five.
As a condition for participating in the Contest Final, and
with the purpose of promoting the Eurovision Song Contest
and the participating authors and artists as extensively as
possible to an international audience, each Participating
Broadcaster must ensure that the songwriter(s), composer(s),
artist(s) and any other possible rightowner(s) of the selected
song are prepared to grant the following transferable rights
(unless permission to use any such rights is obtained from
a collecting society): to
broadcast the performance of the song at the 2004 Contest
Final, in the widest sense of the term (the technical method
of signal delivery and the form of the signal display, such
as large screens or video walls, being irrelevant), covering
both live and deferred transmission, in whole or in part,
for both private and public reception, and an unlimited number
of times. It is understood that the exercise of these rights
also allows the live or deferred Internet/wireless transmission
of the Contest Final, in whole or in part, or otherwise makingavailable
(on-demand use) of the live performance of the song at the
Contest Final, via the Internet and/or wireless technology.
Preview Rights: These are the worldwide exclusive rights to
present a video recording of the performance of the song,
in whole or in part, on television, or via the Internet or
wireless technology, prior to the Contest Final and for two
months thereafter.
CD and DVD compilation rights: These are the non-exclusive
worldwide rights for incorporating a sound and/or video recording
of the selected song and its performance, together with such
recordings of all other songs in the Contest Final 2004, into
a CD or DVD (or similar carrier) to be released by the EBU
Permanent Services, or an appointed third party, on behalf
of all broadcasters and artists.
It
is understood that such a (studio and/or live) compilation
is limited to the performance of the songs at the Contest
Final 2004 and shall not prejudice any existing or future
record-producing agreement of the artist(s) or other rightowners.
Moreover, any Participating Broadcaster may contract with
a record company to release a compilation CD/DVD of the national
contest. The EBU requires that both the EBU logo, and the
Eurovision Song Contest 2004 logo, be featured on any such
authorized national compilation and that reference be made
to the "Eurovision Song Contest" in English, or
translated into the national language.
Extract Rights: These are the exclusive worldwide rights,
unlimited in time, for incorporating a sound or video recording
of the broadcast performance of the selected song, as part
of the 2004 Contest Final, in whole or in part, into any other
media services provided by the Participating Broadcasters.
Lyrics: The song-writer shall not object to free copies and
translations of the lyrics, in English and French, being made
available at the 2004 Contest Final, for informational use
by the EBU, the Host Broadcaster and the Participating Broadcasters,
as well as for the information sheet accompanying any compilation
CD or DVD.
Each
Participating Broadcaster shall indemnify all other organizations
concerned against any claims whatsoever arising from authors,
composers, artists, publishers, producers or any other persons
or entities in respect of any of the broadcasts or other uses
of the songs pursuant to the previous rule.
Each Participating Broadcaster must make the best possible
effort to promote its national selection process in its national
media including promotional trailers for the Eurovision Song
Contest 2004 and/or news coverage.
Not later than 16 weeks before the Contest Final 2004, each
Participating Broadcaster shall establish a national Eurovision
Song Contest website for its national selection, or a dedicated
page within its main website, establish a link from that website
or page to the official website of the Eurovision Song Contest
and provide the address of that website or page to the EBU
Executive Supervisor, within the limits of any national broadcasting
rules and regulations.
Each Participating Broadcaster shall appoint a Head of Delegation
(HoD) before the HoD meeting on March 22-23 2004, who shall
be responsible for all aspects of the national entry, including
delivering the material requested by the EBU and the Host
Broadcaster in due time, and ensur ing that the Rules of the
2004 Eurovision Song Contest are respected.
The HoD shall attend the Heads of Delegation meeting on March
22-23 2004 and supervise the delegation of his country during
the Contest Final. The HoD is the point of contact between
the EBU and/or the Host Broadcaster and the other Participating
Broadcasters and as such is fully responsible for all aspects
of that Member's participation.
Each Participating Broadcaster shall make available to the
Host Broadcaster, at the HoD meeting on March 22-23 2004:
the
signed contract for the compilation CD and/or DVD, together
with all the material requested by the record company (DAT,
pictures of the artists in hard copy and jpeg, lyrics, biographies,
etc.)
