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In February 2016, after undertaking broad consultations, Jean-François Mary, Chairman of the Film Classification Board, submitted to Minister for Culture Audrey Azoulay a report on the classification of cinematographic works with regard to minors aged between 16 and 18. The report had been commissioned after considerable controversy was caused by the courts’ cancellation of the licences issued to a number of films containing scenes of non-simulated sexual activity (including Love and La Vie d'Adèle) or scenes of extreme violence (including Salafistes). Despite the fact that at the time the Minister...

On 11 January 2017, the national audiovisual regulatory authority in France (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel - CSA) announced that it had issued a “stern” warning to TV channels TF1 and M6 for persistently giving excessive airtime to the parliamentary opposition. In the run-up to the forthcoming presidential elections on 23 April and 8 May, the CSA must scrupulously monitor the application of the rules governing electoral news broadcasts. To this end, every fortnight it publishes on its website how much speaking time has been given to politicians in news and information bulletins, magazine shows...

The second season of “Les recettes pompettes”, an entertainment programme imported from Quebec and broadcast via YouTube, in which famous guests are, according to its strapline, invited to “cook and drink alcohol”, began in November. However, the Ministry of Health had asked the programme’s producers not to broadcast the first episode, claiming that it “encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol”, before referring the matter to the Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité (Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority -ARPP). In June of last year, the national audiovisual regulatory...

By adopting an amendment to the Finance Act on 29 December 2016, French MPs defied the government by including the advertising income of websites offering free or paid video content in the sum of revenue generated from video sale and rental on which the so-called ‘video and VoD tax’ is levied to fund the National Centre for Cinema (Centre national du cinéma - CNC). The tax will be paid by providers of on-demand audiovisual media services and social platforms (such as YouTube or Dailymotion) that offer access to audiovisual content. The tax will therefore apply to any operator, wherever it is based,...

On 14 December 2016, the Administrative Court of Paris issued a particularly amusing decision concerning the age classification of the American animated film “Sausage Party”, which was released in France in the autumn. In the film, products on sale in a supermarket realise the senselessness of their subservience to humans. This entertaining spoof traces the story of foodstuffs with human personalities from the moment they discover the reality of their condition until they finally win their freedom, particularly in the domain of sex and religious beliefs. A number of organisations called for the...