Infobligations: the new reference tool for audiovisual regulation in France

Infobligations est disponible à ce lien : infobligations.arvester.eu

In France, film and audiovisual regulation is an insider's game. The obligations of tv networks and streaming service providers are dictated by various decrees and professional agreements written in coldly legal language on sparse layouts. One text refers to another, itself amended from an earlier version, deadlines overlap, thresholds, minimums, revenue volumes and percentages nested within other percentages all conspire to disorient the reader. Journalists tasked with explaining the changes brought about by new rules are often reduced to an excessive use of bullet points.

But complexity is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, one has to acknowledge the French model's success, which has, like any good parent, managed to protect its children while giving them the freedom to play. What our system can be criticised for is its opacity. Reading the texts themselves makes it very difficult to extract each player's specific obligations, and even harder to synthesise them into a legible overview of our regulatory landscape. It was thus primarily so that we could ourselves make sense of all this that we undertook the creation of a visualisation tool gathering all the obligations that the main audiovisual service providers in France must respect.

To achieve this, we started by gathering all the texts that help determine the investment and broadcasting obligations of service providers: decrees, government orders, inter-professional agreements, Arcom "conventions", and even a European directive (the AVMS of course). After extracting the information applicable to each provider, we had to find an innovative way to present it.

Regarding investment obligations, it is usually a matter of proportions, where the total revenue of the service or audiovisual group is allocated across several levels. We therefore opted for a custom treemap chart that respects the orders of magnitude. To illustrate the release windows that constitute our "chronologie des médias", a simple timeline does the trick. Broadcasting obligations, meanwhile, may involve catalogue quotas, broadcasting schedules, and provisions ensuring the prominence of certain works. Unable to combine these into a single visualisation, we present them in a list. It was important for us to allow users to easily compare the obligations of several services. We therefore chose to allow the user to move freely across a whiteboard and load multiple "modules" that can be positioned wherever they wish.

The timing of Infobligations is not entirely accidental. While it is true that regulation has always undergone frequent mutations to adapt to new habits, we are currently passing through a zone of particularly heavy turbulence. Several national and foreign players make no secret of their dissatisfaction—either regarding their own situation or that of others whom they consider unfairly favoured. For example, some are displeased that our "chronologie" rewards the effort (the share of total revenue invested in local production) rather than the volume of contribution (the actual amount invested). Infobligations does not take sides; it is, above all, a tool to help verify, compare, and gain perspective. We intended it to be as neutral as possible, even though we had to simplify certain obligations to make them intelligible.

We hope that Infobligations will serve as a reference for both novices and seasoned professionals, for whom we also offer a fully customisable premium version that allows for the creation of scenarios by setting custom rules.

We will strive to update the information as soon as new agreements are signed, decrees are published, or directives are revised. If demand is high enough, we may extend the tool's coverage to include, for example, contributions to the CNC support fund (TST, TSV) and information on available tax credits in France. Investment obligations could also be further detailed, specifying, for example, the minimums to be dedicated to pre-purchases.

To report errors, share feedback, or suggest new features, please write to us at contact[at]arvester.eu.