A sound recording of its entry and the corresponding backing-track,
where applicable.
A video presentation of the song on stage by the artist(s)
participating in the 2004 Contest Final (for internal use
by the director, any format therefore being acceptable), clearly
showing how it will be performed on stage.
A video clip of the song, on Digi-beta, Beta SP or SX, to
be used as a preview.
A list of any requirements or requests with respect to instruments,
props, etc.
The lyrics of the song in the language in which it will be
sung at the 2004 Contest Final, together with English and
French translations (as applicable), for duplication and distribution
to the Participating Broadcasters.
Name, function and contact details of the notary who will
verify the results of the national voting.
Participating
Broadcasters shall ensure that their commentators respect
the spirit and fairness of the competition. All commentators
shall refrain from talking during the performance of the songs,
and shall refrain from making any sexist, racist or otherwise
unduly discriminatory comments about the artists of other
countries. Commentators should also refrain from urging the
audience to vote for any given song.
Each participating broadcaster must control his countrys journalist
accreditation applications.
Each Participating Broadcaster shall make a recording of the
final dress rehearsal(s) of the 2004 Contest Final in case
problems occur with the final transmission(s).
Each Participating Broadcaster is required to book the circuits
for the voting procedure as specified by the EBU Eurovision
Operations Department, and to participate in a rehearsal of
the voting procedure.
The Participating Broadcasters shall cooperate with the EBU
and the Host Broadcaster with respect to the centralized marketing
programme and shall actively promote any such arrangements.
relevant
media laws and regulations, each Participating Broadcaster
shall honour any and all sponsorship arrangements, including
the broadcasting of billboards, bumpers, stings and branded
trailers, etc, for the official marketing partners and suppliers,
free of charge, in and around transmissions of the Qualifying
Round and Grand Final, and any other international programmes
related to the Eurovision Song Contest that may be produced.
The
relevant material shall be supplied for broadcast by the marketing
partner/supplier, or by TEAM, on behalf of the EBU. This relates
to the international Contest only, and not to national selection
programmes.
Each Participating Broadcaster sha ll provide, at the request
of the EBU Executive Supervisor, full information on the legal
sponsorship and advertising guidelines in its territory which
are relevant to the delivery of the various commercial elements
of the 2004 Contest Final.
Each Participating Broadcaster shall protect the exclusivity
of the marketing partners and must not allow any third party
on its territory to associate itself with the Eurovision Song
Contest.
Each Participating Broadcaster shall co-operate with the SMS/Televoting
marketing partner(s) for the 2004 Contest Final, for all its
SMS and televoting activities related to the Contest Final,
i.e. both the Qualifying Round and the Grand Final.
Each participating broadcaster able to offer commercial airtime
around the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 must reserve its inventory,
and offer it on a first refusal basis, to the official marketing
partner(s) of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, up to 90 days
before the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 event (May 12 2003).
In the ensuing 90 days, in the lead up to the event, the commercial
airtime must be offered to the official marketing partner(s),
on a first refusal basis, where it remains available. An official
ESC marketing partner(s) must never be charged more than any
other advertiser for the same inventory.
If
the marketing partner/supplier decides not to buy the rights
to the commercial airtime, the broadcaster is free to sell
it to another company, but only if that company does not conflict
with the official marketing partner/suppliers of the Eurovision
Song Contest 2004. The advice of the EBU Executive Supervisor
must be sought by Participating Broadcasters before any commercial
airtime sales agreements are entered into, in order to prevent
possible conflicts.
A
Participating Broadcaster which does not comply with these
obligations for other than legal or regulatory reasons shall
be held liable for any reasonable claim to compensate the
marketing partner/supplier for the value of the loss of exposure.
Each
Participating Broadcaster shall do its utmost to prevent fraudulent
voting in the Eurovision song Contest 2004. It shall give
full access to any EBU international monitors who may be sent
to oversee all aspects of the televoting procedure, on any
territory, with no notice given. The EBU and the Reference
Group shall rule on the sanctions to be imposed on a broadcaster
found to have participated, either actively or complicitly,
in any voting fraud.
