Prague, February 28, 2024 – Mr. Michal Holas, an expert in the regulation of digital platforms, media and the online environment, was appointed Executive director of the Czech Publishers’ Licensing Association (Správce licenčních práv vydavatelů, z.s. – SLPV) as of March 1st.
Given his previous positions, Michal Holas has extensive experience not only in digital regulation, but also in working in national and international associations, chambers of commerce, expert teams of the Confederation of Industry and on other professional platforms. He gained and expanded his international experience by completing internships at the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations in New York and at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic in Brussels, and as a head of the CzechTrade agency’s office at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Shanghai.
Before taking up the post of executive director of SLPV, he worked with the consulting company Chronos consulting s.r.o. and provided legal and public affairs consulting to leading Czech technology and media companies. He contributed to e.g. the Act on Digital Markets, the Act on Digital Services, the Code of Conduct for Combating Disinformation or the Act on Artificial Intelligence, as well as the Czech implementation of the European Copyright Directive. He also worked as a lawyer at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic at the department of Internal Market.
SLPV was founded by 17 Czech media companies with the aim of obtaining authorization to perform collective administration and defend the rights of publishers vis-à-vis users of their content, which include mainly large technology platforms, search engines, social networks and press monitoring services.
The founding members of SLPV are (in alphabetical order) BurdaMedia Extra s.r.o., Business Media CZ s.r.o., Czech News Center, a.s., Czech Radio, Czech Television, ČTK (Czech News Agency), Echo Media, a.s., Economia, a.s., FTV Prima, spol. s.r.o., Internet Info, s.r.o., MAFRA, a.s., N Media, a.s., Seznam.cz, a.s., Reportér magazín, s.r.o., RF Hobby, s.r.o., Trima News, s.r.o. and Vltava Labe Media, a.s.
“Michal Holas succeeded in a difficult selection process. The board of directors of the association approved his appointment unanimously. I am convinced that he will play a crucial role in achieving our goals, which is what our members and all represented publishers expect from him, too,” said SLPV board chairman Jiří Majstr.