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Apart from the general constitutional regulations and to the Labour Law (see chapter 4.1), there are no fixed legal provisions for the fields of music and theatre. The practical organisation of work in this domain is regulated through individual contracts between the authorities in charge of a facility or company and its manager ("Intendant"). Contracts are then drawn up between the facilities and the artistic and other staff members along the lines of general wage agreements such as the Normal Contract Stage, which summarises the main terms of employment of the different artistic groups working in a theatre. For the... read more →

As is the case in other artistic fields, visual and applied art activities are covered under the Freedom of Art Guarantee of the Federal Constitution (Article 5.III GG). This provision guarantees everyone the right to freely work in the artistic domain and to strive for recognition of his / her work by the public, that is: the guarantee includes not only the "sphere of the creative work", but also the "sphere of impact" of that work via its publication and distribution. With regard to the dissemination and use of artistic works, the frequently amended Copyright / Authors' Rights Law dating... read more →

Legal aspects of cultural policy are governed by related provisions in constitutional and administrative law. These provisions, however, are not codified in a single text; they consist of a host of constitutional and statutory provisions, above all the Federal Constitution and the constitutions of the federal states (Länder), the municipal and county codes, a few specialised statutes of the federal states (Länder) relating to cultural affairs, federal legislation such as the Act on the Protection of German Cultural Heritage against Removal Abroad, the Copyright Law, the Federal Film Promotion Act and the Artists' Social Insurance Act, the Federal Archives Act... read more →

The (annual) finance law is currently being reviewed. There were also plans to amend areas that concern culture, for example: VAT liability for stage directors and choreographers, value added tax rate for art-trade and value added tax for educational institutions. The law was adopted in the national parliament in October 2012 but failed in the mediation committee. The federal states brought forward a new proposal in March 2013.

There are no stipulations on language shares in the media. In areas with ethnic minorities, e.g. in Saxony, Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein, their languages are taken into account in the media. In larger cities, especially in Berlin, in addition to completely foreign-language FM stations, there are also programmes for ethnic minorities which are organised by public broadcasters and broadcast in changing foreign languages. There are also private broadcasters who feed foreign language programmes into the cable network. Deutsche Welle (DW) is the foreign broadcasting service of the Federal Republic of Germany, financed by federal tax money. It offers programmes in 32... read more →

In Germany, the state of Hesse opened data legislation in 1970 with the world's first data protection law. At federal level, the first version of the Federal Data Protection Act came into force in January 1978. In 1978, a Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information was also established for the first time. This is an independent supreme federal authority based in Bonn. The German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), together with the data protection laws of the federal states and other area-specific regulations, regulates the handling of personal data that is processed in information and communication systems... read more →

In Germany, the German Copyright and Related Rights Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz - UrhG), which is still valid today, was passed in September 1965. In particular, it replaced the Law on Copyright in Literary and Artistic Works of 1901 and largely replaced the Art Copyright Law of 1907. Among other things, it provided for an extension of copyright from 50 to 70 years after the death of the author. Germany thus became an international pioneer in the extension of copyright periods. Along with the Copyright Law, the introduction of a standard levy on audio equipment was passed in 1965 which was to... read more →

With the exception of the Artists' Social Insurance Act (see chapter 4.1.3), there are no special laws regarding the terms of employment for artists and other cultural workers. The general labour legislation is applied. If artists or cultural workers are employed in municipal, federal state (Länder) or federal facilities, then the public service regulations apply. On the basis of the general Wage Agreement Law (TVG), special contracts and wage agreements for the cultural sector, including non-artistic staff, were concluded by unions and employers organisations for single artistic sectors and cultural facilities such as theatres, orchestras and music schools. The conditions... read more →

Indirect state support for the arts and culture in the form of tax breaks is not laid down in a separate piece of legislation but instead consists of a multitude of regulations contained in various specialised acts. In the case of VAT, some cultural products (such as books) are subject to a lower rate of 7% instead of the standard 19%; under certain conditions, public cultural operations and non-profit activities (e. g. theatre performances) are exempt from VAT and corporate tax altogether. Since January 1st, 2000, an Act on the Taxation of Foundations is in force, which includes tax incentives... read more →

Artists and journalists / authors in the Federal Republic of Germany enjoy comprehensive social security coverage. When employed, they are covered under the general social security regimes. Self-employed artists and journalists / authors are obliged to join the Artists' Social Insurance Fund (KSK). The special protection for self-employed artists and journalists / authors provided for under the Artists' Social Insurance Act (KSVG) which came into force on August 2nd, 1983 encompasses statutory health, long-term or old age care and pension insurance. Like employees, the artists and journalists / authors must only pay half of the social insurance contribution. The funds... read more →