Within two weeks following the Grand Final, each Participating
Broadcaster shall provide the EBU Permanent Services with
all qualitative and quantative information on the 2004 Eurovision
Song Contest, including:
viewing
figures for the Grand Final, the Qualifying Round (if applicable)
and any related 2004 Eurovision Song Contest programmes. If
overnight viewing figures are available, they must be supplied
to the EBU within 48 hours of the programme.
an "off-air" VHS recording of the broadcast on its
territory within two weeks of the broadcast.
Section Seven: Main Duties of the Host Broadcaster
The
obligations of the Host Broadcaster are outlined by a separate
set of rules known as the Host Broadcaster Agreement; the
following points reflect the main duties vis--vis the Participating
Broadcasters.
The
EBU Executive Supervisor has the final decision in any disputes
between the participating Members and the Host Broadcaster.
The Host Broadcaster shall, in cooperation with the EBU Executive
Supervisor, and by no later than 30 September 2003, present
an organizing committee for the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
with appointed persons (names) for all major positions.
The Host Broadcaster shall ensure that sufficient hotel accommodation
(at least 2,000 beds) is available for the Participating Broadcasters'
delegations. The hotels must have a range of different price
structures. The Host Broadcaster (or the designated travel
agent) shall be entitled to ask for 50% pre-payment of the
rooms. It must be possible for Participating Broadcasters
and press representatives to make such payments by credit
card, or invoice and money transfer.
The Host Broadcaster, in cooperation with the EBU, shall organize
a meeting of the Heads of Delegation on March 22-23 2004,
with a view to informing the Participating Broadcasters of
all planning arrangements for the event.
At the Heads of Delegation Meeting the Host Broadcaster shall
organize a draw for the running order of the Qualifying Round
and the Contest Final 2004. At that draw, the places for the
14 guaranteed Participating Broadcasters in the Grand Final
shall be announced, while the remaining places, for the first
ten Participating Broadcasters in the Qualifying Round, shall
be allocated in accordance with the final positions attained
in that Round.
National accreditations will be supervised by the head of
delegation and host broadcaster. Accreditations from non-participating
countries will be supervised by the EBU and the Host Broadcaster.
The Host Broadcaster shall make every effort to meet the requests
of Participating Broadcasters in relation to the stage performance
of their songs, where feasible and insofar as such requests
do not conflict with the creative concept of staging the event.
The Host Broadcaster shall provide special facilities for
visiting broadcasters and visiting rightsholders, including
provision for the hiring of ENG crews, studios, space for
television vehicles, private cars, etc. All requests for such
facilities must be made in writing to the Host Broadcaster
by the HoD meeting on March 22-23 2004 at the latest. Any
special facilities may be charged for by the Host Broadcaster
at EBU-supervised rates. Non-participating members, coming
from participating countries, and requesting special facilities
at the event, must have the permission of the national Head
of Delegation.
The Host Broadcaster shall ensure the complete production
of two live uninterrupted television programmes, each lasting
a maximum of three hours, on each Eurovision Song Contest
2004 evening, in accordance with the top-level quality and
editorial standards of all Participating Broadcasters. It
shall also ensure delivery of the signal incorporating the
productions to the Eurovision network.
The Host Broadcaster shall provide for at least three commercial
breaks during the programme on each of the two evenings, for
those Participating Broadcasters wishing to use them. Two
breaks will be a maximum of one minute and thirty seconds
each, once during the performing and once during the voting.
The third break (interval act) is expected to run between
five and eight minutes. As early as possible, but no later
than the HoD meeting on March 22-23 2004, the Host Broadcaster
shall inform the Participating Broadcasters of the detailed
running order for the programme of each evening, and a detailed
rehearsal schedule.
Product placement and on-screen, overt, or any other form
of advertising outside the commercial breaks are prohibited
during the live transmission on each evening, with the exception
of on-screen identification of (a maximum of two) providers,
appointed by the EBU, of the scoreboard computer graphic display
and data transmission, all insofar as allowed under national
laws or European regulations. The gaps between the performance
of the songs may not be used as an opportunity to advertise,
but the Host Broadcaster may feature, to a modest degree and
in an appropriate manner, products or services customarily
used for local tourism, subject to the prior written approval
by the EBU.
