Austria

Last update: October, 2019

An attempt to take stock of the prevailing legal regulations in the cultural sector in Austria is impeded by two factors. First, Austria is a federal state with relatively independent Bundesländer; this independence is reflected in the assignment of responsibilities for culture to the Bundesländer. Secondly, the Austrian federal constitution does not explicitly mention arts and culture. Statutory provisions regulating the cultural sector have not been laid down in a comprehensive cultural act, nor have they been systematically collected.

Therefore, the statutes referring to the cultural sector are found throughout the legal system: for example in the Federal Constitution Act or the Basic Law on Civil Rights (including Freedom for the Arts – Paragraph 17a, 1982).

Article 15, para. 1 of the Federal Constitution Act states that all matters not assigned to the national government are to be paid by the Bundesländer, including culture. However, in Article 10, responsibility over ‘sovereign’ matters such as scientific and technical archives and libraries, artistic and scientific collections and federal facilities (federal museums, the National Library), federal theatres, historic monuments, religious denominations, foundations and funds are assigned to the national government. The Bundesländer are responsible for preserving the appearance of towns and villages, for foundations and funds owned by the Bundesländer, theatres, cinemas, events, heritage, tradition and folk arts. According to Article 17 of the Federal Constitution Act, however, the national government and the Bundesländer as upholders of Civil Law are not bound by the above distribution of competences.

Last update: November, 2020

The Federal Arts Promotion Act, adopted in 1988, includes the provision that the federal budget must include the requisite funds for public arts promotion and that the social situation of artists and the framework for private sponsoring need to be improved. The law stipulates that promotion has to be directed mainly at "contemporary art, its spiritual changes and its variety" and lists the fields to be supported by way of production, presentation, dissemination and preservation of works and documents. Facilities that serve this purpose have to be similarly supported. The law also lists individual measures that may be taken (e.g. funds, grants, acquisitions, loans, commissions andprizes awarded).

An advisory system has been operating since 1973 and includes specialised bodies such as juries to make decisions on the granting of funds. In the Arts Promotion Act, it is also mentioned that potential conflicts of responsibility need to be avoided between the federal and state governments, stating that the principle of ‘subsidiarity’ must be employed. The federal government, nevertheless, supports activities and projects at regional or local levels that are "of supra-regional interest or suitable to be exemplary, of an innovative character or which are promoted within the scope of a single promotion programme".

The guidelines for awarding subsidies under the Arts Promotion Act regulate the type of subsidy and the equality of men and women in the granting of subsidies. They contain regulations on the preconditions for subsidies, application and proof modalities as well as regulations on multi-year subsidies for institutions, for purchases, commissions and scholarships.

With the exception of Vienna, every Bundesland has its own cultural promotion act, most of which were implemented during the 1980s (see chapter 1.2.3).

The Arts Support Act (1981) states that in addition to the monthly radio and television fees, an appropriate contribution (monthly EUR 0.48) to support contemporary arts is to be raised and distributed between the state and the Bundesländer (provinces) on a 70:30 basis. 85 percent of the state share is given to the Arts and Culture Division of the BMKOES; the rest is spent on heritage protection and museums. Since 2000, further contributions have been dedicated to the social security insurance fund (see chapter 4.1.3).

Last update: November, 2020

The Law on Social Security for Artists (Künstler-Sozialversicherungsfondsgesetz 2001, renamed as Artist's Social-Security Insurance Structure Act 2011) covers social security issues for artists. Since its implementation, freelance artists have been treated the same as other self-employed professionals, which means they must pay their statutory social security insurance if they earn more than 5 527,92 EUR per year (2020; this amount is adopted annually). In many cases, the law created a situation whereby artists end up making two different types of social insurance payments: statutory insurance for freelance work and any other social security insurance payments which result from other part-time employment contracts they may have. Many freelance artists are employed both part-time and/or do freelance work in the form of either a Werkvertrag (contract for work) – also called the ‘new’ self-employed, a term that describes one person enterprises without a trade licence – or a freier Dienstvertrag (self-employed contract of service), depending on the nature of the work (people who work under the freier Dienstvertrag have more social protection than the self employed, but less than the employed). Thus, the contribution to the social security system is relatively high compared to total income. There was a change here in 2009, and indeed one that applies for those cases in which there is an additional income next to self-employment: if this income exceeds the threshold of EUR 5 527,92 (2020, adopted annually) it will also be subject to the obligatory social insurance payments.

