DRAFT LEGISLATION
03.06.2026
Act on Amendment of Media Services Act and Administrative
Cooperation Act
§ 1. Amendment of Media Services Act
The following amendments shall be made to the Media Services Act:
1) the first sentence of subsection 4 of § 2 shall be supplemented, after the text “this Act”, with
the text “, with the exception of §§ 241–243, 245 and 246,”;
2) § 2 is supplemented with subsection 41 worded as follows:
“(41) The provisions of §§ 241, 243, 244, 246 and 247 of this Act shall also apply to providers of
on-demand audiovisual media services within the jurisdiction of a Member State of the
European Union whose services are targeted at users located in Estonia.”;
3) in subsection 5 of § 2, the text “and 22–24” shall be replaced by the text “, 22–244, 246 and
247”;
4) subsection 3 of § 7 is supplemented with a second sentence worded as follows:
“A programme included in the programme catalogue is an audiovisual work, such as a film, a
series or a television programme.”;
5) § 24 is repealed;
6) chapter 21 shall be added to the Act, worded as follows:
“Chapter 21
Promotion of production and accessibility of European works and supporting of
Estonian cinematographic production by audiovisual on-demand media service provider
§ 241. Application of chapter
This chapter shall not apply to an audiovisual on-demand media service provider who meets at
least one of the following conditions:
1) the audiovisual on-demand media service provider has on average fewer than ten employees
per financial year and the annual balance sheet total or annual turnover does not exceed two
million euros, taking into account the definition of a micro-enterprise in Commission
Recommendation 2003/361/EC concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.05.2003, pp. 36–41);
2) the average number of users of the on-demand audiovisual media services per year remains
lower than one percent of all users of the on-demand audiovisual media services of the country
of destination of the service;
3) the on-demand audiovisual media service provider offers a thematic programme catalogue
with regard to which the application of this Chapter would be clearly unreasonable.
1
§ 242. Promotion of production and accessibility of European works by audiovisual on-
demand media service provider
(1) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall ensure that at least 30% of the
programmes in its programme catalogue are European works and highlight them, including
those produced during last five years, together with their country of origin and year of
completion.
(2) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall highlight the works that are in
compliance with the features of own production in the programme catalogue together with their
year of completion.
(3) If an on-demand audiovisual media service provider offers different programme catalogues
in the Member States of the European Union, the requirement provided for in subsection 1 of
this section must be met for all such programme catalogues.
(4) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit to the Consumer Protection
and Technical Regulatory Authority, by 15 February each year, information concerning
compliance with the requirements provided for in subsections 1–3 of this section in the calendar
year preceding the submission of information.
§ 243. Investment obligation
(1) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider is obliged to invest at least five percent
of the revenue earned per calendar year from the provision of on-demand audiovisual media
services to users located in Estonia in the production of Estonian audiovisual works or in the
acquisition of broadcasting rights (hereinafter the investment obligation).
(2) The revenue referred to in subsection 1 of this section shall include revenue earned from the
broadcasting of audiovisual commercial communications. The revenue shall not include
revenue earned from the provision of television services and from the intermediation of services
provided by other on-demand audiovisual media service providers.
(3) The minister in charge of the policy sector shall establish by a regulation the detailed
conditions for calculating the revenue referred to in subsection 1 of this section.
(4) An Estonian audiovisual work for the purposes of this Chapter is a feature film,
documentary, animated film or series which relates to Estonian history, culture or living
environment and which
meets at least two of the following conditions:
1) at least 60 percent of the original language of the work is Estonian;
2) an Estonian creative team has a significant role in the completion of the work;
3) more than half of the work has been filmed or created in Estonia;
4) the production company is a legal person registered in Estonia whose main area of activity
is cinematographic production.
(5) The Estonian audiovisual work by whose acquisition of broadcasting rights the investment
obligation is complied with must have been completed no more than five calendar years prior
to the year in which the investment obligation arose.