Section
Eight: Duties of the EBU
The
EBU has appointed an Executive Supervisor with direct responsibility
for overseeing and guiding all aspects of the financial, organizational,
and creative planning and execution of the Eurovision Song
Contest 2004. The Executive Supervisor shall work closely
with the Host Broadcaster to support all aspects of the national
planning and production. The Executive Supervisor and the
EBU Head of Live Events shall both be members of the Reference
Group. The duties of that Reference Group are clearly outlined
in the document attached entitled: The Role of the Reference
Group.?
The EBU shall be responsible for ensuring the previews are
distributed over the Eurovision satellite network at least
six weeks before the 2004 Contest Final, and for ensuring
the technical quality required for satisfactory delivery of
the Eurovision Song Contest programmes to the Participating
Broadcasters.
The EBU shall ensure that the international transmissions
for the Qualifying Round and the Grand Final do not breach
any national laws. The EBU shall also be responsible for ensuring
that Participating Broadcasters grant the necessary sponsorship
and advertising exposure to the marketing partners and suppliers.
The EBU and TEAM, the Eurovision Song Contest exclusive marketing
agent, in consultation with the Reference Group, shall be
responsible for the marketing of all commercial exploitation
rights for the benefit of the Participating Broadcasters and
the Host Broadcaster.
The EBU shall be responsible for all aspects of the branding
of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, and shall bear the cost
of this branding. The brand chosen shall be approved by the
Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group.
The EBU shall be responsible for collating the market information
of the 2004 Contest Final to help boost the possibilities
for pan- European sponsorship of subsequent events.
The EBU shall create and administer the international website
for the 2004 Contest Final and thereafter. The cost of establishing
and maintaining the website shall be borne by the EBU.
The EBU shall be responsible for coordinating all sales of
the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 to non-participating Broadcasters,
for the financial benefit of Participating Broadcasters and
the Host Broadcaster.
The EBU shall be responsible for the creation of an international
highlights programme of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004,
to be offered for sale to non-participating broadcasters and
others, for the financial benefit of Participating Broadcasters
and the Host Broadcaster.
The EBU shall appoint international monitors to oversee all
aspects of the televoting procedure.
The EBU Executive Supervisor shall be responsible for overseeing
the voting operations leading up to the final classification
of the winning country, for any decisions required in the
course of the voting and for giving any necessary instructions
to the presenter(s) and the scoreboard operator(s).
The EBU shall be responsible for collating all the voting
information after the event, and for ensuring that all broadcasters
submit the results from their televoting procedure and/or
their stand-by juries. All televoting results may be posted
on the official Eurovision website. The unused stand-by jury
results shall be kept confidential by the EBU.
The EBU shall be responsible for managing the archive of the
Eurovision Song Contest from 2004 onwards.
Section
Nine: Voting Procedure for the Qualifying Round and Grand
Final
Tele-
voting is obligatory in all countries of the Participating
Broadcasters, and nonparticipating, EBU member, broadcasters
transmitting the Qualifyer Round and Grand Final. If a request
is made before 1 December 2003, the Reference Group may make
an exception to the tele-voting rule for countries with a
telecommunications reach of less than 80% (and allow for voting
by a jury in accordance with the rules below).
SMS voting may be obligatory in countries where the marketing
partne r can ensure that all votes charged for, can also be
counted, within a given time-frame.
Participating Broadcasters shall actively promote the tele-voting
system within their respective countries and cooperate with
the appointed marketing partners of the EBU, in supporting
the operation of the system in accordance with EBU instructions.
Participating Broadcasters shall use the graphics supplied,
by the Host Broadcaster, for presenting the televoting system
on air, to the public.
The appointed pan-European televoting partner for the Eurovision
Song Contest 2004 is Deutsche Telekom AG. Deutsche Telekom,
and its affiliate Digame, will negotiate with each broadcaster
individually, regarding the national aggregator for the televoting
procedure and the national voting tariffs, taking into account
the wishes of each broadcaster. National and broadcaster rules
and regulations will be taken into account when the tariffs
are set.
