Since the beginning of the 1990s, the sphere of culture has undergone two fundamental changes: decentralisation and the re-allocation of public responsibilities. The first period was about the privatisation of cultural industries that had been subordinated to the state until 1990 (film production, film studios, book production, and the music industries, etc). State circuses and variety shows were privatised as were other cultural institutions. The second period was linked to the territorial reform of public administration in the CR.
The MC established 82 state-funded organisations in 1998. By 2001 this number had decreased to 39 and there were only 29 such organisations in 2012, when the Prague State Opera and the National Theatre were merged. The majority of these organisations are libraries, museums, and galleries that were transferred to new regions and the state kept only those of national and international importance. Currently, the MC supports a total of 31 state-funded cultural organisations.
Alongside contributory organisations, the culture sector is also largely made up of networks of private cultural institutions and organisations or associations with various types of legal subjectivity that are more or less dependent on public support. This infrastructure covers every area of culture.
In conformity with Civic Code No. 89/2012 Coll., private non-profit cultural institutions usually take the legal form of registered institutes, civic associations, public benefit organisations, foundations, endowment funds, and religious legal entities. The overall cultural infrastructure includes also cultural organisations oriented towards profit and other types of legal subjects such as public limited companies or limited liability companies. Nevertheless, other than the distinguishing feature of whether or not a given cultural institution receives support from public financial resources, there are no clear rules that determine what is or is not a for-profit organisation.
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