Sweden

Last update: November, 2016

The Swedish Constitution (Grundlagen) consists of four Fundamental Laws; the Instrument of Government, the Act of Succession, the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression. The central provisions on how the state is to be governed are contained in the Instrument of Government. However, all of the fundamental laws except, perhaps, the Act of Succession (regulating the succession of the Swedish monarchy) contain regulations directly relevant to the field of arts and culture.

Article 2, Chapter 1 of the Instrument of Government (1975) concerns the basic principles of government:

Public power shall be exercised with respect to the equal worth of all, and the liberty and dignity of the private person. The personal, economic and cultural welfare of the private person shall be a fundamental aim of public activity. In particular, it shall be incumbent upon the public institutions to secure the right to health, employment, housing and education, and to promote social care and social security. Public institutions shall promote sustainable development leading to a good environment for present and future generations. Public institutions shall promote the ideals of democracy as guidelines in all sectors of society and protect the private and family lives of private persons. Public institutions shall promote the opportunity for all to attain participation and equality in society. The public institutions shall combat discrimination of persons on grounds of gender, colour, national or ethnic origin, linguistic or religious affiliation, functional disability, sexual orientation, age or other circumstance affecting the private person. Opportunities should be promoted for ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities to preserve and develop a cultural and social life of their own.

These regulations also regard cultural policy, which is often considered a part of the welfare state, and sometimes especially heritage policy is considered part of its environmental policy, promoting a “sustainable development leading to a good environment for present and future generations”. Sweden has a tradition of viewing cultural policy as a democratising force in society, guaranteeing equal access to culture, thus promoting “the opportunity for all to attain participation and equality in society”. ´´The last sentence of the paragraph quoted above, relates to minority culture; “Opportunities should be promoted for ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities to preserve and develop a cultural and social life of their own.”

In addition to articles on fundamental democratic rights and freedom of expression, information, religion, and assembly, there is a special Article 19 in Chapter 1 of the Instru­ment of Government concerning artists and artistic copy rights: ”Authors, artists and photographers shall own the rights to their works in accordance with rules laid down in law“. These issues are further regulated in special copyright legislation.

The Freedom of the Press Act (1766) is the oldest existing law on freedom of speech in the world, and in some ways the first. It regulates the principle of openness in government administration as well as freedom of speech in written media. The corresponding freedom of expression on radio, television and other transmissions, as well as in films, video recordings, sound recordings, and other recordings are further regulated in the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (1991).

Last update: November, 2016

The allocation of public funds to arts and culture is not typically regulated by law in Sweden. Public funds are instead determined on a yearly basis by the parliament when deciding on the national budget. The only major exception to this rule has long been Public Service broadcasting, which is funded by TV licence fees regulated in law. Some regulations regarding the Cultural Cooperation Model are, furthermore, regulated in the Law on certain government grants to regional cultural activities (2010:1919).

In all other subfields of cultural policy, this lack of specific legislations is a characteristic feature of Swedish cultural policy. Objectives are instead decided on either by parliament decision (as with the general cultural policy goals) or in the specific instructions given either in the national budget (by annual parliament decision) or by the government.

Last update: November, 2016

There is no comprehensive legal framework for artists in Sweden; general principles for social security and taxes apply. There are several artists' unions representing their members in labour market negotiations. These also function as lobbying groups with the government and the public authorities. In general, artists have lower incomes than the average person, which affects general social security for the individual.

Self-employed artists have specific problems vis-à-vis public health insurance, pensions and unemployment insurance, since their business, often small-sized, is not comparable to the other trade or enterprise. Some of the specific national or regional grants to individual artists are not taxable (one- and two-year scholarships) and thus, cannot be included in the life- income that relates to their pension.

Government support is given for intermediary employment centres within the fields of theatre, music, photography and film, for data banks, and for training facilities for professional dancers and actors during periods between job contracts.

