by Google
What about the new law regarding social media video creators? What needs to be done and what is our position in Vidado?
You must have noticed the information about the new law from the Media Services Council and probably your reaction was mainly confusion and probably anger. We at Vidado reacted similarly, but we do everything to ensure that our partners and followers are properly informed and can calmly create what they enjoy.
Commotion among creators
When the Media Services Council published statement that the creators of videos on YouTube, Facebook or TikTok must report their channels to the regulator, or pay a 260 euro fee, there was an uproar among the creators . But let's explain everything with a calm head.
After the announcement, information began to spread on social networks that everyone who adds any video content to social networks will have to pay a meaningless fee and report your activity to the regulator. But who does this obligation really concern?
Notification only applies to those who publish videos to generate profit. Posting videos as a hobby, sharing moments with family, posting video lessons, streaming (without recording), etc., there is no obligation and no need to do anything in these categories. If you earn something from the videos, but it is a small amount and you create videos occasionally and not with the goal of generating profit, you also do not have to announce anything. (What that small amount is is not currently defined and is subject to further investigation. We will let you know!)
Legal Vs. natural person
- If you are a legal entity and put videos on your website, you must pay a fee and request authorization. (However, this is still the subject of further investigation, as it is not precisely defined, what if it is only an embed link, i.e. a shared video, e.g. from YouTube, placed on the web.)
- If you legal entity and you only add to platforms like YouTube etc., the same applies as above, i.e. request authorization and pay a fee.
- If you are a natural person and you publish videos on your website, the same applies as above.
- If you are a natural person and you only add videos to video sharing platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and others, you just have to announce it. There is no fee. (This is how the Council for Media Services defines it directly, but in practice it will not be easy to determine in our opinion)
Will I be fined?
The council states that the obligations must be fulfilled no later than the day of the start of the activity, and in general, it was necessary to notify or ask for authorization by the end of the year. The goal of the Council is not to sanction, but they want to act educationally. Therefore, they will not be fined temporarily.
Our opinion
In our opinion, awareness of the new law, which comes into force on January 1, was scant. We note the reactions of creators who share the same opinion. Recently, we were at PS:Digital Breakfast, where this topic was also discussed, and when asked by the moderator who fulfilled this obligation by the end of the year, everyone started to smile.
We do not think that this will help cultivate the business of influencers on social networks. On the contrary, it will unnecessarily disrupt the peaceful functioning of creators, most of them do not understand why they should announce their activity or request authorization.
We do not expect anything beneficial from registration with the Council for Media Services. We do not see any positive short-term or long-term effects on the business of video creators.
We consider the whole thing to be a very inappropriate solution to controlling creators and we do not agree that anyone should have to pay a meaningless fee or report their activity to the Council. We do not understand how and who chose the fee amount of 260 euros and why it is so high. We do not understand why it is necessary to pay a fee before obtaining authorization. We look critically at the large gaps and shortcomings that this law determines. We do not understand why video creators have to announce their activity or request authorization, since these obligations do not exist in other forms of business.
This issue, concerning Slovak creators, is still developing, changing and supplementing, so expect more information !
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