2
(6) The conditions and procedure for calculating the proportion of an Estonian creative team in
the production of an Estonian audiovisual work shall be established by the minister in charge
of the policy sector by a regulation.
(7) If on-demand audiovisual media service provider fails to comply with the investment
obligation provided in subsection 1 of this section, it shall make a financial contribution
corresponding to the part in which it failed to comply with the investment obligation
(hereinafter financial contribution).
§ 244. Compliance with investment obligation
(1) Upon ensuring compliance with the investment obligation, an on-demand audiovisual media
service provider may allocate the investment in the production of new Estonian audiovisual
works over a period of up to three years, provided that the average annual amount of the
investments planned during that period exceeds the obligation incurred. In order to allocate the
investment, the on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit a notice indicating
the investment schedule by year and provide an annual report on the implementation of the
plan.
(2) If the production of the work referred to in subsection 1 of this section does not commence
by the third year following the submission of the notice, the on-demand audiovisual media
service provider shall, in order to comply with the investment obligation for the two calendar
years following the submission of the notice, make the financial contribution provided for in
subsection 6 of § 243 of this Act.
(3) The specific conditions for the allocation of the investment shall be established by the
minister in charge of the policy sector by a regulation.
§ 245. Administrative contract
(1) The Ministry of Culture may, for the purposes of conducting procedures relating to the
calculation of compliance with the investment obligation, verifying the implementation of the
investment plan, as well as for calculating the amount of the financial contribution, notifying
the on-demand audiovisual media service provider of the amount of the financial contribution
and collecting the financial contribution, enter into an administrative contract with a state
foundation (hereinafter the foundation) whereas entry into is not subject to §§ 6 and 14 of the
Administrative Cooperation Act.
(2) The duties referred to in subsection 1 of this section may be delegated in whole or in part
by means of an administrative contract.
(3) Administrative supervision of the performance of the administrative contract entered into
with the foundation pursuant to subsection 1 of this section shall be exercised by the Ministry
of Culture.
(4) If the administrative contract referred to in subsection 1 of this section is terminated
unilaterally or there is any other reason preventing the foundation from continuing to perform
the administrative duties provided in the contract, the Ministry of Culture shall organise the
continued performance of the administrative duties.
§ 246. Reporting
3
(1) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit to the Ministry of Culture,
or in the instance referred to in subsection 1 of § 245 of this Act, to the foundation, by 31 March
of each year at the latest, a report audited by an independent auditor setting out the revenue for
the preceding calendar year, which forms the basis for calculating the investment obligation
referred to in subsection 1 of § 243 of this Act, and the investments made in the production of
Estonian audiovisual works and the acquisition of broadcasting rights during the preceding
calendar year (hereinafter the report). The provisions of the Taxation Act relating to tax returns
shall apply to the report, subject to the specifications provided for in this Act.
(2) In the instance provided for in subsection 1 of § 244 of this Act, an on-demand audiovisual
media service provider shall attach to the report referred to in subsection 1 of this section a
notice on the allocation of the investment obligation and an overview of the implementation of
the investment plan.
(3) The list of data to be included in the report, the notice on the allocation of investment
obligations and the overview of the implementation of the investment plan, as well as the
detailed procedure for submitting the report, notice and overview shall be established by the
minister in charge of the policy sector by a regulation.
§ 247. Collection of financial contribution and use of funds received
(1) The amount of the financial contribution shall be calculated by the Ministry of Culture or
by the foundation in the instance provided for in subsection 1 of § 245 of this Act on the basis
of the data provided in the report referred to in subsection 1 of § 246 of this Act (hereinafter the
collector of the financial contribution).
(2) The collector of the financial contribution shall notify the on-demand audiovisual media
service provider of the amount payable as the financial contribution, the payment term, and the
current account into which the financial contribution shall be paid. The financial contribution
must be made within 30 days at the latest of the issue of the notice. A notice of a financial
contribution due for payment constitutes an administrative act for the performance of a
monetary obligation stemming from public law within the meaning of clause 21 of subsection
1 of § 2 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.
