Home » News » Online video platforms like Netflix and Amazon will have to invest 25% of their turnover in France, according to the Ministry of Culture

Online video platforms like Netflix and Amazon will have to invest 25% of their turnover in France, according to the Ministry of Culture

The Ministry of Culture wants to set 25% of turnover in France as the minimum rate that online video platforms like Netflix and Amazon must invest in French and European production, a level higher than that mentioned so far . Minister Franck Riester gathered the audiovisual and cinema sectors on Tuesday to prepare for the implementation of the audiovisual reform he presented at the end of 2019, which is to be examined by Parliament in April. This bill must considerably modernize the funding model for films and audiovisual works in France.

The aim is to rebalance the rules of the game between television channels, which are subject to numerous regulatory obligations, and online platforms which have so far benefited from very light regulation. To do this, online services like Netflix will have to comply with production investment obligations, as has already been the case for French channels for decades. And this, thanks to the transposition of the European directive known as AMS (audiovisual media services), made possible by this reform. Platforms will have to negotiate these investment obligations with the sectors concerned, but in the absence of professional agreements, it is a floor rate fixed by decree which will apply, once the law has been promulgated. And the Minister of Culture has set the bar very high: Franck Riester has confirmed a minimum rate of 16% for platforms broadcasting generalist content, as he had already mentioned in September, and above all, announced a level of 25% for those specializing in fictions, according to a document from the ministry consulted Wednesday by AFP.

Special cases are provided, in particular for public service, thematic channels, or even services with fee-for-service (which will be applied a minimum rate of 15%). A period of intense negotiations, as these sectors are used to, will therefore begin, under the aegis of two “facilitators” appointed by the ministry, Pierre Sellal and Florence Philbert. In September, Franck Riester had strongly emphasized the importance of these new obligations, and he had warned that if platforms like Netflix or Amazon failed to comply with them, an arsenal of sanctions would apply, which could go as far as a ban outright to distribute their content in France.

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