Ministry of Information headquarters on Monivong Boulevard. POST STAFF
The Ministry of Information has called on all media owners who have not yet registered fully to do so by the end of this year as failure to do so will result in their licences being revoked.
In a letter signed by information minister Khieu Khanharith on May 19, the ministry said some media outlets had still not followed the regulations on registration.
Such acts, it said, caused confusion and chaos and affected the interests of the registered media institutions.
To guarantee the legal rights and interests of media outlets in Cambodia, the ministry called on their owners to register and fulfil their obligations in order to protect their trademarks.
“In case they fail to follow this notice and continue to use their logos, trademarks and brands without registration in violation of the law, the ministry will not grant business licences to them in the year 2022,” the letter said.
Ministry spokesman Phos Sovann told The Post on May 19 the ministry had observed that a large number of media owners had obeyed the laws on business registration and protection of logos, trademarks and brands relating to information and audiovisual licensing but most online news outlets still had not registered properly.
“We have observed that ... around 500 to 600 online radio and news outlets have not registered correctly,” he said.
Citing Cambodian media laws, Sovann explained that previously the media were required to register at the Ministry of Information only but recently the Kingdom had carried out legal reforms regarding business registrars which required media institutions to register with the Ministry of Commerce too before starting their operations.
Nob Vy, executive director of the Cambodian Journalists Alliance, was of the view that the ministry was doing the right thing in pushing for legality and protection for media companies and institutions.
“I think it is a good point to avoid using the same trademarks and brands used by other media institutions and outlets. This overlapping use could lead to conflicts in the future,” he said.
Vy also requested that the relevant ministries and institutions facilitate this registration process to ensure that it goes smoothly.
