In practice, the restrictions imposed by the ORF Act on the online sector are particularly relevant. These provisions provide the general framework within which ORF's online offerings must be designed. The general legal requirements are specified in detail by means of so-called service concepts. The independent media authority KommAustria monitors compliance with the regulatory requirements.
Until now, television and radio broadcasts were generally allowed to be made available online for seven days after broadcast. Since the amendment to the ORF Act, which came into force at the beginning of 2024, in-house, co-produced and commissioned content may generally be available for six months. There are "downward" exceptions for news programs and premium sports competitions (30 days) and "upward" exceptions for archives with contemporary and cultural history content, documentaries, children's and youth programs as well as fringe and popular sports (unlimited provision period). Purchased content produced by third parties, such as Hollywood films, may not be made available for retrieval.
For elements of overview reporting, in particular ORF.at ("blue page") and sport.orf.at ("yellow page"), these may remain available for a maximum of 14 days on the respective start or overview page. Online-only content, i.e. content that is provided exclusively for on-demand viewing (and therefore not broadcast linearly), can only be made available after an extensive official approval procedure, a so-called preliminary order check, has been carried out. To date, ORF has not offered any such online-only content. The ORF Act also contains provisions for the protection of minors. In the case of content that could impair the mental, physical or moral development of minors, it must be ensured that minors cannot normally see or hear it. This can be achieved either through the choice of broadcasting time (provision only late in the evening or at night) or through technical measures (e.g. age verification). Another important aspect is license agreements. ORF acquires rights of use for films, series, sports broadcasts and other content. These often contain specific conditions regarding the distribution of the content. For example, they may stipulate that certain programs may only be shown or made available within a specified period or territory (e.g. only in Austria).
When granting rights, a distinction is made between linear broadcasting on television or radio on the one hand and online provision on the other. Licensing restrictions apply in particular to third-party productions, i.e. program content purchased by ORF. In the case of co-productions with international partners, it is often agreed that each partner primarily receives exploitation rights for the country in which it is established or active. In the case of in-house or commissioned productions, the rights are often held by ORF. Local restrictions, often known as geo-blocking, prevent users outside Austria from accessing certain content. This measure is used to comply with license agreements with content providers, which generally provide for geographically limited rights of use.
The legal restrictions to which users are subject result from various contractual and legal requirements. Existing regulations are mainly based on the idea of a balance of interests between public service broadcasting and other media providers. The legal restrictions in the online sector are in a certain tension with ORF's public service mandate to inform, educate and entertain its audience. The legislator has addressed this issue by extending the duration of online content and the fundamental possibility of making moving image content available exclusively online.
