Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Cinema Law No. 31/2009/QH12

LAW

Amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Cinema Law

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BASED ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM IN 1992 AS AMENDED AND COMPLEMENTED BY RESOLUTION NO. 51/2001/QH10;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Cinema Law number 62/2006/QH11.

Article 1.

Amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Cinema Law.

1. Clause 2 of Article 13 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Foreign organizations and individuals, overseas Vietnamese are entitled to cooperate with Vietnamese film production enterprises, film distribution enterprises, and film dissemination enterprises under the form of business cooperation contracts or establishing joint ventures.

In the case of investment through joint ventures, the foreign investor's capital contribution shall not exceed 51% of the statutory capital.”

2. Point b of Clause 2 and point c of Clause 3 of Article 14 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2.

b) The Director or General Director must meet the criteria stipulated in Article 15 of this Law.

3.

c) The curriculum vitae of the person proposed to be appointed as the Director or General Director of a film production enterprise must be confirmed by the competent authority.”

3. Clause 3 of Article 15 is abolished.

4. Clause 3 of Article 24 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“3. For films using state budget funds, the project investor for film production must establish a script review board; decide on the bidding method according to the laws on bidding to select film production projects, ensuring the quality of the work and economic-social efficiency.

The Government shall specify this clause.”

5. Article 25 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 25. Film Production for Television

The production of television films by Vietnam Television, radio-television stations, and radio-television stations licensed to operate press activities (hereinafter referred to collectively as television stations and radio-television stations) shall be decided by the head of the television station or radio-television station to invest and organize the production of films for broadcast on television, in accordance with the provisions of the law.”

"2. The door of the treasury shall be equipped with a code lock, each member managing a lock number shall set their own code and accurately record it on paper; two to three codes must be recorded for daily use and frequently changed. Each person's code shall be sealed in a separate envelope, kept in a separate safe along with the currently used key. If the code is forgotten, permission to unseal and reseal the envelope is allowed. In case of using a different code outside those sealed, a written report must be submitted to the Director; upon approval, procedures for opening the spare key box, changing the code, and sending the spare key of the treasury door in accordance with Article 31 of this Circular shall be followed."

“2. Only films on celluloid, film tapes, and film discs that have been granted a dissemination permit by the competent state management agency for cinema or have been approved for broadcasting by the head of the television station or radio-television station may be sold or rented; film tapes and discs must be labeled with the control label of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.”

7. Clause 2 of Article 29 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Only films on celluloid, film tapes, and film discs that have been granted a dissemination permit by the competent state management agency for cinema or have been approved for broadcasting by the head of the television station or radio-television station may be printed, duplicated, and distributed. Printing and duplication of films on celluloid, film tapes, and film discs must be done under a written contract with the film owner.”

8. Point a of Clause 1, Clause 3, and Clause 5 of Article 30 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1.

a) Exported films must have a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema.

Exported films produced by Vietnam Television must have a broadcasting decision from the head of Vietnam Television; exported films produced by radio-television stations licensed to operate press activities must have a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema.

Exported film tapes and discs must be labeled with the control label of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism;

3. Film production enterprises are entitled to export and import films in accordance with the laws on export and import.

5. Radio-television stations are entitled to export films they produce and import films for broadcasting on television.”

9. Clause 3 of Article 33 is amended and supplemented as follows:

“3. Film screening organizations that have a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or have been approved for broadcasting by the head of the television station or radio-television station.”

10. Clause 1 of Article 35 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1. Films that have a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or have been approved for broadcasting by the head of the television station or radio-television station;”

11. Clause 3 of Article 37 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“3. Films produced and imported by radio-television stations that have been approved for broadcasting on the radio-television station can be disseminated nationwide.”

