Slovakia

[SK] Audiovisual Fund Act and TASR Act

IRIS 2009-4:1/28

Jana Markechová

Markechova Law Offices

The Slovak Parliament has recently approved the Audiovisual Fund Act No. 516/2008 Coll. (hereinafter referred to as “Act”).

The Act came into effect on 1 January 2009 except for the provisions of § 32 ( Co-Production Statute - Koprodukčný štatút ), which will come into effect on 1 January 2010. The audiovisual fund is a public service institution whose most important purpose is to help revive Slovak films. According to this Act, the audiovisual fund will be financed inter alia by the State budget and by the broadcaster defined in the Act. The fund will support Slovak filmmaking, renewal, development and presentation of audiovisual works by means of various grants, subventions, loans, stipends or loan guarantees. The fund is obliged to use 95 % of its income for the support activities outlined in this Act; only 5 % of its total income can be used for its own purposes.

On 1 January 2009, the new Press Agency of the Slovak Republic Act No. 385/2008 Coll. (hereinafter referred to as “Act”) became effective, according to which the Press Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) became a public, national, independent and information institution, which provides a wide range of services in the area of press services. According to this Act, TASR receives finance from the State and will also be financed by various contributions stated in the Act. The Culture Ministry believes this legal change will make TASR more effective, independent and competitive among the news agencies.


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This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory.