IRIS Special

Broadcasters’ Obligations to Invest in Cinematographic Production

62,50 EUR
ISBN 10 : 92-871-5971-8
ISBN 13 : 978-92-871-5971-7
133 pages
Edition 2006

This edition of IRIS Special, "Broadcasters' Obligations to Invest in Cinematographic Production", focuses on the ways in which the television industry is required to support cinematographic film, and the instruments on which these obligations are based.

This legal question is given particular emphasis because of the economic significance of the television industry's co-financing of cinematographic film. Direct investment from broadcasters represents between 20 and 30% of film production budgets in some large European countries. In addition to this direct funding, indirect support is provided through broadcasters' contributions to the budgets of film funding bodies. Across Europe, these amount to around one-third of the budget of such bodies.

The European Audiovisual Observatory has investigated some key questions relating to these broadcasters' investments:

• What obligations has the state imposed on broadcasters in terms of support for cinematographic film?
• What obligations have broadcasters entered into voluntarily?
• What exactly is regulated by the main provisions?
• What are the differences between obligations on public and private broadcasters?
• Do the broadcasters receive anything in return?
• Which obligations lead to direct and which to indirect support?
• What are the key economic figures?

This publication answers these questions for virtually all European countries. We put them to 40 experts in the 37 member states of the European Audiovisual Observatory. Responses from 34 countries are included in this study, which shows clearly that the television industry's support of cinematographic film remains a theme that is as complex as it is topical. The main reason for this is the diversity of possible ways of arranging both simple and complex support mechanisms. The lack of common European standards means that the legal framework is constituted by national laws and varies considerably from country to country. At the heart of this study are the individual reports on 25 countries which were collected thanks to the support from the Institute of European Media Law (EMR) and the co-operation of the team of experts. A comparative legal analysis of the overall situation and a look at the economic dimension complete the picture and offer an excellent overview.