Canada

[DK-CA] Film Co-production Agreement between Canada and Denmark

IRIS 1998-1:1/30

Esther Harlow

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

On 15 December 1997 representatives of the Government of Canada and the Kingdom of Denmark signed a Film and Video Co-Production Agreement.

The agreement applies to all films produced by independent producers for exploitation in cinemas, on television, videocassette or by any other form of distribution, whether now known or to become known and irrespective of the film genre (feature film, animation or documentary), the length and the format.

The films falling within the scope of this agreement are considered to be national works in accordance with the legislation applying in both countries. Accordingly, each such co-production is fully entitled to take advantage of all benefits available to the film and video industries in each country. In order to benefit under the agreement, all co-productions must be undertaken by producers who have good technical organisation, sound financial backing and recognised professional standing.

Under Article 3 of the agreement, the co-producer’s financial contribution must be between 20 % and 80 % of the co-production budget and the technical and creative contribution must be in proportion to the investment made.

Under the provisions of the agreement, the producers, scriptwriters and film directors, as well as the technicians and other participating production personnel must be Canadian or Danish citizens or persons permanently residing in either of the Contracting States. Any departure from this principle is subject to the joint approval of the competent authorities of both countries, that is to say the Canadian Minister of Communications or, if he so authorises, the Canadian film development agency Telefilm Canada , and the Danish Film Institute.

Article 7 of the agreement stipulates that the original soundtrack of the film must be produced in English, French or Danish. Dubbing or subtitling must be carried out either in Denmark or Canada. Here, too, any exceptions are subject to the approval of the competent authorities of both countries.