Volkswacht Bodensee - Netflix, Disney+, Amazon appeal French investment rules

"These new rules suddenly double our obligation to invest in these genres, target streaming services exclusively and end up dictating our content offerings without taking audience expectations into account," Pauline Dauvin, vice president of Netflix France, said in an opinion column published Le Monde daily.

The platforms separately filed appeals for "abuse of power" before the Council of State, France's supreme administrative court, after seeing an informal appeal to the prime minister’s office turned down, they told AFP, confirming a report by Satellifacts website.

They are seeking an amendment to a government decree which, since 2021, has required foreign video streaming platforms to finance French audiovisual production and cinema with a slice of their revenue.

Starting in January of this year, the updated version of the decree requires that 20 percent of the required audiovisual sector investment be allocated to animated programming, documentaries and live performances, to bolster the diversity of genres.

"These new rules go too far ... When regulation takes precedence over editorial freedom, then diversity becomes an exercise in conformity, to the detriment of public expectations," said Dauvin, who noted that Netflix annually spends "250 million euros on series, films and French documentaries."

"Our appeal to the Council of State does not call into question our commitment to French creative production -- on the contrary," said a spokesperson for Amazon, the owner of Prime Video, in a statement to AFP.

"It aims to ensure a balanced, fair and legally sound regulatory framework, in the interest of the public, (content) creators and the industry," the US firm continued.

The appeals come with Netflix recently having announced it wants to work toward capping mandatory investments, currently set at 20 percent of revenue.

"This is not a sustainable system for us. It is disproportionate to what we want and can do in France,” the platform recently told AFP.

A.Ruegg--VB