Last update: November, 2016

The general tax system also applies to artists. This means – among other things - that all costs incurred in order to earn an income are tax deductible, if the income is generated from professional activities. Self-employed artists face a number of problems within the current tax system: for example, basic pensions are calculated on the taxable income generated over their lifetime and as most scholarships or grants are not taxable, they are not included in the overall total of lifetime income.

One of the few special regulations that exist for arts and culture is that of value added tax on books; in 2001, the 25% VAT rate on books was lowered to 6% by the parliament.

The issue of corporate sponsorship in the arts has been under much debate in recent years, both in the media and in political fora. Culture and Business (Kultur och näringsliv) is a forum especially created to further debate, obtain contacts and experiences from joint projects, and to source financial contributions from the market. So far there are no special

Enabling tax deductions for donations to culture, science and other forms of public good have been discussed, especially after the election of a non-socialist government in 2006. The Cultural Policy Commission (SOU 2009:16) concluded that such measures would greatly benefit culture. It should be noted that the Commission's expert from the Ministry of Finance publicly advised against this conclusion. The Commission for Incentives for Gifts, which published its report (SOU 2009:59) in 2009, was, furthermore, sceptical of such reforms in favour of any area and entirely ignored all issues relating to culture. A change in this direction is thus unlikely.

Last update: November, 2016

There are no special labour law regulations for arts and culture. Instead, the general legislation on labour is in force also when it comes to these areas. However, some special conditions may be in force, since Swedish labour law to a high degree relies on the agreements made between trade unions and employer representatives. This also gives a special small business character to the subfields of arts and culture where a large portion of the professional work force is self-employed.

The following list of labour laws is relevant to the field of culture, whether on a national or local level, with regard to private persons, cultural institutions, free theatre groups or similar companies:

• Prohibition of Discrimination in Working Life because of Sexual Orientation Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1999:133);
• Prohibition of Discrimination in Working Life of People with a Disability Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 199:132);
• Measures to Counteract Ethnic Discrimination in Working Life Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1999:130);
• Parental Leave Act (Swedish Code of Statutes1995:584);
• Public Employment Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1994:260);
• The Equal Opportunities Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1991:433);
• Working Hours Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1982:673);
• Employment Protection Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1982:80);
• Work Environment Ordinance (Swedish Code of Statutes 1977:1166);
• Work Environment Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1977:1160);
• Annual Leave Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1977:480);
• Employment (Co-Determination in the Workplace) Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1976:580); and
• Employee's Right to Educational Leave Act (Swedish Code of Statutes 1974:1981).

Last update: November, 2016

In Sweden, basic copyright provisions are similar to those of other continental European countries, although with some differences. The basic legal provision is the Swedish Copyright Law of Literary and Artistic Works (Upphovsrättslagen, Swedish Code of Statutes 1960:729). Important developments concerning authors' rights have been linked to the implementation of EU-directives within the copyright field, aimed at harmonising and facilitating the single market. Sweden has implemented the following EU-directives:

• rental and lending rights;
• satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission; and
• harmonisation of the duration of rights protection (70 years after the death of an author).

Legal measures against copyright infringement have been intensified in the last decade. The digitisation of production, access and consumption of protected works and performances are continuously producing new possibilities and new problems. Since 1998, possessors of legal rights in the music field have been awarded copyright-based financial compensation for the losses that have been caused by private copying of phonograms, in a model originally intended to compensate for music being copied to blank cassette tapes. Revenue is allocated to creators and performers by their respective collecting societies. Reimbursement to composers and musicians has also been introduced for public lending of phonograms and to composers for public lending of sheet music. For authors, translators, and illustrators, such reimbursement has existed since the 1960s. Reimbursement for authors is allocated by the Authors' Fund (Författarfonden), see chapter 4.2.5.

A prominent public issue in recent years has concerned measures against illegal sharing and downloading of copyright protected material on Internet. Sweden's partial legal implementation of the EU directive IPRED (International Property Right Enforcement Directive) in February 2009 has been much debated (see chapter 2.4).

