Brazilian National Cinema Agency Proposes new Regulations for Video on Demand Services

On 23 December 2015, the Brazilian National Cinema Agency ("Ancine") published the draft of a "Normative Notice" aimed at setting general guidelines for the provision of Video on Demand (VOD) services in Brazil. The guidelines have been published for public consultation, and comments can be submitted via Ancine's website until March 22. Although the notice only sets out general guidelines and suggestions, and no specific rules have been proposed as of yet, it makes Ancine's intentions for the regulation of VOD services very clear. They specifically mention a few regulatory aims, such as the need of promoting Brazilian content (e.g., through mandatory national content quotas and mandatory investment in the Brazilian audiovisual industry), the payment of CONDECINE taxes by such services, the display of content ratings, the obligation of sharing revenue and content catalog data with the Brazilian government, among others. Ancine has also suggested the regulation of two separate categories, namely: "Video on Demand Services" (in which the content is previously organized in catalogs and offered to the public) and "Audiovisual Content Sharing Platforms" (where the content is uploaded by the users and organized mainly through algorithms). For instance, quotas requiring national content and mandatory investment in Brazilian audiovisual industry would not apply to the sharing platforms. For more information, please contact Flavia Rebello, Thais Carvalho or Enrico Roberto