If
a marketing partner for the tele-voting is not appointed by
the EBU, for some or all countries, the relevant broadcasters
shall be able to enter into national, individual arrangements
for tele- voting, but it will be forbidden for any branding
or sponsorship rights to be granted to the relevant service
providers. In that case the following guidelines must be followed:
There shall be a fixed voting window of ten minutes, subject
to the decision of the Reference Group, with the lines opening
and closing at exactly the same time as in all the other countries.
Voters must be excluded from voting for their own country
of residence, and this must be made known to the public.
The lines provided to answer calls must be equally accessible
to any of the numbers being rung. The telephone network must
ensure that at least 80% of the population of the country
stands an equal chance of successfully telephoning.
In each country the cost of voting or the rate at which calls
are charged must be the same for all voters (e.g. the use
of a national premium- rate code or other nongeographic code
shall ensure this ).
In
all countries broadcasting, and therefore voting, in the Qualifying
Round and the Grand Final, a stand-by jury shall be created
in case of a technical or similar failure in the televoting
procedure. Such failure must be notified immediately, during
the relevant television programme, to the EBU Executive Supervisor
(and the reason must be confirmed by the notary by fax to
the EBU Executive Supervisor). The EBU Executive Supervisor
shall decide, during the programme, whether the stand-by jury
votes may be used.
In any country where the EBU, in consultation with the Reference
Group, makes an exception to the tele-voting rule (as a result
of telecommunications penetration being less than 80%) a jury
shall be used to determine the national votes for the Qualifying
Round and/or Grand Final. The same jury may be used for Wednesday
and Saturday.
The following rules apply to all juries (real or standby):
The
jury shall consist of eight members plus a (non-voting) chairperson.
The voting procedure shall be monitored by a notary.
Each national jury shall sit in its own country in the presence
of the notary, whose task it shall be to ensure adherence
to the rules below and to collect the completed voting papers
and send them to the EBU Permanent Services in Geneva, where
they shall be filed in the archives.
Four members of each national jury must be representatives
of the public and nationals of the country; the other four
must be music professionals, and also nationals of the country.
There should be an equal number of men and women on each jury,
and a wide spread of ages.
Only one of the four music professionals is allowed to be
connected with a record company or music publisher.
The names of the members of the national juries may not be
disclosed until the end of the Grand Final.
Each member of each national jury shall award from one to
ten votes to each song, excluding the song presented by the
Participating Broadcaster which has appointed him/her. Abstentions
shall not be allowed. The members of the national juries shall
register their votes for each song as soon as it has been
sung, on secret voting papers which shall be collected by
the appointed chairperson of the jury.
The chairperson shall be responsible for counting the votes
after each song has been performed, and for allocating points
accordingly for the Contest Final results, after the last
song has been sung. The chairperson shall allocate 12 points
to the song gaining the most votes, 10 points to the song
gaining the second highest number of votes, 8 points to the
song gaining the third highest number of votes, 7 points to
the next, and so on down to 1 point for the song gaining the
tenth highest number of votes.
In the event of a tie for any of the above positions, the
order of the tying songs shall be ascertained by a show of
hands by the jury members. If two or more songs tie for the
same place, and if there is still a tie after the show of
hands, the final order shall be decided by the vote of the
youngest member of the jury.
The results shall be handed to the notary, to be scrutinized
and signed, before the notary passes them to the official
spokesperson responsible for communicating the jury's final
points, when requested to do so by the Host Broadcaster's
presenter.
The actual and stand-by juries shall assemble for the final
of both the Qualifier Round (if applicable) and the Grand
Final. They shall receive the sound and vision sequences of
the final dress rehearsal of each song presented. They shall
then hold a rehearsal of the voting procedure in accordance
with instructions issued by the EBU Permanent Services.
Section Ten: Presentation of the Voting Results
The
points allocated by each country shall be announced in ascending
order.
When called upon to announce the final points allocated, which
should be done clearly and distinctly in English or in French,
the spokesperson shall first state the name of the country
on behalf of which he/she is speaking.
The order of presentation of the results shall follow the
order of appearance of the entries, unless there are urgent
reasons to change this.
