Croatia

[HR] Rules for Croatian Audiovisual Works

IRIS 2006-9:1/18

Nives Zvonarić

Ministry of Culture, Zagreb, Croatia

Pursuant to Section 26, para. 3 of the Electronic Media Act ("Official Gazette" No. 122/03, see IRIS 2003-9: 9) which refers to television quotas, the Council for Electronic Media adopted, on 30 May 2006, Rules for Croatian Audiovisual Works.

The above rules stipulate that Croatian audiovisual works are any audiovisual works originally produced in the Croatian language, or any works made for national minorities in their own languages, as well as works of Croatian cultural heritage.

Audiovisual works are only such works if they consist of a series of sequenced images which give the impression of motion, fashioned as individual intellectual creations in the domains of literature, science and art, such as films and dramas, cultural and artistic shows, light entertainment shows, documentaries, educational and other audiovisual works.

Croatian audiovisual works are works in which only the Croatian language is used in the original version, or the Croatian language is used in the major part of the original version, except in cases of justified exceptions, when, due to artistic or other reasonably justified circumstances, the Croatian language is not used or when there are no spoken parts at all.

Croatian audiovisual works are works that originate from the Republic of Croatia. Works originating from Croatia are works generally made by authors and other staff resident in the Republic of Croatia, provided that they meet the following requirements:

- the producers of those works are incorporated or registered in the Republic of Croatia,

- the particular work has been produced under the control of one or more producers from the Republic of Croatia, or

- the co-producer from Croatia makes a majority contribution in relation to the total cost of the co-production, and the co-production is not controlled by one or more producers incorporated outside Croatia.

Works originating from other countries shall also be considered as Croatian audiovisual works if they are realised in the co-production of producers incorporated and registered in the Republic of Croatia and producers incorporated and registered in one or more other countries that have executed audiovisual and similar agreements with the Republic of Croatia, provided that the major part of such works is made by authors and other staff resident in the Republic of Croatia.

Any works not considered Croatian works, if made based on bilateral co-production agreements existing between the Republic of Croatia and other countries, shall be deemed Croatian works under the following conditions: (1) the dominant part of the total cost of production is borne by the co-producers from the Republic of Croatia and (2) the production is not under the control of one or more producers registered outside the Republic of Croatia. These works shall be deemed Croatian works in proportion to the corresponding contribution of co-producers from the Republic of Croatia to the total cost of production.

Croatian audiovisual works include cinematographic or television feature films, documentaries, animated films, commercial films or other films and other audiovisual works of recent Croatian cultural and artistic production. Croatian audiovisual works also comprise works which, based on their content, are derived from literary works, scientific facts or achievements, artistic practice or other sources providing the basis for the direct copyrighted realisation of an audiovisual work, such as original scripts or the like.