Council Resolution

of 24 November 2003

on the deposit of cinematographic works in the European Union

(2003/C 295/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Whereas:

(1) The Council Resolution of 26 June 2000(1) on the Conservation and enhancement of European cinema heritage calls on Member States to cooperate in the restoration and conservation of cinema heritage including through recourse to digital technologies, to exchange good practice in this sector, to encourage progressive networking of European archival data and to consider the possible use of these collections for educational purposes;

(2) The Commission Communication on certain legal aspects relating to cinematographic and other audiovisual works(2) examined the legal deposit of audiovisual works at the national or regional level as one of possible ways of conserving and safeguarding the European audiovisual heritage and launched a stocktaking exercise of the situation of deposit of cinematographic works in Member States, candidate countries and EFTA countries;

(3) The Council (Cultural/Audiovisual affairs) at its meeting of 5 November 2001 welcomed the content of the Commission Communication and the approach taken by the Commission;

(4) The European Parliament, in its Report on the Commission Communication on cinema of 5 June 2002, also underlined the importance of safeguarding the cinematographic heritage.

RECALLS that the Council of Europe Convention for the protection of the Audiovisual Heritage requires its State Parties to "introduce, by legislative or other appropriate means, the obligation to deposit moving image material forming part of its audiovisual heritage and having been produced or co-produced" in its territory. The Convention, that also calls for voluntary deposit of moving image material forming part of its audiovisual heritage as well as ancillary material, was open for signature on 8 November 2001 and has been signed by 4 EU Member States;

TAKES NOTE that the Commission stocktaking exercise shows that at least two-thirds of Member States have a system of compulsory deposit for all cinematographic works, or at least for those that have received public support;

REAFFIRMS that European cinematographic works are an essential manifestation of the richness and diversity of the European cultures and that they constitute a heritage that has to be conserved and safeguarded for future generations;

STRESSES that European cinematographic works forming part of Member States' audiovisual heritage shall be systematically deposited in national, regional or other archives, in order to ensure their preservation;

INVITES THE MEMBER STATES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES TO:

1. Put in place efficient systems of deposit and preservation of the cinematographic works forming part of their audiovisual heritage in their national archives, film institutes or similar institutions, if such systems do not yet exist. The systems should cover national cinematographic works as far as practicable, or at least, those cinematographic works that have received public support at national and/or Community level. The systems could be based on a legal or contractual obligation, or on other measures having the same effect in terms of preserving the cinematographic heritage.

2. Provide for the possibility of educational, cultural or research use, or other non-commercial use of similar nature, of deposited cinematographic works, in all cases in compliance with copyright and related rights.

3. Exchange good practice and co-operate with each other in this area;

INVITES THE COMMISSION TO:

1. Consider possible ways to develop further cooperation between Member States in this field in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, concerning for example:

- the exchange of information on deposit and preservation of important European films,

- the encouragement of cooperation between film archives,

- the improvement of coordination of inventories of film collections,

- the increase of young persons' knowledge of European cinematographic heritage,

- the taking into account of film heritage in actions and initiatives to promote media literacy.

2. Continue the exchange of experiences and best practices from Member States in the group of cinema experts already established by it, and report to the Council on the progress achieved.

(1) OJ C 193, 11.7.2000.

(2) Doc. 12258/01 AUDIO 32, COM(2001) 534 final, 26.9.2001.