The law set up a Social Security Insurance Fund for Artists (Künstlersozialversicherungs-Fonds) which that grants artists a subsidy for social insurance contributions of up to EUR 158 per month (EUR 1 896 per year in 2020), if their annual income from artistic activity is at least EUR 5 527,92 (2020) and the sum of all their income does not exceed EUR 29 942.90 (2020) annually. This amount increases with each child of the artist. The subsidy for social insurance contributions is based on self-evaluation of future income. If either of the above limits is not achieved, or is exceeded, the subsidy has to be paid back. To achieve the minimum level of income, since 2014 all earnings are taken into account (before, only income minus expenses was taken into account), including up to 50% income from sideline business (education, teaching in the cultural field etc.). The period for the averaging of the minimum income was expanded to three years, and five bonus years are conceded, during which a subsidy can be received without a repayment obligation, even if the minimum income is not achieved. Each year about 1 200 artists receive this subsidy.

Since 2009, self-employed artists have the option of voluntary unemployment insurance. In 2010, the Social Insurance Institute (Sozialversicherungsanstalt SVA) implemented a service for artists that offers advice and support for social-security issues. Furthermore, since then artists have the opportunity to register their self-employed activity and the resulting obligatory insurance as being idle, so that they have access to benefits from unemployment insurance.

Last update: November, 2020

There are three tax rates under the Austrian VAT Law (1994): the regular rate of 20%, a reduced rate of 10% (books, press) and a third rate of 13% which has been established in the course of a tax reform in 2015. The latter specifically applies to cultural institutions, cinemas, theatres and concert tickets, but not to charitable public institutions, such as the national theatres and the Salzburg Festival. These institutions are subject to the reduced tax rate, as well as turnover related to artistic activities, museums, botanical gardens or nature parks, as well as services by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), cable TV companies, books, magazines and dailies. From 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020, reduced tax rates were temporarily further reduced to 5% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is 20% VAT on music CDs.

The Income Tax Act allows tax deductibility of donations for scientific institutions and federal museums as well as nationwide, private museums. A list of cultural institutions from all artistic fields has been added in 2016 to make donations to those tax-deductible as well.

Income up to EUR 11 000 annually is tax free. Income from EUR 11 000 to EUR 18 000 is taxed at 20%, from EUR 18 000 up to EUR 31 000 35%, from EUR 31 000 to EUR 60 000 42%, from EUR 60 000 to EUR 90 000 48%, from EUR 90 000 to EUR 1 million 50%. Income above this is subject to a top rate of 55% tax (Steuertarif und Steuerabsetzbeträge). Owing to the progressive income tax tariff, it is most favourable if one earns roughly the same amount each year. For creative workers, however, it is normal for incomes to fluctuate greatly. For this reason, since 2000 they have been able to spread artistic income over three years: one third of the surplus of the current year is assigned to the current year and each of the two previous years.

On the basis of an amendment to the Federal Arts Promotion Act (1988) in 1997, certain public subsidies are tax free. These include: grants, prizes and supplements from the Austrian Film Institute for promoting the creation of film concepts and screenplays; income and assistance from public funds or from the funds of public or private foundations, as far as compensation for expenditure or expenses is concerned, or – with the exception of private foundations – for activities abroad.

Since 2000, artists from abroad have been able to apply for the partial or full cancellation of tax liabilities in Austria that are in excess of tax liabilities in their country of origin if their establishment of residence serves to advance art in Austria and if there is public interest in their work.

