Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of  16 November 2005  on film heritage and the competitiveness of related industrial activities
Date: 2005-11-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: competitiveness, cultural heritage, film industry, heritage protection

9.12.2005

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Official Journal of the European Union

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II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL

RECOMMENDATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on film heritage and the competitiveness of related industrial activities

of 16 November 2005

(2005/865/CE)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

(3)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 157 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2), After consulting the Committee of the
Regions,

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1) Article 151(4) of the Treaty stipulates that the Commu-
nity is to take cultural aspects into account in its action
under other provisions of the Treaty,
in particular in
order to respect and to promote the diversity of its
cultures.

(2) Cinematography is an art form contained on a fragile
medium, which therefore requires positive action from
the public
its preservation.
Cinematographic works are an essential component of
our cultural heritage and therefore merit full protection.

to ensure

authorities

(1) OJ C 123, 30.4.2004, p. 4.
(2) OJ C 74, 23.3.2005, p. 18.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 10 May 2005 (not yet
Journal) and Council Decision of

published in the Official
24 October 2005.

In addition to their cultural value, cinematographic
works are a source of historical
information about
European society. They are a comprehensive witness to
the history of the richness of Europe's cultural identities
and the diversity of its people. Cinematographic images
are a crucial element for learning about the past and for
civic reflection upon our civilisation.

(4) This Recommendation aims to foster better exploitation
of the industrial and cultural potential of European film
heritage by encouraging policies of innovation, research
and technological development in the field of conserva-
tion and restoration of cinematographic works. The
actions recommended below aim to ensure that the
conditions necessary for
the
Community's film industry exist and accelerate the
development of its competitiveness.

the competitiveness of

(5)

Film heritage is an important component of the film
industry and encouraging its conservation, restoration
and exploitation can contribute to improving the
competitiveness of that industry.

(6) The development of the European film industry is of vital
importance for Europe in view of its significant potential
in the fields of access to culture, economic development
and job creation. This refers not only to the production
and showing of
films, but also to the collection,
cataloguing, preservation and restoration of cinemato-
graphic works. The conditions for the competitiveness of
these industrial activities related to film heritage need to
regards better use of
especially as
be
technological developments such as digitisation.

improved,

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(7)

Full achievement of this potential requires the existence
of a successful and innovative film industry in the
Community. This can be facilitated by improving the
conditions of conservation, restoration and exploitation
of
film heritage and by removing obstacles to the
development and full competitiveness of the industry, in
particular by the collection, cataloguing, preservation
and restoration of the film heritage and by making it
accessible for educational, cultural, research or other
non-commercial uses of a similar nature, in all cases in
compliance with copyright and related rights.

(13)

In its Resolution of 2 July 2002 (3) on the Commission
Communication, the European Parliament underlined the
importance of safeguarding the cinematographic heritage
and supported the approach of the European Convention
for the Protection of the Audiovisual Heritage, which is
an important reference in times of intensive technolo-
gical changes. The gradual switchover to digital technol-
ogies will allow for greater competitiveness of
the
European film industry and contribute in the longer
term to a reduction in costs in cataloguing, depositing,
conserving and restoring audiovisual works. At the same
time, it will create new opportunities for innovation in
the field of protection of film heritage.

(8) The general competitiveness of the film industry will
improve through the development of an environment
that
favours cooperation between designated bodies,
which could be European, national or regional archives,
institutions, on matters
film institutes or
similar
film
concerning the conservation and protection of
heritage.

(9) Council Resolution of 26 June 2000 on the conservation
and enhancement of European cinema heritage (1) called
on Member States to cooperate in the restoration and
conservation of cinema heritage,
including through
to exchange good
technologies,
recourse to digital
practice in this sector, to encourage progressive network-
ing of European archival data and to consider
the
possible use of
educational
purposes.

collections

these

for

(14) Council Resolution of 24 November 2003 on the deposit
of cinematographic works in the European Union (4)
invited Member States to put in place an efficient system
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.

(15) All Member States already have systems in place for
collecting and preserving cinematographic works form-
ing part of their audiovisual heritage. Four-fifths of these
systems are based on a legal or contractual obligation to
deposit all films, or at least those films that have received
public funding.

(10) The European Convention for the Protection of

the
Audiovisual Heritage provides that each Party has 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 the territory of the Party concerned.

