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Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France amending the Agreement on Television Relations of July 11, 1983 [1989] CATSer 4 (8 February 1989)

E100763 - CTS 1989 No. 7

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE AMENDING THE AGREEMENT ON TELEVISION RELATIONS OF JULY 11, 1983

I

The Secretary of State for External Affairs to the Ambassador of the Republic of France

DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

OTTAWA, February 8, 1989

N° JLA-5024

His Excellency Philippe Husson
Ambassador of the Republic of France
Ottawa

Excellency,

I have the honour to refer to the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France on Television Relations, signed at Paris on July 11, 1983. At the meeting of the joint cinematographic commission held in Paris on March 10 and 11, 1988, representatives of our two countries agreed to amend the Agreement. I have the honour, on instructions of my Government, to propose the following amendments:

ARTICLE II

A) Paragraph c) of Article II shall be deleted and replaced by the following:

"c) Animation works such as storyboard, layout, key animation and voice recording must be carried out in Canada or France;"

B) Paragraph d) of Article II shall be deleted and replaced by the following:

"d) Be produced with the participation of scriptwriters, directors, technicians and performers who are Canadian or French or nationals of a member State of the European Economic Community, or permanent residents of either Canada or France;"

ARTICLE VI

Article VI shall be deleted and replaced by the following:

"For each co-production two copies must be made of the protection material and the reproduction material. Each co-producer shall be the owner of a copy of the protection material and the reproduction material and shall be entitled to use it to make other copies. In addition, each co-producer shall have access to the original production material in accordance with the conditions agreed upon between the co-producers."

ARTICLE IX

Subparagraph c) of Article IX is completed by adding:

"... or a resident;"

ARTICLE XI

Article XI is completed by adding the following:

"... or a resident."

ARTICLE XIII

Paragraph 2 of Article XIII shall read:

"In France: by the Minister of External Relations or, if he so authorizes, by the Centre national de la Cinématographie."

ANNEX

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France on Television Relations, programs produced under a twinning arrangement may also be considered, with the approval of the competent authorities, as co-productions and receive the same benefits. Notwithstanding Article III, in the case of a twinning arrangement the reciprocal participation of the producers of both countries may be limited to a financial contribution alone, without necessarily excluding any artistic or technical contribution.

To be approved by the competent French and Canadian authorities, these programs must meet the following conditions:

1) the same producers must be involved in the two twinned programs. The co-producers must conclude a co-production contract that covers both programs. The co-producers must also prove the funding for the programs and their distribution by submitting the contract or letter of commitment signed by the distributor;

2) there shall be an overall balance in the respective reciprocal investments made by the French and Canadian producers and fair conditions for sharing the receipts of the twinning programs.

3) the producers, scriptwriters, performers, directors and technicians participating in these twinned productions shall be of Canadian or French nationality or nationals of a member state of the EEC or permanent residents of Canada or France. The competent authorities can, however, make exceptions to this rule, taking into account the nature of the twinned programs.

4) each producer must prove that he owns the full marketing rights for both programs on his own territory;

5) both productions must belong to the same program category and be of the similar length. The distribution of the twinned works shall take place under similar conditions in France and Canada (distribution area, time-slot position);

6) twinning benefits shall apply only to fiction, documentary and animated programs;

7) twinned programs may be produced either simultaneously or consecutively, provided that, in the latter case, the time between the end of the production of the first program and the beginning of the production of the second program does not exceed six months.

The present Annex will be valid for a transitional period of two (2) years, at the end of which the competent authorities will proceed to review its application.

If the foregoing is acceptable to the Government of the Republic of France, I have the honour to propose that this Note which is authentic in English and French and your reply to that effect, constitute an Agreement between our two Governments amending the Agreement on Television Relations of July 11, 1983, which will enter into force on the date of your reply.

Accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Alain Gourd

for the Secretary of State for External Affairs

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The Ambassador of the Republic of France to the Secretary of State for External Affairs

(Translation)

EMBASSY OF FRANCE IN CANADA

OTTAWA, February 8, 1989

No. 48/AE

The Right Honourable Joe Clark
Secretary of State for External Affairs
Department of External Affairs
Ottawa

Dear Sir:

I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Note JLA 5024 of today's date for the purpose of amending the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of France on Television Relations, signed at Paris on July 11, 1983.

It is my pleasure to inform you that the proposals in your Note are approved by the Government of the Republic of France and to confirm that your Note, equally authentic in French and in English, and this reply constitute between our two governments an Agreement to Amend the Agreement on Television Relations, which will enter into force on the date of this reply.

Accept, Sir, the expression of my highest consideration.

Philippe Husson