Last update: November, 2016

Sweden has implemented the EU Data Protection Directive of 1995 (95/46) as the Personal Data Protection Law (Personuppgiftslagen, Swedish Code of Statutes 1998:4). This law relates directly to a general principle of the Swedish Fundamental Laws; that all information held by public authorities that is not explicitly made secret is automatically made public. Thus, all government archives are accessible to the public, except material that has been made secret, including material that is deemed personal.

Swedish was recognised as the official language of Sweden in 2009, with the new Language Law (2009:600), a law that also guarantees the use of Swedish as the language of Swedish government agencies and other public institutions, including universities and museums. Generally, formulated rules on the use of the Swedish language in the legislation for radio, TV and public administration have existed for a long time.

The parliament enacted a law in 1999 entitling individuals to use Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli in dealings with administrative authorities and courts of law in localities in which these languages continue to be used. The law also requires municipalities to offer pre-school activities, but also care for the elderly in official minority languages. Yiddish and Romani Chib were also recognised as official minority languages.

Last update: November, 2016

Cultural policy is generally not the subject of legislation, making the legislation described in chapter 4.1 and chapter 4.2.1 the only relevant major areas of legislation for cultural policy.

Last update: November, 2016

There is very little overarching legislation in the cultural field. Apart from general legislation adopted by parliament, there are however a great number of regulations issued by the government to guide central institutions on the use of government funds for various cultural purposes. The legal foundation for these is typically parliament decisions, especially budgetary decisions, as opposed to legislation.

The laws listed below are general laws enacted by parliament, which, together with parliamentary decisions such as the objectives for cultural policy, act as a framework for lower level decisions. These laws are discussed more in detail in  chapter 4.2.

Table 1:    Legislation on culture

Several of the laws on this list refers to the media, which is also specifically covered by the Freedom of the Press Act (a Fundamental Law), which regulates freedom of expression in print media. Others refer to the archives (also considered cultural heritage institutions) and to archiving procedures, and thus covered by that Fundamental law to the extent that they deal with access to public records. There are also the Language Law and the Heritage Commemoration Act (see chapter 4.2.2), but, as list shows, most of the main areas of cultural policy lacs specific legislation, excepting the copyright legislation.

Apart from national legislation, international documents signed by Sweden may also have the force of law. The following conventions and other international legal instruments related to culture have been adopted by Sweden. Please note that this list includes some of the more important and relevant documents, not all international agreements in this field.

• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (1996);
• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1904);
• Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, (1985);
• Convention for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage (1985);
• Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention (1985);
• Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage of Europe (1992);
• Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (1985);
• Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003);
• Convention on means to Prohibit and Prevent the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (2002);
• Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, (2005);
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989);
• European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1999);
• European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production (1993);
• European Landscape Convention (2000);
• Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1999);
• International Convention for the Protection of Performers, producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (1962);
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1971);
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (1996);
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty (2010);
• UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (2011).

(Sources: SOU 2003:121, updated from various other sources, including the Swedish Arts Council and the Ministry of Culture)

Last update: November, 2016

The Heritage Commemoration Act (Kulturminneslagen, Swedish Code of Statutes 1988:950) contains regulations on ancient monuments, historic buildings, religious monuments and export and restoration of cultural objects etc. The Act stipulates that everyone in Sweden share responsibility for the cultural environment. Authorities, and individuals alike, shall show consideration and respect for the cultural environment.

The following government agencies and institutions have a special role in safeguarding the cultural environment:

• the National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) is the central administrative authority. At the national level, the Board has overall responsibility for disseminating knowledge about the cultural environment and for information campaigns and contact with the public;
• the County Administrative Boards (Länstyrelserna) have responsibility for the cultural environment at the regional level. This means that they decide on matters related to the National Heritage Act and are responsible for ensuring that protection of the cultural environment is taken into account in regional planning and development. The county administrative boards also allocate state funds for the restoration of historic buildings, ancient monuments and historic landscapes;
• the regional museums are responsible (together with the County Administrative Boards) for major regional efforts to protect heritage resources. Their task includes collecting and disseminating knowledge about the cultural heritage of the country. The regional museums are often involved in the care or restoration of buildings, ancient monuments and historic landscapes; and
• at the local level, local government is responsible for the protection and development of the cultural heritage. This role is exercised, inter alia, with physical municipal planning and through the application of the Planning and Building Act (1987:10). Several municipalities run municipal museums and / or keep municipal antiquarians.