(3) The amount payable as a financial contribution shall be paid into the current account of the
Ministry of Culture by the term provided in the notice referred to in subsection 2 of this section.
(4) If the on-demand audiovisual media service provider fails to make the financial contribution
by the term provided in subsection 1 of this section, it shall be obliged to pay default interest at
the rate of 0.06% of the outstanding amount per day. Default interest shall accrue from the day
following the payment term and end on the day the payment is made.
(5) The collector of the financial contribution shall submit a claim with regard to default interest
to the on-demand audiovisual media service provider, indicating the number of days in arrears,
the default interest rate, the amount of default interest due, and the payment term. A claim for
default interest constitutes an administrative act for the performance of a monetary obligation
stemming from public law within the meaning of clause 21 of subsection 1 of § 2 of the Code
of Enforcement Procedure.
(6) The funds received through the collection of financial contributions shall be used to support
Estonian cinematography.”;
4
7) in subsection 1 of § 54, the text “15 and 192” shall be replaced by the text “15, 192 and 241–
247”;
8) § 562 shall be added to the Act, worded as follows:
Ҥ 562. Specifications of state supervision
The Ministry of Culture is entitled to issue a precept to an on-demand audiovisual media service
provider who fails to submit the report provided for in subsection 1 of § 246 of this Act or fails
to comply with the obligation to make the financial contribution provided for in subsection 6
of § 243 of this Act and to impose a non-compliance levy on the basis of and pursuant to the
procedure provided for in the Substitutional Performance and Non-Compliance Levies Act. The
upper limit for the non-compliance levy is 15,000 euros. For repeated failure to comply with
the precept, the upper limit for the non-compliance levy is 30,000 euros.”;
9) § 655 shall be added to the Act, worded as follows:
Ҥ 655. Implementation of investment obligation
An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit the report referred to in
subsection 1 of § 246 of this Act for the first time in 2028. The report on revenue and
investments for 2027 shall cover the period from 1 July to 31 December.”.
§ 2. Amendment of Administrative Cooperation Act
Subsection 11 of § 13 of the Administrative Cooperation Act shall be supplemented by clause
33, worded as follows:
“33) an administrative contract as referred to in subsection 1 of § 246 of the Media Services
Act.”
§ 4. Entry into force of Act
This Act shall enter into force on 1 July 2027.
President of the Riigikogu
Tallinn, 2026
Initiated by the Government of the Republic in 2026
On behalf of the Government of the Republic
(digitally signed)
Adviser to the Government of the Republic
5
Emilie Anthonis
Motion Picture Association
[email protected] 03.07.2026 No 10-5/738-1
Public Consultation on the Draft Act on
Amendment of the Media Services Act
Dear Emilie Anthonis,
Further to our recent discussions and meetings regarding the proposed Act on Amendment of
Media Services Act, the Ministry is pleased to submit the enclosed draft for public consultation.
The Ministry appreciates the constructive dialogue with representatives of the film industry during
the preparation of the draft. The views and expertise shared in the course of these exchanges have
contributed to the development of the proposed amendments.
In view of its role as a representative organisation of the film industry, Motion Picture Association
is invited to review the draft and provide any comments or observations it may wish to make. Any
feedback received by 31 July will be duly considered in the further preparation of the draft
legislation.
The Ministry thanks MPA in advance for its participation in this consultation and looks forward
to receiving its comments.
