In view of the fact that the Act now applies to all media, the Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria) has issued an ordinance defining the submission modalities of the disclosure obligation for orders under the Media Transparency Act (available on the rtr.at website). This ordinance contains very specific requirements as to how the notification must be made. The legal entity subject to the reporting obligation must assign the respective advertising service to at least one of the categories specified in the ordinance and "if applicable, a sub-category". The main categories are television, radio, print, online and out-of-home. The "Online" category includes websites, apps, videos and games. According to the explanatory notes to this regulation, the "Out of Home" category covers the outdoor advertising sector within the meaning of the Advertising Levy Act 2000 and should also be relevant to the case law on this Advertising Levy Act. This "Out of Home" category in particular is likely to raise numerous questions in practice in view of the variety of advertising media and advertising services.
If the total amount of orders in a half-year exceeds the limit of EUR 10,000, the subjects of the advertising services must also be made available on KommAustria's website. The extended disclosure obligations not only pose new challenges for the legal entities subject to the reporting obligation, but also for the advertising companies commissioned and the advertising and media agencies involved. A report on the advertising campaign must be published for related advertising campaigns with a fee of more than 150,000 euros; if the fee exceeds one million euros, the legal entity must also carry out and publish an impact analysis. In accordance with its announcement on the rtr.at website, RTR will take into account the increased information requirements of all participating companies by organizing information events and training courses. In any case, not only the legal entities concerned, but also all companies involved in the advertising services must familiarize themselves with the new, very extensive and complex disclosure requirements in good time.
