More than 20 organisations from around the world, including Screen Producers Australia (SPA) and New Zealand’s Screen Production and Development Association, have signed a joint statement calling on governments to require global streamers such as Netflix and Prime Video to make “fair and proportional” contributions to local content in the markets in which they operate.
The statement also calls for market failure and imbalances in bargaining power to be addressed, including in particular measures to allow independent producers to protect their IP.
“This isn’t just about regulations; it’s about safeguarding the heart and soul of our cultural narratives,” the organisations stated.
The vast majority of the signatories come Europe, though also include organisations from Latin America and Canada.
The statement has been released to demonstrate a shared commitment to “ensuring the independence and viability of the global screen industry and the preservation of the cultural sovereignty of each nation”, arguing “the changes brought to screen business dynamics by digital streaming platforms is both a global challenge and local issue.”
“Central to these principles is the need for a healthy screen independent sector, encompassing development, production, distribution, and post-production,” signatories stated.
In Australia, the Federal Government has committed to placing local content obligations on streaming services no later than July 1 this year. However, what the model will look like is yet to be announced. Last November, the government sent a targeted consultation paper for feedback to industry stakeholders, proposing either a revenue or expenditure-based model of regulation. These models were criticised by the documentary sector for focusing on drama exclusively.
SPA CEO Matthew Deaner said the global statement showed “Australian producers are not alone in this fight for survival.”
“With the Australian Government shortly to bring forward legislation to ensure streamers invest some small percentage of their Australian-derived revenue into making Australian stories, there has never been a better time also to address this critical issue brought about by the abuse of market power by streamers,” he said.
“Screen producers are increasingly unable to do business deals on fair terms with powerful digital platforms and therefore, cannot solve this problem on their own.”
Read the full statement below:
Global screen producers statement on streaming platform regulation and intellectual property protections
Together we represent thousands of screen industry businesses and share a commitment to securing regulation from our respective governments that will ensure that our industry continues to both be sustainable and maintains our nation’s cultural sovereignty.
To help achieve this, government regulation of digital streaming platforms should be guided by the following principles:
● Local content has both significant cultural and economic importance and is a strategic national asset.
● Local audiences should have access to a broad range of new local stories across all the platforms they are using.
● All platforms that derive financial benefit from conducting business in the local market should financially contribute, proportionally, to the creation of new local content for the benefit of local audiences.
● To meet audience expectations, there is a need to maintain and support a healthy screen sector (development, production (including post-production), distribution), that delivers employment, economic activity, industry upskilling, exports, and growth opportunities.
● Government has a role to address market failure and any imbalance in commercial bargaining power in the creation and delivery of quality new local screen content.
● Independent screen businesses (SMEs) are critical to achieving this cultural and economic objective.
● There is significant scope for growth in existing levels of production, investment, employment, commissioned content hours and exports, provided fit for purpose regulation, that protects local cultural assets, is in place.
● Independent screen businesses should own and/or retain control of the intellectual property (IP), and rights in their work, including the right to financially participate in the success generated by their work on a platform, created as part of a nation’s own unique cultural heritage.
● Any government regulated investment framework should specify that the majority of this investment should be fulfilled through projects where IP is under the control of independent screen businesses. This principle will assist businesses to remain strong and sustainable, thereby enhancing their capacity to invest in the development and production of new IP.
This statement is supported by:
- AECINE – Asociación de productoras de Cine Independiente (Spain)
- Animation in Europe (Europe)
- AnimFrance (France)
- APA – Associazione Produttori Audiovisivi (Italy)
- APCA – Associação Producers Cinema Audiovisual (Portugal)
- APFC – Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (Canada)
- APIT – Associação de Produtores Independentes de Televisão (Portugal)
- AQPM – Association québécoise de la production médiatique (Canada)
- CEPI – European Audiovisual Production Association (EU)
- CMPA – Canadian Media Producers Association (Canada)
- EPC – The European Producers Club (EU)
- FIPCA – Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers (LatAM)
- FPS – Association of Slovene Film Producers (Slovenia)
- PATE – Asociación de Productores Audiovisual Independientes (Spain)
- Produzentenverband (Germany)
- SPA – Screen Producers Australia (AU)
- SPADA – The Screen Production and Development Association (NZ)
- SPI – Screen Producers Ireland (Ireland)
- UPFF+ – Union of Francophone Producers of Films & Series (Belgium)
- USPA – Union Syndicale de la Production Audiovisuelle (EU)