Legal Assistance

The technical assistance of the EUROMED AUDIOVISUAL programme in the legal field includes:

• implementing a database available online
• drawing up studies
• a technical assistance to the beneficiary countries of the programme according to their requests and needs;

The Database

The database will collect all available texts for all concerned countries in the fields directly linked to the development of the audiovisual industry. It will particularly concern direct and indirect support to production and exhibition, production companies’ obligations, matters of copyright and neighbouring rights relating to the creation and exhibition of audiovisual works, etc.

In addition to a comprehensive reproduction of law texts either in French or in English, the originality of this database will be mainly due to a thematic classification according to a taxonomy based on the content of all documents.

It will therefore be possible, for each concept (for instance: "broadcasters’ obligations in the field of audiovisual production" or "repression of piracy by use of digital media" to have access to all legal provisions in force in the different concerned countries and to compare them to the provisions of international and European instruments that will also be included in the database according to the same classification as the law texts.

Classifying the documents by concept enables:

• a quick access to precise information;
• the possibility to immediately proceed to a comparative analysis;
• the certainty that all provisions relating to a concept are gathered in a unique heading, which avoids reading foreign or international law texts in full.

It is also very easy to update the database in order that the user will constantly have access to the text in force when consulting it.

Such a database will allow

• people to be aware of the current legal situation in the different countries;
• professionals of the audiovisual industry and their advisers to have an easy and free access to a highly important and useful information essential to securing production and exhibition operations;
• audiovisual policy officials to dispose of a comprehensive and updated comparative basis, with all international, European instruments and the legislation of the countries relating to the programme.

Studies

Implementing the database and most particularly classifying the texts according to thematic concepts thanks to a tree diagram will enable to draw up studies analysing the legislation in force in the countries concerned and comparing the latter to international and European instruments.

In addition to this legal analysis based on texts in force there will be an analysis of the concrete situation in each country so as to develop, if necessary, specific solutions to the situation of the concerned countries (for instance relating to piracy repressive measures).

Legal assistance

Identifying the needs, implementing the database and drawing up studies will enable to provide requesting authorities or organisations with a specific legal assistance.

The results will be at first presented during workshops or conferences while bilateral contacts could be established between interested parties and the EUROMED AUDIOVISUAL programme technical assistance.