Yours sincerely,
Merilin Piipuu
Secretary General
Additional recipients:
Johanna Baysse,
[email protected]
Karlo Funk +372 56485966
[email protected]
Suur-Karja 23 / 15076 Tallinn, Estonia / + 372 628 2222 /
[email protected] / www.kul.ee / Registration No 70000941
DRAFT LEGISLATION
03.06.2026
Act on Amendment of Media Services Act and Administrative
Cooperation Act
§ 1. Amendment of Media Services Act
The following amendments shall be made to the Media Services Act:
1) the first sentence of subsection 4 of § 2 shall be supplemented, after the text “this Act”, with
the text “, with the exception of §§ 241–243, 245 and 246,”;
2) § 2 is supplemented with subsection 41 worded as follows:
“(41) The provisions of §§ 241, 243, 244, 246 and 247 of this Act shall also apply to providers of
on-demand audiovisual media services within the jurisdiction of a Member State of the
European Union whose services are targeted at users located in Estonia.”;
3) in subsection 5 of § 2, the text “and 22–24” shall be replaced by the text “, 22–244, 246 and
247”;
4) subsection 3 of § 7 is supplemented with a second sentence worded as follows:
“A programme included in the programme catalogue is an audiovisual work, such as a film, a
series or a television programme.”;
5) § 24 is repealed;
6) chapter 21 shall be added to the Act, worded as follows:
“Chapter 21
Promotion of production and accessibility of European works and supporting of
Estonian cinematographic production by audiovisual on-demand media service provider
§ 241. Application of chapter
This chapter shall not apply to an audiovisual on-demand media service provider who meets at
least one of the following conditions:
1) the audiovisual on-demand media service provider has on average fewer than ten employees
per financial year and the annual balance sheet total or annual turnover does not exceed two
million euros, taking into account the definition of a micro-enterprise in Commission
Recommendation 2003/361/EC concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.05.2003, pp. 36–41);
2) the average number of users of the on-demand audiovisual media services per year remains
lower than one percent of all users of the on-demand audiovisual media services of the country
of destination of the service;
3) the on-demand audiovisual media service provider offers a thematic programme catalogue
with regard to which the application of this Chapter would be clearly unreasonable.
1
§ 242. Promotion of production and accessibility of European works by audiovisual on-
demand media service provider
(1) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall ensure that at least 30% of the
programmes in its programme catalogue are European works and highlight them, including
those produced during last five years, together with their country of origin and year of
completion.
(2) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall highlight the works that are in
compliance with the features of own production in the programme catalogue together with their
year of completion.
(3) If an on-demand audiovisual media service provider offers different programme catalogues
in the Member States of the European Union, the requirement provided for in subsection 1 of
this section must be met for all such programme catalogues.
(4) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit to the Consumer Protection
and Technical Regulatory Authority, by 15 February each year, information concerning
compliance with the requirements provided for in subsections 1–3 of this section in the calendar
year preceding the submission of information.
§ 243. Investment obligation
(1) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider is obliged to invest at least five percent
of the revenue earned per calendar year from the provision of on-demand audiovisual media
services to users located in Estonia in the production of Estonian audiovisual works or in the
acquisition of broadcasting rights (hereinafter the investment obligation).
(2) The revenue referred to in subsection 1 of this section shall include revenue earned from the
broadcasting of audiovisual commercial communications. The revenue shall not include
revenue earned from the provision of television services and from the intermediation of services
provided by other on-demand audiovisual media service providers.
(3) The minister in charge of the policy sector shall establish by a regulation the detailed
conditions for calculating the revenue referred to in subsection 1 of this section.
(4) An Estonian audiovisual work for the purposes of this Chapter is a feature film,
documentary, animated film or series which relates to Estonian history, culture or living
environment and which
meets at least two of the following conditions:
1) at least 60 percent of the original language of the work is Estonian;
2) an Estonian creative team has a significant role in the completion of the work;
3) more than half of the work has been filmed or created in Estonia;
4) the production company is a legal person registered in Estonia whose main area of activity
is cinematographic production.
(5) The Estonian audiovisual work by whose acquisition of broadcasting rights the investment
obligation is complied with must have been completed no more than five calendar years prior
to the year in which the investment obligation arose.
