New rules— online broadcasters must be licensed

By William Ysaguirre (Freelance Writer)

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. July 23, 2026

   Belize must honor its commitments under international copyright law and the protection of intellectual property rights, in order for Belizeans’ intellectual property rights to be similarly respected in foreign jurisdictions, to which end the Belize Broadcasting Authority (BBA) has proposed the Broadcasting Act, 2026, which will repeal and replace the Broadcasting and Television Act (Chapter 227) of the Laws of Belize 2002.

   The Belize Broadcasting Authority (BBA) presented the draft Act, which includes a set of broadcast regulations and a Code of Conduct to independent media houses, digital creators, and broadcasters at its final nationwide public consultation last Thursday, July 16, as part of the Modernization of Belize’s Broadcasting Framework Project.

   The Act proposes stiff fines for violators of up to $10,000 for any violation within the past 3 years, but also introduces fines of up to $2,000 per day for broadcasters who violate the law which requires that copyright owners of broadcast content be properly compensated and all appropriate royalties be paid to foreign content producers. For the first time, online content creators, podcasters, digital platforms, streaming services, and social media content creators who broadcast regularly and publicly for commercial gain will also need to be licensed by the Authority.

   Attorney Marissa Longsworth, the former president of the Belize Chamber of Commerce, who also represented the Belize Cable Television Operators Association in their negotiations with HBO for payment of royalties for HBO programming in May 2018, explained the new rules of the game. Belize television and cable operators enjoyed a holiday of over 30 years— broadcasting foreign programming without paying any royalties, and HBO had sought payment of USD$24 million for past use of their content, threatening a lawsuit. Local cable operators were able to settle out of court for cents on the dollar of what HBO was demanding, but with the proviso that they pay for all programming they used going forward. Since 2018, cable operators had to restrict the channels they offered to what they could afford to pay for, and local cable rates increased by over 50 percent. Yet, all operators have not been meeting their payment obligations, and the Association may face lawsuits from foreign content owners if the situation is not rectified. The new Act introduces punitive fines to enforce compliance, for if Belize is blacklisted for non-compliance with copyright law and intellectual property rights, other funding cooperation programs that Belize enjoys with the United States could be put at risk.

   The Act aims to modernize the laws governing Belize’s broadcasting landscape in response to evolving technology. It could also empower the Authority to ensure that broadcast content is more suitable and age-appropriate for Belizean audiences. Each licensee would need to apply for a broadcast license, which would be valid for a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 15 years.

   The Act also proposes a schedule of annual license fees to be paid. A nationwide multi-channel streaming service would pay a $50,000 license fee annually, while the annual license fee for broadcasting to a village would be $1,000. The annual license fee for national online broadcasting would be $2,000. This would not apply to someone who goes live on Facebook to a group of friends occasionally; but for someone who broadcasts to a public audience, paid for by sponsors and advertisers, the online programmer would need a license, or else apply to the Authority for an explicit exemption. The exemption would consider criteria such as audience size, commercial benefits, frequency of broadcasts, and accessibility.

   The code of conduct regulations will also include specific rules on profanity, and other words which are deemed inappropriate for public platforms; and violators would face a stiff fine for each violation, each bad word. Popular music today does contain a lot of foul language, and the code will require broadcasters to simply “bleep” those dirty words out! More consultations will be scheduled to determine what offensive words should be on the list, and which may be omitted.