Under the Sponsors' Ordinance regulation, adopted by the Federal Ministry of Finance in 1987 an enterprise / entrepreneur is granted a tax break on expenses for sponsoring cultural events. The ordinance lists various criteria that must be fulfilled in order to qualify for the tax break (sponsoring must be, for example, in the form of an advertisement). This regulation only allows for a very small amount of expenditure to be tax deductible.

Last update: October, 2019

In the field of the performing arts, there is a specific labour law, the Actors' Law (Schauspielergesetz, 1922, amended 2011) regulating the working hours, holiday rights and bonuses for actors, which are different from the employee regulations. Formerly, actors were assumed to be employees, but full employment with all the costs and obligations for employers (e.g. festival-organisers) is now often circumvented. New legal conditions to improve their situation have been created for actors in 2011: the Theatre Employment Act (Bü-ARG) since then covers all workers in a theatre company together and envisages adaptation to the Holiday and Working Hours Law. It has been criticised that the law only brings meaningful improvements for actors who are directly employed in the major theatres. As before, for short-term, changeable employment between direct employment and self-employment with intervals of unemployment or without income in the freelance theatre field, no legal security is present. The fact that the new Law does not include film actors is also criticised, as it does not correspond to actors' professional reality.

The same rules generally apply for employed artists of other disciplines as for employees of other professions. In many cases, artists are working as freelancers, under the scope of work contracts (Werkvertrag) or as quasi free-lancer (freier Dienstnehmer, see 4.1.3).

Last update: October, 2019

The function of the copyright law is to protect works of literature, music, arts and film and to allow an effective enforcement of the – immaterial and financial – interests of the authors and originators. According to the Austrian Copyright Act, copyright arises with the creation of a work by its originator. No formal act (notification or registration) is required in order to obtain copyright protection for a work. According to paragraph 1, such works must be "personal intellectual creations in the fields of literature, music, visual arts and film".

The legal basis is the Copyright Act, the 2015 amendment that aimed to improve artists’ income situation, in particular by including all types of storage media in the payment for blank cassettes. After years of legal uncertainty and non-transparent regulations, the amendment implemented a modern copyright law for the fair payment of intellectual services provided by artists. The amendment also ensures that users have the right to make private copies of legally acquired, copyrighted works for their own use.

Remuneration rights are usually managed by collecting societies that function as rightholders' trustees. They grant licences for the use of works, demand royalties and distribute the proceeds to the rights holders. The copyright collecting societies (e.g. AKM, Austro Mechana, Literar Mechana, Bildrecht, VDFS (Film) i.a.) are regulated by the Collecting Societies Act (Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz, VerwGesG) that has been amended in 2016 according to EU requirements. In 2019, Austria approved the EU copyright reform, which must be transposed into national law within the next two years.

An author's claim to funds collected via public lending rights from public libraries is also part of the Copyright Law and administered by the authors' collecting society LiterarMechana. In 1996, an annual lumpsum payment between the federal government (116 276 EUR), the Federal Provinces (465 106 EUR) and the authors' rights society was contractually agreed.

Austrian film copyright law was also amended in 2016. It previously provided that authors’ rights to commercially produced film works and the rights of actors to them ex lege were transferred to the film producer (cessio legis). Taking into account the requirements of the European Court of Justice, a presumption regulation based on the German model was implemented in 2016. The transfer of authors’ rights to film producers is therefore refutably presumed.

Last update: October, 2019

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR; Datenschutz-Grundverordnung DSGVO) of the EU has been in force since May 2018 in Austria. Following the implementation, two amendments of the national Data Protection Act (2000) came into force (in addition to modifications of numerous other relevant laws): the Data Protection Amendment Act and the Data Protection Deregulation Act. The Data Protection Act implements the EU data-protection guidelines, regulates all rights and obligations of operators of information collections and applies both to public-legal (authorities etc.) and private legal information collections (companies, associations and other organisations), including those held by cultural institutions. Fundamentally, according to Paragraph 47, the transfer of addresses requires the agreement of those affected, although there are exceptions (for statistical or scientific reasons, for example).

The Austrian Data Protection Authority, one of the eldest data protection authorities in Europe (since 1980), is in charge of the compliance with the data protection law.