(16)

’ means any set of moving
‘Moving-image material
images recorded by whatever means and on whatever
medium, whether or not accompanied by sound, capable
of conveying an impression of movement.

(11) The Commission Communication of 26 September 2001
on certain legal aspects relating to cinematographic and
other audiovisual works (2) examined the legal deposit of
audiovisual works at national or regional level as one of
the possible ways of conserving and safeguarding the
European audiovisual heritage and launched a stock-
taking exercise of the situation regarding the deposit of
cinematographic works in the Member States.

(12) At

the Council

(Cultural/Audiovisual Affairs)

of
5 November 2001, the President of the Council noted
that the content of the Commission Communication had
been favourably received by the Council.

(17)

‘Cinematographic work’ means moving-image material of
in particular cinematographic works of
any length,
fiction, cartoons and documentaries, which is intended
to be shown in cinemas.

(18)

‘Cinematographic works forming part of their audio-
visual heritage’ means film productions including co-
productions with other Member States and/or third
countries, qualified as such by Member States or bodies
designated by them, on the basis of objective, transparent
and non-discriminatory criteria. The audiovisual her-
itages of the Member States taken together constitute the
European audiovisual heritage.

(1) OJ C 193, 11.7.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 43, 16.2.2002, p. 6.

(3) OJ C 271 E, 12.11.2003, p. 176.
(4) OJ C 295, 5.12.2003, p. 5.

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(19)

In order to ensure that the European film heritage is
passed down to future generations,
to be
systematically
catalogued, preserved and
collected,
restored in all cases in compliance with copyright and
related rights.

it has

HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT MEMBER STATES improve condi-
tions of conservation, restoration and exploitation of film
heritage and remove obstacles to the development and full
competitiveness of the European film industry by:

(20) European film heritage should be made more accessible
for educational, cultural, research or other non-commer-
cial uses of a similar nature, in all cases in compliance
with copyright and related rights.

(21) Transferring the possession of cinematographic works to
archiving bodies does not imply transferring copyright
and related rights to them.

in the information society (1)

(22) Article 5(2)(c) of Directive 2001/29/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the
harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related
that
rights
Member States may provide for an exception or
limitation in respect of specific acts of reproduction
made by publicly accessible libraries or by archives which
are not for direct or indirect economic or commercial
advantage,

stipulates

TAKE NOTE OF THE COMMISSION'S INTENTION:

1.

to consider making it compulsory for the beneficiaries of
EU funding to deposit a copy of European films that have
obtained EU funding in at least one national archive;

2.

to support cooperation between designated bodies;

to consider the funding of research projects in the fields
of long-term preservation and restoration of films;

to promote European standardisation on film catalo-
guing, with the purpose of improving the interoperability
of databases, including by co-financing standardisation
projects and by enhancing the exchange of best practices,
while respecting linguistic diversity;

to facilitate the negotiation of a standard contract at
European level between designated bodies and rights-
holders stipulating the conditions under which desig-
nated bodies may make deposited cinematographic
works accessible to the public;

3.

4.

5.

6.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

fostering an enhanced exploitation of the industrial and
cultural potential of the European film heritage through
systematic conservation and restoration measures by
encouraging policies of innovation, research and tech-
nological development in the field of conservation and
restoration of cinematographic works;

adopting, by 16 November 200716 November 2007,
legislative, administrative or other appropriate measures
to ensure that cinematographic works forming part of
their audiovisual heritage are systematically collected,
catalogued, preserved, restored and made accessible for
educational, cultural, research or other non-commercial
uses of a similar nature, in all cases in compliance with
copyright and related rights;

designating the appropriate bodies to carry out the tasks
of public interest described in point 2 with independence
and professionalism, ensuring that they are provided
with the best available financial and technical resources;

encouraging the designated bodies to specify, in agree-
ment or by contract with rights-holders, the conditions
under which deposited cinematographic works may be
made available to the public;

considering, notably with a view to promoting film
heritage,
film
academies or similar bodies;

supporting national

establishing or

adopting appropriate measures to increase the use of
digital and new technologies in the collection, catalo-
guing, preservation and restoration of cinematographic
works;

to monitor and assess the extent to which the measures
set out in this Recommendation are working effectively,
and to consider the need for further action.