2
(6) The conditions and procedure for calculating the proportion of an Estonian creative team in
the production of an Estonian audiovisual work shall be established by the minister in charge
of the policy sector by a regulation.
(7) If on-demand audiovisual media service provider fails to comply with the investment
obligation provided in subsection 1 of this section, it shall make a financial contribution
corresponding to the part in which it failed to comply with the investment obligation
(hereinafter financial contribution).
§ 244. Compliance with investment obligation
(1) Upon ensuring compliance with the investment obligation, an on-demand audiovisual media
service provider may allocate the investment in the production of new Estonian audiovisual
works over a period of up to three years, provided that the average annual amount of the
investments planned during that period exceeds the obligation incurred. In order to allocate the
investment, the on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit a notice indicating
the investment schedule by year and provide an annual report on the implementation of the
plan.
(2) If the production of the work referred to in subsection 1 of this section does not commence
by the third year following the submission of the notice, the on-demand audiovisual media
service provider shall, in order to comply with the investment obligation for the two calendar
years following the submission of the notice, make the financial contribution provided for in
subsection 6 of § 243 of this Act.
(3) The specific conditions for the allocation of the investment shall be established by the
minister in charge of the policy sector by a regulation.
§ 245. Administrative contract
(1) The Ministry of Culture may, for the purposes of conducting procedures relating to the
calculation of compliance with the investment obligation, verifying the implementation of the
investment plan, as well as for calculating the amount of the financial contribution, notifying
the on-demand audiovisual media service provider of the amount of the financial contribution
and collecting the financial contribution, enter into an administrative contract with a state
foundation (hereinafter the foundation) whereas entry into is not subject to §§ 6 and 14 of the
Administrative Cooperation Act.
(2) The duties referred to in subsection 1 of this section may be delegated in whole or in part
by means of an administrative contract.
(3) Administrative supervision of the performance of the administrative contract entered into
with the foundation pursuant to subsection 1 of this section shall be exercised by the Ministry
of Culture.
(4) If the administrative contract referred to in subsection 1 of this section is terminated
unilaterally or there is any other reason preventing the foundation from continuing to perform
the administrative duties provided in the contract, the Ministry of Culture shall organise the
continued performance of the administrative duties.
§ 246. Reporting
3
(1) An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit to the Ministry of Culture,
or in the instance referred to in subsection 1 of § 245 of this Act, to the foundation, by 31 March
of each year at the latest, a report audited by an independent auditor setting out the revenue for
the preceding calendar year, which forms the basis for calculating the investment obligation
referred to in subsection 1 of § 243 of this Act, and the investments made in the production of
Estonian audiovisual works and the acquisition of broadcasting rights during the preceding
calendar year (hereinafter the report). The provisions of the Taxation Act relating to tax returns
shall apply to the report, subject to the specifications provided for in this Act.
(2) In the instance provided for in subsection 1 of § 244 of this Act, an on-demand audiovisual
media service provider shall attach to the report referred to in subsection 1 of this section a
notice on the allocation of the investment obligation and an overview of the implementation of
the investment plan.
(3) The list of data to be included in the report, the notice on the allocation of investment
obligations and the overview of the implementation of the investment plan, as well as the
detailed procedure for submitting the report, notice and overview shall be established by the
minister in charge of the policy sector by a regulation.
§ 247. Collection of financial contribution and use of funds received
(1) The amount of the financial contribution shall be calculated by the Ministry of Culture or
by the foundation in the instance provided for in subsection 1 of § 245 of this Act on the basis
of the data provided in the report referred to in subsection 1 of § 246 of this Act (hereinafter the
collector of the financial contribution).
(2) The collector of the financial contribution shall notify the on-demand audiovisual media
service provider of the amount payable as the financial contribution, the payment term, and the
current account into which the financial contribution shall be paid. The financial contribution
must be made within 30 days at the latest of the issue of the notice. A notice of a financial
contribution due for payment constitutes an administrative act for the performance of a
monetary obligation stemming from public law within the meaning of clause 21 of subsection
1 of § 2 of the Code of Enforcement Procedure.