Last update: October, 2019

As described in chapter 2.5.4, the official language in Austria is German. Croatian, Hungarian, Slovene and the Austrian sign language are recognised as minority languages and as regional official languages they are protected by the Ethnic Groups Act (Volksgruppengesetz).

The Broadcasting Act (2001) stipulates that the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation is obliged to ensure that "all aspects of democratic life are to be understood by the public" (§ 10), and an appropriate share of their programming has to be broadcast in the language of ethnic minorities. Although there is regulatory support for programmes broadcast in the languages of ethnic minorities, the article is general and the management can apply it "as appropriate", which means without obligation (§ 4). The third radio programme is required to broadcast mainly in a foreign language (English).

Since the start of the Private Broadcasting Act in 1998, many small (non-commercial) free radio stations have been founded and currently provide programmes for (national) minorities and immigrants – e.g. Radio Orange (free radio Vienna), Radio OP, a multilingual students radio station in Burgenlandand radio Korotan / Radio Agora (the two Slovenian radio stations in Carinthia). Until 2001, such broadcasts were supported by the federal government. Since then, these free radio stations have been continually struggling. In 2009, a fund for the promotion of non-commercial private broadcasting at the broadcasting and telecommunications regulator Rundfunk- und Telekom Regulierungs GmbH (RTR) has been established with an annual budget of EUR 3 million. The purpose of the grants is to promote the non-commercial radio stations within the dual broadcasting system in Austria and to help broadcasters deliver diverse and high-quality programmes.

The first Austrian Community TV channel ("Okto TV") started in 2005. This open-channel TV programme is supported by the City of Vienna and provides space for programmes in languages other than German. With DORF, a further free, user-generated television broadcaster was established in 2010 in Upper Austria, which is funded by Linz City Council, the province of Upper Austria and the fund for the promotion of non-commercial private broadcasting (see chapter 4.2.6).

Information is currently not available.

Last update: November, 2020

Specific federal regulations or Acts in the culture field include:

• Actors' Act (1922), Theatre Employment Law Act since 2011;
• Artists' Social-Security Fund Act (2001), Artists' Social-Security Structure Act (KSVSG) since 2011;
• Arts Restitution Act (1998; 2009);
• Arts support Act (1981);
• Collection Societies' Act (1936);
• Copyright Act (1996);
• Federal Arts Promotion Act (1988);
• Federal Law on Retail Price Maintenance for Books (2000);
• Federal Museums Act (2002; 2013);
• Federal Theatre Organisation Act (1998; 2015);
• Film Promotion Act (1980);
• Film-Television Agreement (1981; 2006);
• General Framework Regulations for Granting Supports from Government Funds (1977);
• Monument Protection Act (1923; 2013);
• Museums regulations (2009) for the Kunsthistorische Museum (with the Ethnology Museum and the Austrian Theatre Museum), Albertina, MAK, Natural History Museum, Belvedere, MUMOK, Austrian National Library and the Technical Museum;
• Public Broadcasting Act (1984);
• Public Utility Act (Gemeinnützigkeitsgesetz 2015);
• Salzburg Festival Fund Act (1950)

Generally, the Federal Arts Promotion Act stipulates that promotion has to be directed mainly at "contemporary art, its spiritual changes and its variety" in the fields of literature, performing arts, music, visual arts, photography, film, video and experimental art forms (para. 2 (1)). All sub-departments within the Arts and Culture Division of the BMKOES have published detailed summaries of their grant programmes according to the Federal Arts Promotion Act. In addition, there are general guidelines for awarding federal financial resources by the Federal Ministry of Finance and special guidelines with a view to public grants in the arts sphere.

Laws on the Promotion of Culture have also been adopted by the federal Bundesländer, with the exception of Vienna.

