Germany debates streaming investment law and film funding

The German Bundestag recently held a hearing regarding the draft Media Services Investment Act (MedienInvestVG) and the current state of the film industry. The discussions focused on the obligation for streaming services to reinvest a portion of their revenue into European productions.

The trade union ver.di is advocating for stronger labor protections within the law. They propose that production costs should be credited with higher factors—1.3 for adhering to collective bargaining agreements and 1.5 for meeting ecological sustainability standards—to incentivize better working conditions and social sustainability for film professionals.

In a separate expert testimony, filmmaker Uwe Boll criticized the existing German film funding system, describing it as an ineffective “funding swamp.” While supporting the principle of mandatory reinvestment, Boll argued that the law must ensure revenues generated in Germany are reinvested locally rather than being diverted to other European countries. He also noted the difficulty in accurately determining the actual revenues of streaming providers like Amazon Prime and Apple due to their bundled subscription models.