France

[FR] The CSA Delivers its Report on the Definition of what Constitutes an “Audiovisual Work”

IRIS 2002-9:1/14

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

At the end of 2001, when the "Popstars" programme was classified as an "audiovisual work" (see IRIS 2002-1: 8), the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (the audiovisual regulatory body - CSA) announced its decision to embark on a broader consideration, beyond this specific case, involving creators, producers and broadcasters, of the relevance of the present definition of what constitutes an "audiovisual work" (resulting from Article 4 of the Decree of 17 January 1990) in the light of new programme concepts, particularly reality television broadcasts (see IRIS 2001-2: 9). The report drawn up following the public consultation organised by the CSA last April in conjunction with the Centre national de la cinématographie (national cinematographic centre - CNC) reflects the varying opinions expressed by those concerned, as well as giving the CSA's analyses and proposals. The CSA emphasises that any amendment to the definition, whether it made it more or less restrictive, would necessarily incur a re-examination of the legal framework of the obligations involved in the production and broadcasting of works. This framework was in fact comprehensively reworked very recently for all the channels, including the future channels for terrestriallybroadcast digital television (see IRIS 2001-2: 8), and it is too soon to be able to evaluate these new provisions yet. Thus, although the audiovisual scene is preparing to embark on a new era in its history with the launch of terrestrially-broadcast digital television, the CSA feels that for the time being the maintenance of established rules and a clear framework for action for both producers and broadcasters shall ensure legal security for all those involved in the sector. The CSA is also anxious to respect the European schedule - while the European Commission is awaiting the results of the impact study on the effects of Articles 4 and 5 of the Television Without Frontiers Directive on the programme industries with a view to possible reconsideration, the CSA is unsure whether it would be appropriate for France to adopt a position on this in advance, as it has already adopted a more restrictive definition than that contained in the Directive. Lastly, taking into account the recurrent demand on the part of the various parties concerned to provide more transparent information more quickly on decisions regarding classification, the CSA has announced that it will gradually be putting on-line on its Internet site the list, updated each month, of new programmes broadcast by the national terrestrially-broadcast channels that it would have classified as "works" and the list, updated each month, of all the audiovisual works broadcast by the national terrestrially-broadcast channels indicating their European origin and/or the fact that their original language is French, to enable the various parties concerned to have at their disposal reliable information on the classification of all broadcasts.