Table 2: International legal instruments implemented by Austria in the cultural field

Austria ratified the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1992) and has ten sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List:

• Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg (1996);
• Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn (1996);
• Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape (1997);
• Semmering Railway (1998);
• City of Graz – Historic Centre and Palace Eggenberg (1999, 2010);
• Wachau Cultural Landscape (2000);
• The Viennese Old Town (2001);
• Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (2001, together with Hungary);
• Prehistoric dwellings on stilts around the Alps (2011, together with Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland); and
• Ancient Beech Forests of the National Park Limestone Alps (Kalkalpen, 2017).

In accordance with the intention of Austria to ratify the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the national agency for Intangible Cultural Heritage was established at the Austrian Commission for UNESCO in 2006 (see also chapter 3.1).

Last update: November, 2020

The Federal Museums Act (2002) grants full legal capacity to the federal museums (Albertina, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (with Weltmuseum and Theatermuseum), Belvedere, MAK - Museum für angewandte Kunst, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (MUMOK), Naturhistorisches Museum, Technisches Museum Wien (with Mediathek) und Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) and has transformed them into scientific institutions under public law – a step towards more autonomy. The federal museums are still under the authority of the Arts and Culture Division of the BMKOES and receive annual subsidies from the Ministry.

According to the Federal Arts Promotion Act, selected federal, provincial and municipal museums can receive an annual supplement in order to acquire art from the holdings of Austrian galleries. In addition, support is granted for the participation of Austrian artists (galleries) at international arts festivals.

The Monument Preservation Act allows the federal monument office (under the Arts and Culture Division of the BMKOES) to issue decrees provisionally placing monuments owned by public bodies under monument preservation. These monuments are to be registered in a list of monuments. The law also regulates the export of cultural properties in line with EU legislation.

Last update: November, 2020

There are special regulations concerning theatre funding, stating that the government is obliged to pay an annual supplement (currently EUR 21.3 million per year from 2017-2021) to the regional and city theatres under the regularly agreed Financial Equalisation Act (2017).

The Federal Law on the Establishment of the Salzburg Festival Fund (1950) provides for the Salzburg Festival's losses to be covered by the federal government (40%), the province of Salzburg (20%), the city of Salzburg (20%) and the fund for the promotion of tourism (20%).

In August 1998, federal theatres (Burg- and Akademietheater, Staats- und Volksoper) were reorganised as limited companies under private law (see also chapter 1.3.3) under the management of a holding. The owner of the Bundestheater-Holding is the Republic of Austria. Their cultural tasks are defined in the Federal Theatre Organisation Act (1998). This states that the government is to provide an annual basic payment, which amounts to 162.9 million EUR from 2016 onwards.

The private Vienna theatres (Theater in der Josefstadt, Volkstheater, Theater der Jugend) and the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (Vienna's theatre association: Theater an der Wien, Ronacher, Raimundtheater) are likewise co-funded by the federal government on the basis of a special contract with the City of Vienna.

In order to do justice to the changing theatre landscape, in 2003 the Concept for the Vienna Theatre Reform was presented by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna. It formulates the basic principles of the support practice of the City of Vienna and aims at the production of a balanced relationship between traditional forms of performing art and contemporary forms of theatre and dance as well as between established and young artists.

Last update: November, 2020

Under the Federal Arts Promotion Act, the government purchases works by contemporary fine artists as a support measure. The administration of this collection – Federal Artothek – which contains more than 37 000 objects was contracted out in 2002; the federal government remains the owner of the collection itself. The holdings of the government's Artothek were moved to the 21er Haus (Belvedere) in 2012.

Since 2005, the ‘resale right’ has guaranteed artists and their legal heirs a share of the commercial profit that resellers (auction houses, art dealers) receive from the increased value of a work, in that artists receive between 0.25% and 4% of the proceeds.

Last update: November, 2020

Austrian publishing houses can apply for publishing support in the framework of the government's support for the arts. The publishing-house commission decides on proposals for the grant. Above and beyond this, printing cost supplements and translation subsidies can be applied for in the framework of the book supports. In 2019, about 50 publishing houses were supported with a total of EUR 2.6 million.