Section
Eleven: Disqualification Procedure and Sanctions
A
song may be disqualified for the following reasons:
if
there is evidence that an artist, a member of the delegation
or a spokesperson has not complied with the requests of the
Host Broadcaster and/or the EBU Executive Supervisor and may
therefore cause disturbance to the event and/or the broadcast
production.
if the artist(s) depart(s) from the planned performance as
performed at the final rehearsal, and thereby cause(s) disturbance
to the event and/or the broadcast production.
if a participating organization/artist(s) has in any way attempted
to breach the present Rules at any stage of the preparation
of the Contest, or is about to do so during the Contest Final
itself.
The
decision to enact disqualification is taken by the Reference
Group, on the recommendation of the EBU Executive Supervisor.
(If the country being disqualified is represented by a member
of the Reference Group, he or she shall not be allowed to
vote on the decision for disqualification, or take part in
the deliberation procedure):
If
the disqualification of a song is decided upon before the
HoD meeting on March 22-23 2004, the Participating Broadcaster
shall be entitled to propose another song and to submit all
related material by the date specified by the reference group.
If disqualification of a song is decided upon after the above-mentioned
date, but before the day of the Eurovision Song Contest Qualifying
Final, the Participating Broadcaster concerned shall not present
its entry but shall remain entitled to vote and liable for
its financial contribution. However, time permitting, the
Participating Broadcaster shall have the right to appeal against
the decision to the Chairman of the EBU Television Committee
and, if that person cannot be reached, to the Secretary General
of the EBU.
Any decision taken in accordance with the above-mentioned
procedure shall be final, and no legal remedy shall be possible.
A broadcaster may be sanctioned, and even excluded from subsequent
Contest Finals, if it:
does
not comply with the present Rules.
withdraws from participating in the 2004 Contest Final after
1 December 2003.
does not submit a fax of its voting results in accordance
with the Rules.
Any
sanctions shall be pronounced by the Television Committee,
following a recommendation by the Reference Group. Sanctions
shall be proportionate to the damage or prejudice caused to
the EBU, the Host Broadcaster and/or the organization or the
reputation of the Eurovision Song Contest.
AAny
decision taken in accordance with the above-mentioned procedure
shall be final, and no legal remedy shall be possible.
Section Twelve: The Winner(s) of the 2004 Contest
Final
The
winners of the Qualifying Round are the ten countries with
the most points at the end of the voting procedure. They each
win a place in the Grand Final, performing in the position
decided upon in the draw held in March 2004.
The winner of the Grand Final is the song with the most points
at the end of the voting procedure.
Should there be a tie for first place, the Eurovision title
shall be awarded to the song that has obtained points from
the highest number of countries. If the songs received votes
from the same number of countries, then the highest number
of 12-point scores shall qualify. If the winner cannot be
determined by this procedure, then the number of times ten
points have been awarded shall be the deciding factor; if
necessary, this method shall continue until account has been
taken of the number of times one point has been awarded. The
same method shall be applied if there is a tie for position
number 10 in the Qualifying Round.
Should two or more songs still tie for first place, even after
the above calculation, both/all such songs shall share the
title of winners of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The final result shall be announced immediately, and the transmission
of the Contest Final shall end with a further performance
of the winning song (or songs).
The top-placed song shall win for the Participating Broadcaster
the right for its country to host the Contest Final in 2005,
subject to the rules and regulations of the competition.
Should two or more songs tie for first place, the location
of the Contest Final in 2005 shall be subject to agreement
between the winning broadcasters, the EBU and the Reference
Group.
The author(s) and artist(s) of the winning song(s) shall receive
the Eurovision Song Contest Trophy (or Trophies) for 2004.
Section
Thirteen: Broadcasting and other Uses of the Contest Final
The
Contest Final shall be broadcast live in its entirety by every
Participating Broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
(including those who do not progress from the Qualifying Round)
on a main terrestrial channel. In addition, the Participating
Broadcasters may also broadcast the Contest Grand Final live
or deferred on their own wholly-owned radio, digital, or satellite
channels (in accordance with the EBU Rules on the Sharing
of the Eurovision Signal), or deferred on a wholly-owned website.
