Audiovisual, cinematic and musical creation and production

French audiovisuel communication services contribute to the exposure and financing of French and European creation.

For radio services, this contribution takes the form of quotas for French-language songs.

For TV channels, it takes the form of diffusion quotas and obligations to invest in cinematic and audiovisual works.

For on-demand audiovisual media services, these take the form of exhibition quotas and obligations to invest in the production of cinematic and audiovisual works.

Foreign television and on-demand audiovisual media services (SMAD) targeting the French public may also, under certain conditions, be subject to obligations to invest in the production of audiovisual and cinematic works.

We are committed to ensuring that the obligations of audiovisual players are respected, and in so doing, we are committed to supporting cultural diversity by adapting this scheme to the digital media environment.

Television and on-demand audiovisual media services (under certain conditions) are subject to several obligations (diffusion, exhibition, production) concerning the presence of original French-language (EOF) and/or European works.

EOF works are defined as those produced entirely or mainly in the original version in French or in a regional language used in France.

See article 5 of decree no. 90-66 of January 17, 1990

European works correspond to works originating in European Union member states or in European third-party states party to the Council of Europe's European Convention on Transfrontier Television, whose production conditions meet the criteria laid down in article 6 of decree no. 90-66 of January 17, 1990.

This article defines a European work as a work originating in a member state of the European Union, or in a European third country party to the Council of Europe's European Convention on Transfrontier Television, subject to certain conditions.

More specifically, these works must be produced in these States, and essentially with the participation of persons residing in one of these States.

They must also :

• either be produced by a company whose registered office is in one of these States, and whose managers and directors are nationals of one of these States, on condition that this company effectively controls the production, with financial, technical and artistic responsibility for the work ;
• or be majority-financed by co-producers established in these States, on condition that the co-production is not controlled by a producer established outside these States*.

Companies and co-producers must not be controlled by producers established outside these countries.

European works also include

• works co-produced under agreements between the European Community and third countries;
• works produced under bilateral co-production agreements between member states of the European Community and third countries, and financed by co-producers established in member states, provided that the co-production is not controlled by producers established outside these states.

If you would like to demand European qualification for a given cinematographic or audiovisual work from Arcom, you can download the form below:

The main principles governing obligations to invest in audiovisual and cinematic production are set out in French law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, which refers to three decrees issued by the Conseil d'Etat (Council of State) to determine obligations for the production of cinematographic and audiovisual works:

• terrestrial television services: decree no. 2021-1926, known as the "DTT decree".
• non-hertzian television services: decree no. 2021-1924 (CabSat decree)
• on-demand audiovisual media services (SMAD): decree no. 2021-793, known as the "SMAD decree".

The law of September 30, 1986 also makes provision for Arcom to specify, in the agreements it concludes with publishers, the terms and conditions for ensuring contributions to the development of the production of cinematographic works "taking into account the agreements concluded between the service publisher and one or more professional organizations in the cinematographic or audiovisual industry, including, for the part of these agreements that directly affects their interests, professional organizations and collective management bodies representing authors". The obligations laid down in the decrees can therefore be modified by agreement, taking into account where appropriate professional agreements. These modulations provide a manager adapted to each publisher's business model, and enable them to benefit from the flexibility they have negotiated (e.g., adapting the level of certain obligations, valuing certain expenses, deferring part of the obligations to subsequent years).

The decrees authorize the pooling at group level of the contribution to the development of audiovisual production on the one hand, and cinematic production on the other.

For SMADs and non-hertzian television services, the obligations are subject to a threshold of 5 million euros in sales and 0.5% of the total audience in France.

These regulations apply to both French and foreign services targeting French territory: from now on, services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ are subject to obligations to produce European works and original French-language content (EOF).

Regulations applicable to audiovisual production

Obligations to contribute to the development of the production of European audiovisual works or original French-language works (EOF) apply to SMAD editors offering more than 10 audiovisual works in their catalog, and to television services which devote more than 20% of their annual time to the diffusion of audiovisual works or which, failing this, have sales in excess of €350 million.

The contribution to the development of audiovisual production covers two obligations: the so-called "global" obligation and/or the so-called "heritage" obligation (i.e., relating specifically to heritage works), expressed as a percentage of sales for the previous financial year.

Within the global and/or heritage obligation, a proportion of broadcasters' expenditure must be devoted to independent production (defined according to criteria linked to the work and the production company) and to the production of EOF works. Under certain conditions, other obligations may be imposed on the service, concerning for example the pre-financing of works, or the diversity of cinematic works acquired. Editors' commitments may be made to professional organizations, or directly to Arcom, and then included in the agreements signed with Arcom or in France Télévisions' specifications.

The rates and amounts of the obligations applicable to the contribution base vary according to the specific features of each service (terrestrial or non-hertzian services, television services whose main purpose is the programming of cinematographic works and programs devoted to cinema and its history, so-called cinema services, video-on-demand services by contract or on a pay-per-view basis...). On average, they vary from 6 to 8% of sales for cinema television services, from 12.5% to 16% for non-cinema television services, and up to 20% for subscription video-on-demand services that do not offer cinema.

Cinematic production regulations

These regulations apply to SMADs offering more than 10 cinematographic works in their catalogue, and to television service editors showing more than 52 cinematographic works per year - whatever their nationality - or more than 104 diffusions and reruns of these works.

The rates and amounts applicable to the contribution base vary according to the specific features of each service, and range on average from 3.2% to 3.5% of sales for general-interest television services, to 4% for video-on-demand services by contract, and from 12% to 18% for cinema television services.

The overall contribution demanded of cinema television services is higher, as feature films are the priority and the basis of their programming. In addition to the general obligations to invest in the production of European and EOF films, these services are subject to pre-financing obligations for works, the vast majority of which must also meet independent production criteria, and to a so-called "diversity" clause, which consists of reserving a minimum percentage for the pre-purchase of EOF films whose budget is below a threshold defined in the agreement.

For SMADs and non-theatrical television services, the obligations mainly concern the production of European and EOF cinematographic works, with certain services also being subject to pre-financing obligations, depending on their sales figures. The vast majority of these services are required to comply with independent production criteria, and to diversity of works.

For more information on the contribution of SMAD publishers to the development of audiovisual and cinematic production, please follow the link below.