A court case brought by the video streaming service Netflix before the European Court of Justice (EUCJ) has been rejected as impermissible by the judges. The streaming provider had hoped to overturn the revised German Film Subsidy Act (Filmförderungsgesetz, FFG) from 2014. According to the new provision, streaming services are also required to pay the German film levy, even if they are not based in Germany.
The European Court of Justice came to the conclusion that Netflix had not demonstrated sufficiently that the service was substantially adversely and individually affected. In addition, the judges explained that the actual consequences of the new regulation would first be revealed through the implementation measures such as levy assessment notices, which operators can dispute in the national courts.
Netflix started its service in Germany in 2014 in Deutschland and is now required, according to the revised law, to pay fees based on its revenues from Germany for films in the German language that are more than 58 minutes in length. In return, online video services can also receive funding. The German Film Subsidy Act and the system of film subsidization was therefore validated by the EUCJ. The levy must be paid retroactively from 2014.
