FPB reveals new fees for Netflix and app stores

The Film and Publication Board has published a draft review of its tariffs to classify content for distribution in South Africa.

It has invited comments on the draft tariffs within 30 days from 29 September.

The tariffs propose price increases for classifying films, series, and games, and a new annual “licence fee” for online distributors.

Currently, the FPB regulations make provision for a R795,000 “licensing fee for online distribution”. In February 2017, however, several online distributors refused to pay the fee – notably Microsoft and Netflix.

Microsoft said it did not need to register with the FPB as its Windows App Store for content distribution is a global company.

Netflix refused to make the licence fee payment, said the FPB.

Google, Apple, MultiChoice (for DStv and Showmax), and OntapTV paid their licence fees.

Price changes

The FPB has now proposed revisions to the structure of annual fees for online distributors, based on the number of titles they offer.

If a distributor offers more than 1,000 titles, for example, the fee for 0–499 titles is applied to the first 499, the 500–999 fee is applied for the next 500 titles, and the 1000+ fee is applied to the rest, it said.

Streaming video and app store fees

The FPB’s proposed tariff structure for online distributors is summarised below.

Penalties

The FPB also laid out a penalty system for online distributors.

Penalties are applied in the same fashion as the licensing fee.

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