On April 8, 2021, the long-awaited Decree on Works of Italian Original Expression (Decree of the Ministry of Culture of January 29, 2021, No. 47, “IOE Decree”) was finally published, replacing the previous one dating to 2013.
The IOE Decree, as provided by Section 44-sexies of Legislative Decree No. 170/2005, provides a new definition of “works of Italian original expression,” thus making the programming and investment obligations on Italian works applicable for both linear and on-demand audiovisual media service providers.
Compared to the previous version of the decree, the definition of works of Italian original expression has been broadened to include a wide range of works and is no longer so strictly based on the language criteria. As a result, audiovisual media service providers can meet the Italian sub-quota requirements more easily.
Furthermore, the decree differs from the previous version in that its scope also includes on-demand audiovisual media service providers, while the previous one concerned only the definition of cinematographic works and applied only to linear audiovisual media service providers.
