Few days ago, the "Cinema Law" was approved by the Portuguese Parliament, which determines the application of a 1% fee on the billing of on-demand streaming services, such as Netflix, Disney + or HBO, as well as platforms sharing videos like YouTube.

These services, which were not subject to the payment of fees in Portugal, are now subject to the payment of 1% tax and are now also subject to the Portuguese rules on advertising. 

The new “Cinema Law” results from the transposition of the Audiovisual Media Services European Directive, which dates from 2018. With this law, it is expected that the collection of the new rate of 1% on the billing of different video on demand services, and platforms of sharing videos, starts to finance the Portuguese Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual.

In this way, this Institute will now be now financed in 3 ways: by the Portuguese State, exhibition fees and this 1% tax.

Video sharing platforms and video-on-demand services must also start to prevent the spread of hateful content, or that are harmful to children and young people.

And platforms will have to find a way to ensure that the content generated by users complies with these rules.

The law also obliges the subscription services of TV channels and video sharing platforms to limit the display of pornographic content for the period between 00:00 and 6:00.

“The television broadcast of any other programs that may have a negative influence on the formation of the personality of children and young people must be accompanied by the permanent dissemination of an appropriate visual identification and can only take place between 24 hours and 00 minutes and 6 hours”.

The new law also creates new rules for canceling TV subscription services.

Opinions on the new law are diverse, but there is hope that the millions that will arrive with this law could be the salvation of Portuguese cinema, which has lived in a highly precarious situation for a long time, thanks to the small investment made in culture by the Portuguese State.