Streaming: platforms will pay 20 to 25% of their income in France to cinema and audiovisual

According to a decree published in the Official Journal, Netflix, Amazon or Disney+ will have to devote 20 to 25% of their turnover made in France to the financing of French cinema and audiovisual.

Video streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon or Disney +, will have to pay 20 to 25% of their turnover made in France to the financing of French cinema and audiovisual, according to a decree published on Wednesday in the Journal official. Subject of negotiations for months, this decree called Smad - for "audiovisual media services on demand" - must come into force on July 1.

"Video-on-demand services must therefore devote at least 20% of their turnover in France to financing the production of European cinematographic and audiovisual works or of original French expression", specifies in a press release the Ministry of Culture. This rate will be increased to 25% for services offering films less than 12 months old, he explains.

This last provision foreshadows a reform of media chronology (the order in which films are released on the various operating media: cinemas, DVD, television, streaming, etc.) which should allow streaming platforms to broadcast films in France 12 months after their release, whereas currently they have to wait 36 ​​months.

Consideration

This change in timeline, currently being renegotiated, is a consideration envisaged by the government for the obligation to invest in French production now imposed on streaming platforms, under a European directive. The distribution of the contribution of the platforms between cinematographic works and audiovisual works will be fixed via an agreement concluded with the CSA, "each of the genres having to represent at least 20% of the total obligation".

In addition, "a significant part of the contribution (three quarters in cinema, two thirds in audiovisual) will be directed towards independent production", according to the Ministry of Culture, which explains that it has notably provided for "diversity clauses" to avoid a concentration of investments "on big-budget works or on certain genres rather than others".

For the regulator of the sector, the Superior council of audio-visual (CSA), this text “can only be appreciated” once “the new regulatory landscape” stopped, estimates it in an opinion. In addition to the modernization of the media chronology, the executive is also working on a revision of the "TNT" decree which frames the financing obligations applicable to French channels.

The CSA also says it is "particularly attentive" to ensuring that this entire new legislative framework corrects "the regulatory asymmetries between the categories of audiovisual media service publishers, in particular for the benefit of competitiveness national actors and the financing of creation".