Upon request to the EBU, rightsholding broadcasters may also
be granted such additional rights.
Live webcasting of the Contest Final shall be reserved exclusively
for the official Eurovision Song Contest website, to which
Participating Broadcasters may provide a link on the same
evening(s). However the EBU will attempt to make individual
broadcaster commentaries available in conjunction with that
live stream, through the official website. All previews may
also be made available on each Participating Broadcaster's
website, in addition to the official website. However, if
the sound recording is made available separately from the
audiovisual recording, only the use of extracts (of a maximum
of 30 seconds per song) is allowed.
The main title of the event, the Eurovision Song Contest 2004,
shall be used by all broadcasters, although a broadcaster
may use a translation of this into its national language once
that translation has been approved by the EBU Executive Supervisor.
If that translation is approved, the English title need not
be used. Broadcasters are also entitled to have a minor title
under the main title, using the name by which the Contest
has been known in recent years.
All broadcasters shall transmit the EBU logo and the Eurovision
Song Contest 2004 logo at the start and at the end of the
programme.
All Participating Broadcasters have the exclusive right, on
their territory, to broadcast the Contest Final in its entirety,
as many times as desired for 30 days following the Grand Final,
including any interval act. In the ensuing eleven months the
Participating Broadcasters shall have the right to broadcast
the show twice more, subject to continued compliance with
these Rules (including the provisions relating to branding
and sponsorship/marketing). If any celebrity acts are part
of the production, an exclusion of such acts from the above-mentioned
rights may have to be made, in which case this shall be notified
in writing by the EBU to all Participating Broadcasters.
All Participating Broadcasters are also entitled to use extracts
from the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 during the 12 months
following the event for any type of programme and on any medium
(including the Internet) as long as no more than two minutes
of any song are used and any celebrity acts are excluded.
Thereafter, without any limitation in time, these rights are
limited to eight minutes' total duration (and no more than
two minutes per song) in any of their television programmes.
Without prejudice to the other rules in this Section, all
broadcasting and other media rights to the Eurovision Song
Contest 2004 are exclusively owned by the EBU, to be managed
centrally by the EBU on behalf of the participating Members.
Participating Broadcasters wishing to use the material in
their own libraries, free of charge, after 12 months following
the Contest Final, may request permission to do so from the
EBU.
The previous rule does not prevent any Participating Broadcaster
from invoking any or all rights, and particularly copyright
and neighbouring rights, which it enjoys under its national
legislation with a view to preventing or prohibiting the unauthorized
use of its own broadcast(s) of the Contest Final or any parts
of such broadcast(s), such as individual scenes or images,
by third parties.
Any Participating Broadcaster shall be entitled to sell any
footage from the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 to any third
party within its territory. Any Participating Broadcaster
shall not be entitled to sell any footage from the Eurovision
Song Contest 2004 to a third party outside its territory.
Any breach of this rule may result in the disqualification
of its entry from the Contest Final and/or denial of access
to the live transmissio n.
Non-participating (radio or television) broadcasters, from
countries where rights remain available, may purchase the
right to broadcast the 2004 Contest Final on their territory
upon payment of a rights fee, and may also request the right
to send a commentator, and/or a production team, to the event
(depending on the facilities available). These sales shall
be coordinated by the EBU. Non-participating EBU Members shall
have the right of first refusal on their territory.
Any broadcaster which does not hold any media rights shall
be granted, upon request to the EBU, a total of two minutes'
news access from the two evenings of the 2004 Contest Final,
free of charge for use in regularly-scheduled news bulletins.
Non-rightsholder broadcasters are not allowed to broadcast
any material from the 2004 Contest Final (rehearsals/preparations/finals,
etc) without the prior written permission of, and possible
payment of a rights fee to, the EBU. Similarly, no commercial
or noncommercial entity may use the logo or other distinctive
elements of the 2004 Contest Final without the prior written
permission of the EBU.
The official sponsors/suppliers shall have exclusivity in
connection with all television broadcasts of the Eurovision
Song Contest 2004 on each territory. No other party shall
be granted any branding, sponsorship or association rights.
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