(3) The amount payable as a financial contribution shall be paid into the current account of the
Ministry of Culture by the term provided in the notice referred to in subsection 2 of this section.
(4) If the on-demand audiovisual media service provider fails to make the financial contribution
by the term provided in subsection 1 of this section, it shall be obliged to pay default interest at
the rate of 0.06% of the outstanding amount per day. Default interest shall accrue from the day
following the payment term and end on the day the payment is made.
(5) The collector of the financial contribution shall submit a claim with regard to default interest
to the on-demand audiovisual media service provider, indicating the number of days in arrears,
the default interest rate, the amount of default interest due, and the payment term. A claim for
default interest constitutes an administrative act for the performance of a monetary obligation
stemming from public law within the meaning of clause 21 of subsection 1 of § 2 of the Code
of Enforcement Procedure.
(6) The funds received through the collection of financial contributions shall be used to support
Estonian cinematography.”;
4
7) in subsection 1 of § 54, the text “15 and 192” shall be replaced by the text “15, 192 and 241–
247”;
8) § 562 shall be added to the Act, worded as follows:
Ҥ 562. Specifications of state supervision
The Ministry of Culture is entitled to issue a precept to an on-demand audiovisual media service
provider who fails to submit the report provided for in subsection 1 of § 246 of this Act or fails
to comply with the obligation to make the financial contribution provided for in subsection 6
of § 243 of this Act and to impose a non-compliance levy on the basis of and pursuant to the
procedure provided for in the Substitutional Performance and Non-Compliance Levies Act. The
upper limit for the non-compliance levy is 15,000 euros. For repeated failure to comply with
the precept, the upper limit for the non-compliance levy is 30,000 euros.”;
9) § 655 shall be added to the Act, worded as follows:
Ҥ 655. Implementation of investment obligation
An on-demand audiovisual media service provider shall submit the report referred to in
subsection 1 of § 246 of this Act for the first time in 2028. The report on revenue and
investments for 2027 shall cover the period from 1 July to 31 December.”.
§ 2. Amendment of Administrative Cooperation Act
Subsection 11 of § 13 of the Administrative Cooperation Act shall be supplemented by clause
33, worded as follows:
“33) an administrative contract as referred to in subsection 1 of § 246 of the Media Services
Act.”
§ 4. Entry into force of Act
This Act shall enter into force on 1 July 2027.
President of the Riigikogu
Tallinn, 2026
Initiated by the Government of the Republic in 2026
On behalf of the Government of the Republic
(digitally signed)
Adviser to the Government of the Republic
5
Emilie Anthonis
Motion Picture Association
[email protected] 03.07.2026 No 10-5/738-1
Public Consultation on the Draft Act on
Amendment of the Media Services Act
Dear Emilie Anthonis,
Further to our recent discussions and meetings regarding the proposed Act on Amendment of
Media Services Act, the Ministry is pleased to submit the enclosed draft for public consultation.
The Ministry appreciates the constructive dialogue with representatives of the film industry during
the preparation of the draft. The views and expertise shared in the course of these exchanges have
contributed to the development of the proposed amendments.
In view of its role as a representative organisation of the film industry, Motion Picture Association
is invited to review the draft and provide any comments or observations it may wish to make. Any
feedback received by 31 July will be duly considered in the further preparation of the draft
legislation.
The Ministry thanks MPA in advance for its participation in this consultation and looks forward
to receiving its comments.
Yours sincerely,
Merilin Piipuu
Secretary General
Additional recipients:
Johanna Baysse,
[email protected]
Karlo Funk +372 56485966
[email protected]
Suur-Karja 23 / 15076 Tallinn, Estonia / + 372 628 2222 /
[email protected] / www.kul.ee / Registration No 70000941