Under the supervision of the Minister of Cultural Affairs, Mrs. Amina Sarafi, the General Directorate of Performing and Audiovisual Arts, in partnership with the Tunisian Institute for Copyright and Related Rights and the National Center for Cinema and Image, organized a study day on copyright and related rights in the film sector, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at Omar Khlifi Hall in the City of Culture Chadli Klibi.
The Independent Syndicate of Productive Directors also participated in the furnishing of this study day, in the presence of representatives of the General Directorate of Fiscal Legislation at the Ministry of Finance, Tunisian Television and the Ministry of Communication Technology, as well as producers, directors, experts, programmers, artists and technicians.
This meeting began with the presentation of various basic principles in the field of literary and artistic property, where a number of axes were addressed that affected the concept of the author (the original employer), the conditions for joining the Tunisian institution, and the most important charters ratified by Tunisia, including the Barn Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works dated September 9, 1886, the Universal Copyright Convention (or UNESCO Convention) of 1952, and Law No. 36 of February 24, 1994, revised and supplemented by Law No. 33 of 2009 dated 23 June 2009
In the second theme, the issues of production and exploitation of audiovisual and cinematic works were also addressed through the issue of production contracts in which the technical, economic and legal aspects intersect and the role of the Tunisian Institute for Copyright and Related Rights, which has a system of collective disposition, and its tasks include collecting material revenues for the artistic impact when displayed in halls or on exhibition platforms, extracting and distributing dues, at the request of the artist affiliated with the Tunisian Institute for Copyright and Related Rights, as well as addressing the issue of tax legislation and the coverage support fund. The social of the artist, whose abilities come from a known person who is employed on tickets acquired during all cultural events.
As for the exploitation of audiovisual and cinematic works on screens and through halls, details were presented on the distributor's relationship with the producer, cinemas, exhibition platforms such as YouTube and IPTV, broadcasting structures in public and private televisions, as well as illegal exploitation, mainly piracy, quotation and manipulation of the content of the artistic impact without prior authorization from the original employer.
In the third dialogue meeting, the models of contracts in the audiovisual and cinematic field were discussed, a comparative presentation of the various models of foreign contracts (France, Britain and Canada) and the issue of the transfer of rights in the audiovisual field, which means the use of audiovisual materials from one person or entity to another and the sale or transfer of rights in television, radio or film programs.
This study day concluded with a number of recommendations, namely: continuing work on this initiative to include the rest of the artistic sectors, organizing specialized workshops to draft work contracts for audiovisual and cinematic works, creating a mechanism for registering contracts, inviting all artists to join the Tunisian Institute for Copyright and Related Rights, discussing ways to deal with artificial intelligence, and the need to formulate regulatory texts to contribute to the social coverage of artists.