National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts Can Now Register Entities and Individuals Ex-Officio

Section 57 of the Law No. 17741 states that the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) must keep a registry of companies acting in the different branches of the film and audiovisual industry and commerce, including those engaged in the sale, rental, or exhibition of films by any means or system. In this context, the INCAA issued Resolution 207/2023, published in the Official Gazette on February 9, 2023. This resolution authorizes the INCAA's Audiovisual Industry Supervisory Office to register by administrative initiative before the Public Registry of Film and Audiovisual Activity those entities and/or individuals included in section 61 of the Argentine Film Activity Promotion Law No. 17741 that have not registered voluntarily. The Supervisory Office will also have the power to initiate the corresponding summary procedure if it finds a subject has not registered.

The resolution lists the information that may be used as proof to ground the ex-officio registration. These grounds may be rebutted in all cases. Such information includes:

1. Data arising from the INCAA's verification and control authority.
2. Data arising from the exchange of information between the INCAA and other national, provincial, or municipal administrations, public agencies, or public law entities.
3. all those data which, based on real and proven facts, convince the Supervisory Office of that there is an activity included in section 61 of the Law No. 17741.

This list is not exhaustive and may be extended or reduced according to the particular case and according to how strong the elements collected by the INCAA are.

Further, the INCAA’s Resolution No. 551-E/2022 regulates the Public Registry of Film and Audiovisual Activity and determines, among other matters, the parties required to register and/or re-register. The list of activities includes production services, post-production services, marketing for distribution, and marketing for exhibition. This last branch in turn details the activity of alternative marketers (Internet-VOD-Streaming Platform).

After the resolution, the INCAA published the Provision No. 3/2023 in the Official Gazette on February 24, 2023, establishing that the first date for paying taxes, fees, or contributions in connection with the activity; the first date to pay salaries of employees or hired employees working in the activity; and the registration of trademarks and/or patents in Argentina related to the activity –among other circumstances– will be considered evidence of the beginning of the activities in the country. Further, the provision states that once the required information has been gathered, the party involved will be summoned to formalize its registration before the Public Registry of Film and Audiovisual Activity, to present the required documents. The provision also establishes the requirements for this, the obligation to pay the registration fees and the corresponding surcharges, as well as the obligation to communicate AFIP the above, to determine the existence of the presumed tax interest involved.