North Macedonia

[MK] Amendments to the Law on Film Activity

IRIS 2014-3:1/36

Borce Manevski

Independent Media Consultant

On 27 January 2014, the Закон за филмска дејност (Act on Film Activity), which entered into force on 1 January 2014, was amended in view of the funding of the State Film Agency. The Agency for Film, in addition to the funds from state budget will henceforth also be funded from other sources including: television programming services (TV broadcasters) at national, regional and local level; cable operators retransmitting television programming; Internet service providers; legal entities operating cinemas; legal entities operating in distribution, rental and sale of movies; and legal entities operating in organising games of chance and lotteries.

The Law has been specifically amended in matters of the fee that cable TV operators, Internet service providers and legal entities operating in the distribution, rental and sale of movies have to pay for the Agency for Film. The operators of public electronic communications networks, which retransmit television programming (cable operators) and the Internet service providers now will have to pay the Agency 1% (previously 2.5%) of their annual revenues, whereas those companies, which distribute, rent and sale films are obliged to pay the Agency for Film 2% (previously 3%) of their annual income. Besides the requests of broadcasters to be excluded from the obligation to dedicate 1.1% of their annual income to the Agency for Film, these provisions stayed unchanged. Representatives of the media industry and the civil sector previously demanded exclusion of those broadcasters which do not broadcast any film programming from the obligation to pay additional fees to the Agency for Film. The Parliament, however, did not follow their demands.

The amendments to the Law further specify that organisers of games of chance in betting agencies must pay fees to the Film Agency in the amount of 3% of the difference between the paid in and the paid out amount, which practically aligned this law with the Law on Games of Chances and Entertainment Games.

The funds that the Agency for Film collects will be used for the funding of film projects of public interest.

Amendments to Art. 13 of the Law on Film Activity specify the payment procedure of fees to the Agency for Film with specific deadlines.