The Federal Law on Fixed Book Prices was implemented in 2000. It refers to publishing, import and trade of books, and since 2014 also applies to E-books and online-trading. This law was important to ensure that small publishing houses, booksellers, distribution firms, etcetera – which play a crucial role to maintain media diversity – can still compete with major publishing and distribution firms / enterprises.

Generally, local government offices are responsible for libraries. On top of that, the government subsidises public libraries under the Federal Law on the Promotion of Adult Education and Public Libraries from federal funds (1973). Responsible at government level is the Arts and Culture Division of the BMKOES. The library support amounts to 500 000 EUR per year and is linked to the implementation of funding guidelines including target values, the compliance to which is monitored by the Austrian Association of Libraries.

Last update: October, 2019

The Film Promotion Act (1998) regulates the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI). The ÖFI supports films as cultural goods and Austrian filmmaking by allocating subsidies for Austrian films, e.g. for filmmakers and producers, as well as international co-productions. The ÖFI also supports film distribution and cinemas. 15% of the annual budget (amounting to a total of EUR 20 million) is dedicated to the promotion of young film makers and producers. Members of the Austrian Film Institute select the projects. The ÖFI strengthens the economic basis of the Austrian film sector as a pre-condition for the success of Austrian films nationwide and abroad. The law stipulates the publication of an annual report on the Austrian film economy by the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI). Furthermore, this amendment contains new provisions on video and television broadcasting rights and deadlines for the restitution of rights.

The Film Television Agreement (Film / Fernseh-Abkommen 1981, amended 2011) was signed by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), and by the Austrian Film Institute to promote and support Austrian films with funds from the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, amounting to 8 million EUR per year. It guarantees the future funding of domestic films and the financial responsibility of the statutory broadcaster.

In accordance with an amendment to the KommAustria Act (2001), an Austrian Television Endowment Fund (Fernsehfonds Austria) was set up. The fund receives an annual endowment (7.5 million EUR) and is derived from broadcasting fees to support the production of Austrian television films, series and documentaries. It is administrated by the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR), which acts as the operative arm of the Austrian Communications Authority (KommAustria).

The Federal Constitutional Act on Guaranteeing the Independence of Broadcasting (1974) defines broadcasting as a public responsibility which has to be taken with due respect for the aims and principles of objectivity, impartiality and diversity of opinions.

The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation Act (ORF-Gesetz, 1984; 2018) requires, among other things, educational tasks. The ORF is – as the national public-service broadcaster – financed by fees, allocated together with the arts promotion contribution (Kunstförderungsbeitrag, see chapter 4.1.2).

A fund for the promotion of noncommercial private broadcasting, created in 2009, is administered by the RTR company and receives EUR 3 million annually from part of the fees under the Broadcasting Fees Act (1999; 2013), which previously went into the federal budget. The support fund serves the promotion of non-commercial broadcasting within Austria's dual broadcasting system and is intended to support broadcasting operators in the provision of high-value, multifaceted programming.

Last update: November, 2020

In 1985, a decree by the Council of Ministers established a mandatory share for the arts to be included in federal civil construction projects ("Kunst und Bau") in all provinces: 1-2% of the net construction cost has been made available to art in public projects. With the outsourcing of the federal buildings to the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG) in the early 2000s, the obligatory implementation of works of art or installations in a public building has de facto fallen. It is now up to individual institutions (such as BIG) or or the federal states, to make a voluntary contribution to art in architecture. Salzburg for example introduced a fund for art in architecture in public spaces, with an annual funding of 300 000 EUR in 2008. With "Art in Public Space" the province of Lower Austria has been focusing on the combination of art and architecture, and the City of Vienna (as a joint initiative of the departments of culture, urban development and housing) has founded KÖR (Kunst im öffentlichen Raum) to strengthen art in public space in 2004. 

Advertising in the public broadcasting services is regulated by the Austrian Broadcasting Act. In its two TV channels, the state broadcaster ORF is allowed to broadcast advertising programmes only nationwide and with a maximum of 42 minutes per day, ‘interruption advertising’ is forbidden. The radio station Ö1 is the only ‘advertising-free’ public station and Radio Orange is one of the advertising-free private radio stations.