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European Court of Justice: A hotel operator which broadcasts phonograms in its rooms must pay equitable remuneration to producer

EU law requires the Member States to provide, in their legislation, a right to a single equitable remuneration for producers of phonograms published for commercial purposes, to be paid by the user of such phonograms for broadcasting or for any communication to the public. However, such equitable remuneration need not be paid in the case of ‘private use’.

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ECJ Advocate General: no temporal or monetary limitation of the obligation to provide care to air passengers

In his opinion in case C-12/11 - McDonagh v Ryanair, delivered on 22.03.2012, ECJ Advocate General Bot came to the conclusion that circumstances such as the closure of airspace owing to the eruption of a volcano constitute extraordinary circumstances for the purposes of Reg. 261/2004. Additionally,  the EU legislation does not imply any limitation – temporal or monetary – of the obligation to provide care (accommodation, meals, refreshments) to the passengers.

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European cruise industry sees strong growth ahead despite current challenges

The international cruise industry, whose top priority is ensuring safety of passengers and crews and which is fully committed to learning lessons from the recent tragic Concordia incident, is confident that it will continue to see steady growth in Europe, said European Cruise Council Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio. Among Mr.

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USA: DOT fines ticket agent and Qantas for advertising violations

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) fined ticket agent Unister USA, also known as Flights24.com, USD 30,000 for violating the Department’s rules on fare advertising and disclosure of code-share flights.

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German Supreme Court: domiciliary right allows hotel to ban extremist politician from its premises

In the case of the former chairman of the extreme right wing German NPD ("Democratic Party of Germany"), Udo Voigt, whose wife had booked a private vacation at a wellness resort in Brandenburg but they were denied access by the hotel director on the reason that Voigt's extreme politcal views were detrimental to the image of the hotel and the other guests' desire for comfort and relaxation (see IFTTA news of 23 November, 2010), the German Supreme Court (BGH) has for the most part upheld the

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Scotland: Lockerbie Update

New revelations produced by BBC Scotland suggest that Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan jailed for life following the 1988 Lockerbie bombing may not be guilty after all. Part of the evidence against him was that he was in Malta, and was identified by a key witness there, at the time the bomb which destroyed Pan-Am Flight 103 was placed in a suitcase and loaded on to the aircraft. The Maltese shopkeeper, Tony Gauci, identified Megrahi as the man he sold clothes to and which were later found in a suitcase which had contained the bomb.

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USA: DHS report says X-ray scanners at airports are safe

The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that full-body X-ray scanning machines at airport security checkpoints use an "extremely low dose" of radiation which is safe for passengers. The report refers to a Johns Hopkins University assesment of 2010 which said that a passenger would have to be screened 47 times a day for a year to exceed yearly limits of radiation set by the American National Standards Institute.

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ECJ Advocate General: air ticket pricing rules regarding ‘optional price supplements’ also apply to a cancellation insurance

Article 23(1) of Regulation No 1008/2008 on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community provides that with rergard to air fares or air rates, optional price supplements shall be communicated in a clear, transparent and unambiguous way at the start of any booking process and their acceptance by the customer shall be on an “opt-in

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USA: Appelate court affirms foreign nationals' standing to challenge a "no-fly list" inclusion

Rahinah Ibrahim, a Malaysian national and university professor, was legally in the United States as a Ph.D. student at Stanford University from 2001 - 2005.  In early 2005, she attempted to travel to a Stanfordsponsored conference in Malaysia where she was to present her doctoral research. Alledgedly mistakenly placed on the “No-Fly List”, she was prevented from flying and was detained in a holding cell for two hours at the San Francisco airport. She was then allowed to fly to Malaysia the next day, but she was prevented from returning to the United States after the conference.

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European Union: Parliamentary Transport and Tourism Committee calls for improved air passenger rights

All-in air fares, airline employees able to help stranded passengers immediately, and proper compensation when airlines go bust are the key requests set out in a resolution on air passengers' rights voted by the Transport and Tourism Committee on Tuesday.

With a view to a forthcoming revision of the relevant EU legislation, the resolution calls on the European Commission to clarify air passengers' rights, ensure that legislation protecting them is applied uniformly, and take measures to improve the accountability of airlines.

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