Information Commissioner's Office

BBC

30 January 2008, Other

The complainant requested the amount the BBC had paid for the rights to cover the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. The BBC refused to provide this information on the basis that it was held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature. Having considered the circumstances of this case the Commissioner has concluded that the BBC has misapplied the Schedule 1 derogation and that this information falls within the Act. During the Commissioner’s investigation the BBC argued, without prejudice to its position on the derogation that the requested information was exempt on the basis of section 43 of the Act. The Commissioner has concluded that the requested information is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 43 and has therefore ordered the BBC to disclose both the amount it paid for the rights to cover the Turin Olympics and also the total production costs the BBC incurred in producing its coverage of the games.

FOI 1: Upheld