The Act on Establishing Ministries and other Central Administrative Bodies, dating from 1969, clarifies the responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture (see also 1.2.2).
Regulations were created to apply to the field of culture in general, and not to focus specifically on one discipline, and were introduced under Act No. 203/2006 Coll. on Some Kinds of Cultural Support and Amendments to Related Regulations. This Act defines the term ‘public cultural service’ and it covers some kinds of state support; for example, it specifies the newly introduced term ‘contribution for creative and study purposes’, which enables selection procedures for scholarships for artists and allows state guarantees for borrowed objects that had hitherto been lacking in the Czech legal system. The Act also defines state-funded organisations in the field of culture and it allows their establishment, division, merging, or cancellation. It describes the process of the insurance of property borrowed by a state-funded organisation for exhibition purposes.
There is no specific legislation to which the formation of cultural policy is subject. Financing for cultural organisations and the procedure for business entities and individuals are defined by the budget rules of the Republic .
The long-discussed proposal for a law allowing the establishment of public institutions in the field of culture is also missing. This act should fundamentally transform the environment in which cultural contributory organisations and organisations at the lower administrative level operate. The new legislation should seek to:
- enable multiple subjects in public administration to jointly establish institutions;
- enable a balance between political and professional responsibility for the management of an institution and thereby increase the effectiveness and quality of its management – for example, statutory bodies should be appointed and dismissed according to precisely defined rules by their administrative boards;
- ensure funding in a medium-term outlook and the autonomous use of funds and reserves;
- make it possible to optimise the tax status of institutions;
- enable the creation of a sensible system for organising and awarding public commissions and tenders.
There is no specific legislation which defines what an artist is.
Mechanisms focused on the support to culture from extra-budgetary sources are covered by Act No. 239/1992 Coll. on the State Cultural Fund of the CR and Act No. 496/2012 Coll., on Audio-Visual Works and Support for Cinematography and on the Amendment of Certain Legislation (Audio-Visual Acts), which stipulates the terms of operation of the State Film Fund.
The Act on the State Cultural Fund defines the financial sources of the Fund, i.e. incomes from renting real estate, ‘bona vacantia’ copyright fees, and interest from bank account savings. In 2011 an amendment to the Act on Czech Television made it possible to secure another source of financing for the Fund from revenue from advertising broadcast on Czech Television Programme 2.
The Act on Audio-Visual Works defines the sources of funding for the State Film Fund. There was also a change from the previous act in the terms of payment for the organisers of cinematographic presentations, where in the place of the existing practice where organisers of a public presentation pay a fee of 1 CZK to the Fund, collected via admission tickets, under the new act the organiser of a cinematographic presentation will pay a fee of 1% of the basic admission price to a cinematographic presentation.
Act No. 203/2006 Coll. on Some Forms of Support for Culture and on Changes to Some Related Acts as Amended in Act No. 227/2009 Coll. defines public cultural services and also enables the formation, division, and dissolution of the contributory organisations of the Ministry of Culture. This Act also establishes the procedure involved when the state acts as guarantor for exhibition loans and it defines grants for creative and study purposes provided by the state.
In May 2020 Act No. 247/2020 Coll., on Certain Measures to Mitigate the Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic Known as SARS CoV-2 on Cultural Events came into effect. The Act dealt with the matter of vouchers for cultural events scheduled to be held up to the date of 31 October 2020. In conformity with the Act customers were required by 31 March 2021 to request organisers for a voucher for a cultural event and the organiser was required to issue the customer with such a voucher with a value at least equal to that of the admission price that has already been paid.
Table 4: List of existing cultural legislation
|
Title of the act |
Year of adoption |
|
Act on the Establishment of Ministries and Other Central Bodies of State Administration of Czechoslovakia |
Act No. 2/1969 Coll., as amended |
|
Act Abolishing Certain Legal Regulations in the Culture Sector |
Act No. 165/1992 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Certain Forms of Support for Culture and on an Amendment to Certain Related Acts |
Act No. 203/2006 Coll. as amended |
|
Act on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright (Copyright Act) |
Act No. 121/2000 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Collective Management of Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright |
Act No. 237/1995 Coll. as amended |
|
Act on the State Cultural Fund of the CR |
Act No. 239/1992 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Audio-visual Works and Support for Cinematography (Audio-visuals Act) |
Act No. 496/2012 Coll., as amended |
|
Government Regulation on Awards in the Culture Sector Handed Out by the MC |
Government Regulation No. 5/2003 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the National Gallery in Prague |
Act No. 148/1949 Coll. |
|
Decree of the President of the Republic on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra |
Decree No. 129/1945 Coll. |
|
Act on State Heritage Conservation |
Act No. 20/1987 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Protection of Museum-type Collections |
Act No. 122/2000 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Sale and Export of Objects of Cultural Value |
Act No. 71/1994 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Return of Illegally Exported Cultural Goods |
Act No. 101/2001 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Export of Certain Cultural Goods from the Customs Territory of the European Communities |
Act No. 214/2002 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Non-periodical Publications |