Last update: November, 2016

No specific legislation regulates the performing arts. Music is regulated by copyright legislation (see chapter 4.1.6). The Swedish Copyright Law (Swedish Code of Statutes 1960:729, chapter 3a, sections §42a–f) grants users (such as broadcasters) of works the right to use all works under a single contract with that organisation. The collected fees are, depending on the size of the audience but independent of the individual work or composer, set by an organisation, STIM. If the composer wants her share of the fees, she or he has to become a STIM member.

Last update: November, 2016

Since 1997, a government statute (Swedish Code of Statutes 1996:1605) requires the state to pay individual compensation for public exposition of works of visual and applied art. Annual compensation in total amounts to about SEK 20 million. The system is administered by the Visual Arts Copyright Society of Sweden (BUS).

Last update: November, 2016

Since the introduction of a Library Law in January 1997 (Bibliotekslagen, Swedish Code of Statutes 1996:1596), municipalities have been obliged to maintain a public library and to refrain from levying any direct charge for its loans to members of the public. From the beginning of 2014, municipalities and counties are obligated to have politically decided library planes, covering the coordination of public libraries, including school libraries, in their territories.

Originators of literary works (authors, translators and illustrators) are, according to the Government Statute on The Swedish Writers' Fund (1962:652), compensated for public lending through the Swedish Authors' Fund. The Fund allocates government compensation for public lending from libraries. A portion of this compensation is given to the individual author in direct proportion to the number of public loans of his / her work; another portion is transferred to the Fund itself, from which grants and scholarships are allocated to writers etc. (e.g. books, reading, translation, libraries).

Last update: November, 2016

Film, video and photography

Swedish film policy is regulated by an agreement between the national government, the film industry and the television companies. The agreement contains provisions governing revenue generation. The most important purposes for which funds are used include support for Swedish film production and support for distribution and exhibition of films throughout the country. The present agreement was entered into by the parties involved in September 2005 and has been extended until 31 December 2012. A new agreement was reached early in 2012 and will be in force from 2013-2015.

Until 2011, Sweden had a Law on Film Censorship, protecting the public from, e.g. overly violent content. Although this legislation was in force until recently, censorship was only seldom used. Following the recommendation of a government commission (SOU 2009:51) censorship for adults was abolished on 1 January 2011 (Government Bill 2009/10:228) and replaced by a Law on age limits for film that is to be shown publicly, (Swedish Code of Statutes  2010:1882). Similar objectives are now reached by The Swedish Media Council via age limits on films.

Mass media

Radio and TV transmission, other than via satellite, are subject to agreements between, on the one hand, the government and, on the other hand, the public service radio and TV companies, and TV4, a private company. The TV Authority, established in 1994, is respon­sible for regulations on commercial and satellite transmissions. It is also the licensing and registra­tion authority for local and similar radio stations, temporary transmissions and distri­bution by cable and satellite companies, and collects fees from local radio and com­mercial TV transmissions within Sweden.

The Radio and Television Act (Radiolagen, Swedish Code of Statutes 1966:755, 1978:476), applicable to television companies under Swedish jurisdiction contains a provision equivalent to Articles 4 and 5 of the European Union Television Broadcasting Directive. This Act regulates that more than half of the annual broadcasting time, or at least 10% shall be of programmes of European origin, and that at least 10% of the annual broadcasting time, or at least 10%, of the programme budget shall refer to programmes of European origin, produced by independent producers. As large, a proportion as possible of these should have been produced in the preceding five years. The television companies should report annually to the Swedish Radio and TV Authority on how they have complied with these regulations.

Last update: November, 2016

City planning is, according to the Instrument of Government, one of the Fundamental Laws of Sweden, a preserve of the municipalities (local government), although several specific laws regulate building construction and safety. Heritage legislation (see above) is also often relevant to architecture and city planning.