The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed bill No. 3081-d on government support of filmmaking in Ukraine taking into account amendments suggested by the president.
The relevant decision was supported by 270 MPs at a plenary session on March 23, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
The updated bill does not envisage the formation of the State Fund for Support of Film Industry, which was intended as a means for the provision of government support for filmmaking.
According to the explanations by the president, the mechanism of financing the film industry envisaged in the previous version of the bill could not be approved because it contradicted to requirements of Article 95 of the Constitution of Ukraine and Article 4 of the Budget Code, according to which the law on the state budget regulates receipts and expenditures of the national budget.
In addition, the president’s proposals deal with the mechanism for the provision of government subsidies.
According to the bill, the Council for the State Support of Film Industry will be set up and will be made of nine people, who will be appointed for two years. The council will include people proposed by the central authority in charge of state policy in the field of cinema, creative unions, and non-governmental associations.
The bill also lays down the procedure for government support of filmmaking in the form of subsidies as a refund of part of expenses spent on making a movie as well as the amount of such subsidies.
The law also says that broadcasting organizations are obliged to allot at least 15 percent of the monthly broadcast time for national films and films created by Ukrainian filmmakers until January 1, 2022, and not less than 30 percent after January 1, 2022.
The bill also amends the law on copyright and related rights regarding the protection of copyright or related rights with the use of the Internet. It proposes the procedure for termination of such violations.
It also introduces amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, which envisage that a lawsuit concerning a copyright violation should entail actions which make impossible the access of the Internet users to the objects of intellectual property rights in question.