Act No. 37/1995 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Libraries and the Conditions of Operating Public Library and Information Services (Library Act) |
Act No. 257/2001 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Rights and Obligations Attached to the Publication of the Periodic Press (Press Act) |
Act No. 46/2000 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Conditions of the Production, Distribution, and Archiving of Audio-visual Works |
Act No. 273/1993 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Radio and Television Broadcasting Operations |
Act No. 231/2001 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Czech Television |
Act No. 483/1991 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Czech Radio |
Act No. 484/1991 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Czech Press Agency |
Act No. 517/1992 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Dissolution of Czechoslovak Radio, Czechoslovak Television and the Czechoslovak Press Agency |
Act No. 597/1992 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Certain Arrangements in the Field of Radio and Television Broadcasting |
Act No. 36/1993 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Radio and Television Fees |
Act No. 348/2005 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Audio-visual Media Services on Demand |
Act No. 132/2010 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Protection of Certain Services in the Area of Radio and Television Broadcasting and Information Society Services |
Act No. 206/2005 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on the Amendment of Certain Legislation in Connection with the Introduction of Basic Registers |
Act No. 142/2012 Coll. as amended in Act No. 186/2013 Coll. |
|
Act on Freedom of Religious Faith and on the Status of Churches and Religious Studies, and on an Amendment to Certain Acts |
Act No. 3/2002 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Certain Property Relations of the Monastic Orders and Congregations and the Archdiocese of Olomouc |
Act No. 298/1990 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Property Settlement with Churches and Religious Societies and on an Amendment to Certain Acts |
Act No. 428/2012 Coll., as amended |
|
Act on Certain Measures to Mitigate the Effects of the Coronavius Pandemic Known as SARS CoV-2 on Cultural Events |
Act No. 247/2020 Coll., as amended |
Table 5: List of conventions and other international legal instruments related to culture
|
Title of the act |
Year of adoption in CR |
|
UNESCO |
|
|
Agreement for Facilitating the International Circulation of Visual and Auditory Materials of an Educational, Scientific and Cultural Character Beirut, 10.12. 1948 |
1997 No. 101/1998 Coll. |
|
Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials with Annexes A to E and Protocol annexed Florence, 17.6.1950 and Nairobi, 26.11.1976 |
1997 No. 102/1998 Coll. and No. 103/1998 Coll. |
|
Universal Copyright Convention Geneva, 6.9.1952 and Paris, 24.7.1971 |
Czechoslovakia 1960 and 1980 No. 2/1960, No. 16/1960 and No. 134/1980 Coll.; CR since 1993 |
|
Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict The related Protocol and the Second Protocol on the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict Den Haag, 14.5.1954; Den Haag, 26.3.1999 |
1958 and 1997; No. 94/1958 Coll. and No. 71/2007 Coll. |
|
Convention Concerning the International Exchange of Publications Paris, 3.12.1958 |
1965 No. 12/1965 Coll. |
|
Convention Concerning the Exchange of Official Publications and Government Documents between States Paris, 3.12.1958 |
1965 No. 12/1965 Coll. |
|
International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations Rome 26.10.1961 |
Czechoslovakia 1964 No. 192/1964 Coll.; CR since 1993 |
|
Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property Paris, 14.11.1970 |
1980 No. 15/1980 Coll. |
|
Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms Geneva, 29.10.1971 |
Czechoslovakia 1985 No. 32/1985 Coll.; CR since 1993 |
|
Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Paris, 16.11.1972 |
1991 No. 159/1991 Coll. |
|
Multilateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright Royalties Madrid, 13.12.1979 |
CR since 1993 |
|
Convention relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite Brussels, 21.05.1974 |
The CR is not yet a party to the Convention |
|
Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Paris, 17.10. 2003 |
The CR is not yet a party to the Convention |
|
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Paris, 17.10.2003 |
2009 No. 39/2009 Coll. |
|
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions Paris, 20.10. 2005 |
2010 No. 93/2010 Coll. |
|
WIPO |
|
|
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works dated 8.9.1886 (Paris Revision 1971) |
Czechoslovakia 1921; CR since 1993 |
|
International Convention on the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations, concluded in Rome on 26.10.1961 |
Czechoslovakia 1964; CR since 1993 |
|
Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms, agreed in Geneva on 29.10.1971 |
Czechoslovakia 1985; CR since 1993 |
|
Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite, agreed in Brussels, 21.5.1974 |
The CR is not yet a party to the convention |
|
WIPO Copyright Treaty (Geneva 1996) |
2002 |
|
World Organization of Intellectual Property (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty (Geneva 1996) |
2002 |
|
WTO |
|
|
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), Annex 1C to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation, from 15.4.1994 |
since 1996, and 2000 |
|
Council of Europe |
|
|
European Cultural Convention Strasbourg 19. 12. 1954 |
The CR became a party to the Convention on the date of accession to the Council of Europe 1.1. 1993 |
|
European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production Strasbourg 24. 2. 1997 |
1997 No. 26/2000 Coll. |
|
European Convention on Transfrontier Television Strasbourg, 5. 5. 1989 Protocol amending the European Convention on Transfrontier Television, Strasbourg, l. 10. 1998 |
2004 No. 57/2004 Coll. |
|
European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage, Valleta, 16. 1.1992 |
2000 No. 99/2000 Coll. |
|
Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, Granada 3. 10. 1985 |
2000 No. 73/2000 Coll. |
|
European Landscape Convention, Florence 20. 10. 2000 |
2005 No.13/2005 Coll. |
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