12. Point b and point c of Clause 1 of Article 38 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“b) The Government shall base its decision to delegate the issuance of dissemination permits for films produced and imported by film establishments under the management of provinces and centrally-run cities on the number of such films; it shall decide to delegate the issuance of dissemination permits for films produced and imported by local film production establishments, private film establishments operating within their territory, and exported films produced by radio-television stations licensed to operate press activities and approved for broadcasting to the People's Committees of those provinces and centrally-run cities;

c) The head of the radio-television station shall decide and bear responsibility for broadcasting films on his/her own radio-television station.”

13. Point c of Clause 1 of Article 39 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“c) The film review board of the radio-television station shall be established by the head of the radio-television station;”

14. Clause 4 of Article 39 shall be added as follows:

“4. The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall specify the organization and operation of the film review board provided for in Clause 1 of Article 39.”

15. Clause 2 of Article 40 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Advertising about films shall be regulated as follows:

a) Film production enterprises, radio-television stations are entitled to introduce information related to the film during the preparation and production process;

b) Film production enterprises, radio-television stations shall not broadcast the entire content of the film for advertising purposes before obtaining a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or approval for broadcasting from the head of the radio-television station.”

16. Point d of Clause 1 of Article 41, point a and point b of Clause 2 of Article 41 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1.

d) Films participating in film festivals must have a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or have been approved for broadcasting by the head of the radio-television station.

2.

a) Film production bases, film distribution entities, film dissemination entities, television stations, radio and television stations have the right to participate in international film festivals, international film markets, and organize Vietnamese film days abroad;

b) Films participating in international film festivals, international film markets, and Vietnamese film days abroad must have a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or a broadcasting decision from the head of the television station or radio and television station;

17. Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 42 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Television stations and radio and television stations may organize television film festivals and must obtain approval from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, except in cases provided for in Clause 1 of this Article. The procedures for obtaining approval shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 3 of Article 41 of this Law.

3. Films participating in television film festivals must have a broadcasting decision from the head of the television station or radio and television station.”

18. Clause 4 of Article 46 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“4. Film storage facilities belonging to television stations and radio and television stations store their own films.”

19. Clause 1 of Article 48 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1. The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Inspectorate of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism shall perform specialized inspection functions related to cinema.”

20. Clause 6 of Article 49 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“6. No script review board shall be established, and no bidding process shall be organized for film production using state budget funds as stipulated in Clause 3 of Article 24 of this Law.”

21. Clauses 1, 5, and 7 of Article 50 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1. Distributing films without a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or without a broadcasting decision from the head of the television station or radio and television station.

5. Exporting films without a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or without a broadcasting decision from the head of the television station or radio and television station.

7. Importing films not in accordance with the provisions of Clause 2 of Article 30 of this Law.”

22. Clause 1 of Article 51 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“1. Screening or broadcasting films without a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema or without a broadcasting decision from the head of the television station or radio and television station.”

23. Clause 6 of Article 52 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“6. Film storage facilities selling or renting films without the consent of the film owner, without a dissemination permit from the competent state management agency for cinema, or without a broadcasting decision from the head of the television station or radio and television station.”

Article 2.

Replace the phrase "Ministry of Culture and Information" with the phrase "Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism" in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 9, Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 14, Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 18, Clause 3 of Article 21, Clause 1 and Clause 3 of Article 23, Clause 2 of Article 32, Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 38, Clause 1 of Article 39, Article 41, Clause 1 and Clause 3 of Article 43, Clause 1 and Clause 3 of Article 44, Clause 2 of Article 46, Clause 5 of Article 47, Clause 3 of Article 49, Clause 3 and Clause 6 of Article 50, Clause 3 of Article 51, Clause 7 of Article 52 of the Cinema Law.

Article 3.

1. This Law shall take effect from October 1, 2009.

2. The Government shall provide detailed regulations and guidance on implementing the provisions assigned in the Law; provide necessary guidance on other contents of this Law to meet the requirements of state management.

This Law was passed by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its twelfth session, fifth meeting on June 18, 2009./.