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The Commissioning of Artworks Act came into force in Estonia in 2011. The law establishes the principle that a part of the construction budget of a public building must go into the commissioning of artwork for that building. This Act regulates the obligation to commission works of art related to the construction of public buildings with the purpose to improve the public space aesthetically. For the purposes of the Commissioning of Artworks Act, a public building is a building meant for public use to which third persons have total, partial, permanent or temporary access in addition to the members of... read more →

Cultural legislation is prepared by the Ministry of Culture, but not all fields of culture are covered by this. The General Principles of Cultural Policy up to 2020 (see chapter 1.1) state that when drafting legislation in the field of culture, the state regards the development directions of the legal policy in order to avoid over-regulation of the field. However, there are several acts that define the establishment of institutions or operations, governing such institutions, structures and financing principles. The Cultural Endowment of Estonia Act states that the endowment is a legal person in public law, the objective of the... read more →

After the administrative reform in Estonia, cultural work is also a part of the Local Government Organisation Act since 2018. It states that the functions of a local authority include organisations in the rural municipality or city: the provision of social services, the grant of social benefits and other social assistance, welfare services for the elderly people, cultural, sports and youth work etc. The Act also obliges the local government to have a development plan that shall stipulate, among other topics, long-term directions and needs for the development of cultural activities and organisation in local authorities. 

Language policy is governed by the Ministry of Education and Research. The first Language Act was passed by the Parliament already in 1934. After reindependency, the law was passed in 1989, and the Language Act which is in force now was passed in the Parliament in 2011. The purpose of Act is to develop, preserve and protect the Estonian language and ensure the use of the Estonian language as the main language for communication in all spheres of public life. The Language Act regulates the use of the Estonian language and foreign languages in oral and written administration, public information... read more →

The Personal Data Protection Act came in force in January 2019. It establishes, in conformity with the EU's general regulation, a few exceptions to the general principle of the processing of personal data for journalistic purposes, and also for the purpose of historical and scientific research. Personal data may also be processed without the consent of the data subject for the purpose of academic, artistic and literary expression, in particular disclosed if this does not cause excessive damage to the rights of the data subject. The Data Protection Inspectorate makes sure that people’s personal data is sufficiently protected. The Inspectorate... read more →

The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia states: “The rights of an author in respect of his or her work are inalienable. The national government protects authors’ rights.” Supervising the enforcement of copyright legislation is under the Ministry of Justice. The Copyright Act (1992) grants authors with protection for their intellectual creations. Copyright protection in Estonia also enables authors to benefit from moral and economic rights. Moral rights cannot be transferred, while the economic rights can be transferred or licensed with fee or without. Copyrights in Estonia are protected for the author’s lifetime plus seventy years after his or her... read more →

The labour legislation in Estonia is quite liberal and offers a lot of flexibility in agreeing on terms and conditions of employment. Regulations regarding employment and labour contracts are regulated by the Employment Contracts Act. An employment contract is concluded usually for an unspecified period, but an exception is stated in the Performing Art Institutions Act. A fixed-term employment contract may be entered into with artists for up to five years, if it is justified by the specific nature of their creative work. If more than two consecutive fixed-term employment contracts have been concluded with an artist for the performance... read more →

The Law on Value Added Tax (2003) stipulates a standard VAT rate of 20% (since July 2009). A reduced rate is 9% (since July 2009) of the taxable value and it includes printed books, workbooks used as learning materials, printed newspapers, magazines and other periodical publications excluding publications mainly containing advertisements or personal announcements, or publications the content of which is mainly erotic or pornographic. Since April 2020, VAT on e-books is equal with printed books (9%).  In Estonia since 2000, the Income Tax Act includes provisions for both individuals and companies. Taxable income for residents includes income from employment... read more →

Social protection in Estonia is regulated by general legislation: Employment Contracts Act (2008), State Pension Insurance Act (2001), Health Insurance Act (2002), Unemployment Insurance Act (2001) and Labour Market Services and Benefits Act (2005).  There is no special system for freelance artists to have separate access to the social security system. Many artists work in other fields connected with their art field: education, cultural administrations, media etc. The Creative Persons and Artistic Associations Act was adopted in 2004. The aim of the law is to provide support to creative persons who do not receive regular income. A freelance creative person,... read more →

The preparation of the state budget for culture starts at the Ministry of Culture, which prepares a budget proposal, including incomes, expenditures of institutions and support programmes administered by the Ministry. The budget proposal is presented by the Minister of Culture to the Government Cabinet and will, after political negotiations, be presented to the Parliament as a part of the state budget. In the Parliament, the Cultural Committee and represented parties may suggest changes. After approval of the budget, the specified budget for institutions, supporting programmes and investments will be approved by the Minister of Culture. For the administration of... read more →