Collection

(1) OJ L 167, 22.6.2001, p. 10.

7.

undertaking the systematic collection of cinematographic
works forming part of their audiovisual heritage through
a mandatory legal or contractual deposit of at least one
high quality copy of such cinematographic works with
designated bodies. When setting the conditions for the

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deposit, Member States should ensure that:

(a)

the reproduction of films on new storage mediums,

(a)

during a transitional period they cover
those
productions or co-productions that have received
public funding at national or regional level; after
this transitional period has elapsed, they should
cover, as far as practicable, all productions, includ-
ing those which did not receive any public funding,

(b)

the deposited cinematographic works are of good
technical quality, so as to facilitate preservation and
reproducibility, with accompanying metadata in
standardised form, as appropriate,

(c)

deposit takes place when the film is made available
to the public, and in any case not more than two
years later;

Cataloguing and creation of databases

8.

9.

adopting appropriate measures (which might eventually
lead to an archiving code of film production) to promote
the cataloguing and indexing of deposited cinemato-
graphic works and to encourage the creation of databases
containing information about the films, making use of
European and international standards;

promoting European standardisation and interoperability
of databases of filmography and their availability to the
public,
through the Internet, especially
through the active involvement of designated bodies;

for instance,

10. exploring the possibility of establishing a network of
databases encompassing the European audiovisual heri-
in
tage
particular the Council of Europe (Eurimages and the
European Audiovisual Observatory);

relevant organisations,

together with the

(b)

the preservation of equipment for showing cine-
matographic works on different mediums;

Restoration

13.

introducing all appropriate measures in order to permit,
within their legislation, the reproduction of deposited
cinematographic works for the purpose of restoration
while allowing rights-holders
from the
improved industrial potential of their works resulting
from that restoration on the basis of an agreement
between all interested parties;

to benefit

14. encouraging projects for the restoration of old films or

films with high cultural or historical value;

Making deposited cinematographic works accessible for educational, cultural,
research or other non-commercial uses of a similar nature

15. adopting the necessary legislative or administrative
measures to allow designated bodies to make deposited
cinematographic works accessible for educational, cul-
tural, research or other non-commercial uses of a similar
nature, in all cases in compliance with copyright and
related rights;

16.

taking appropriate measures to ensure access for people
with disabilities to deposited cinematographic works, in
all cases in compliance with copyright and related rights;

Professional training and media literacy

11.

inviting archiving bodies to give value to stocks by
organising them in collections at EU level, for instance,
by theme, author and period;

17. promoting professional training in all fields related to
film heritage to foster an enhanced exploitation of the
industrial potential of film heritage;

Preservation

18. promoting the use of

film heritage as a way of
strengthening the European dimension in education
and promoting cultural diversity;

12. adopting legislation or using other methods in accor-
dance with national practices
to ensure
preservation of deposited cinematographic works. Pre-
servation measures should include, in particular:

in order

19.

fostering and promoting visual education, film studies
and media literacy in education at all levels, professional
training programmes and European programmes;

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20. promoting close cooperation between producers, dis-
tributors, broadcasters and film institutes for educational
purposes while respecting copyright and related rights;

Deposit

21. considering the putting in place of a system of voluntary

or mandatory deposit of:

(a)

ancillary and publicity material related to cinemato-
graphic works
the national
forming part of
audiovisual heritage,

(b)

cinematographic works forming part of national
audiovisual heritages from other countries,

(a)

(b)

ensure the coherence of collection and conservation
methods and the interoperability of databases,

release, for example on DVDs, archival material with
subtitles in as many European Union languages as
possible, in all cases in compliance with copyright
and related rights,

(c)

compile a European filmography,

(d) develop a common standard for electronic informa-

tion exchange,

(e)

produce common research and educational projects,
while promoting the development of European
networks of cinema schools and museums;

(c) moving-image material other than cinematographic

Follow-up to this Recommendation

works,

(d)

cinematographic works of the past;

23.

informing the Commission every two years of action
taken in response to this Recommendation.

Cooperation between designated bodies

Done at Strasbourg, 16 November 2005.

22. encouraging, and supporting designated bodies for the
purpose of exchanging information and coordinating
their activities at national and European levels in order
for example, to:

For the European Parliament
The President
J. BORRELL FONTELLES

For the Council
The President
Bach of LUTTERWORTH