Year book of motion pictures (1934)

ments should be made unless advance payments made. Condition will continue until exchangu condition lifted. 50% of the import duties on films must now be paid in gold or its equivalent, whereas the percentage has previously been 25%. Theaters— 127 ; Montevideo 56, balance in the interior. Sound — 110 houses have been wired for sound. Type of equipment used : 2 American makes, with 54 machines. The rest are constructed from parts of U.S. origin. Imports from U. S. A. — 1932— Positive, sound 1,732,589 ft. $40,317 1933— Kirst Six Months: Positive, sound 1 ,2 18,463 ft. 23.383 Venezuela Agitation — None. Censorship — A censorship of motion pictures exists in Venezuela, although films are reviewed only with the idea of eliminating subjects of objectionable political implications. No censorship regulations as to subject matter have been enacted and judgment of the censor appointed by the Federal Executive is final. Competition — 90% American pictures shown ; French 7%, German 2% and others 1%. Copyright Relations — The Venezuelan copyright law, which became effective on September 16, 1928 (Gaceta Oficial No. 16,588, August 22, 1928), makes provision for the copyrighting of national motion pictures (Art. 180) but there is some doubt as to whether this provision applies to films of foreign origin, apparently no attempt having been made to copyright a foreign film since the law became effective. Article 180 of the law of September 16, 1928, provides that in copyrighting motion picture of domestic origin, the, registrar of the copyrights must be supplied the following data: (1) Names of artists ; (2) Title of Manuscript of play ; (3) Place and date of production; (4) A copy of the first and last scenes of each of the parts making up the picture (una copia de la primera y ultima escena de las partes de que se componga la pelicula). Article 193 of the same law provides that foreign works (Propiedad Intelectual) are copyrighted in accordance with International treaties existing between Venezuela and the country where the work is produced. Apparently no special copyright treaty exists between the United States and Venezuela. However, Article 115 of the Codigo Internacional Privado, agreed upon at the 6th InterAmerican Conference at Havana on February 20, 1928, and published in an extraordinary number of the Venezuelan Official Gazette of April 9, 1932, provides that, if no special treaty exists, protection in the case of intellectual property shall be granted in accordance with the laws of the country where protection is sought. This would appear to place foreign films on the same basis as national films for the purposes of copyright in Venezuela. Production — No films of any description were produced in Venezuela during the current year. Theaters — 134. of which 18 are in Caracas, 14 with sound. Sound — 44 theaters wired and 3 portable sets in use. Imports from U. S. A. — 1932— Positive, sound 740,267 ft. $11,105 1933— First Six Months: 19^3— Positive, sound 341,281 ft. 9,369 Yugoslavia Agitation — There is some agitation for the purpose of bringing about the enactment of a law requiring all foreign films to be "dubbed" into the Serbo-Croatian language, but is believed that this agitation wills be unsuccessful. Under regulations prescribed by the Minister of Commerce and Industries of Yugoslavia, the management and control of production, import and trade in motion pictures in that country has been placed in the hands of a State Film Central, whose duties will include also the sponsoring of domestic production and the aiding of educational efforts and propaganda for pictures of cultural value. Registration fees are collected by the Central as follows: (a) For pictures of foreign origin for amusement, as well as for advertising all films, an amount corresponding to one-half of the censor fees; (b) for all cultural pictures and domestic pictures, one-fourth of the censor fee. In effect, registration fes will amount to approximately $8 for each American feature brought on the Yugoslav market. Theaters are obliged to show at every performance one or more films of a cultural nature. They must also show domestic pictures of at least 5% of the total length of programs shown quarterly. For theaters giving daily shows and which change programs less than six times monthly, this percentage is increased to 10. To ascertain whether these obligations have been fully complied with, the Central will issue forms that cover each performance. For these forms one dinar is charged. Censorship — The Yugoslav censorship of moving picture films is, for political reasons, very strict. It is in the hands of the Ministry of the Interior, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the War Ministry and other Ministries that may be interested. Films produced in Soviet Russia are barred, at least none have been shown as the censorship regulations as applied to them are especially severe. Competition — It is difficult to ascertain the exact number, or the percentage, of American motion pictures shown in Yugoslavia, as import statistics | are valueless in this connection, and no other statistics are available until the Yugoslav Film Central compiles figures for the calendar year 1933. During the calendar year 1932, as reported by the Film Central, 199 German films of 313,382 meters, 227 American films of 201,732 meters and 5 or 6 French films, aggregating a few thousand meters were displayed in Yugoslavia. Worked out on this basis, it would appear that something over 30%, perhaps 35%, of the moving pictures displayed in Yugoslavia in 1932 were of American origin. American films were withheld from the Yugoslav market during the greater part of 1932 and 1933 in consequence of adverse legislation. It is probably a fact that the percentage of American participation in the local motion picture market is less in the present year than in 1932. Copyright Relations — None. Production — 4 feature films produced in 1932 ; 106 cultural; 75 newsreels ; 4 shorts; 93 advertising. Taxes— High. Theaters — The Yugoslav Film Central reports that, on January 1, 1933, there were 338 cinema theaters in Yugoslavia, with 92,C28 seats ; of this number only 64 gave daily performances. Sound — It is estimated that not over 184 cinema theaters in Yugoslavia are equipped to reproduce sound pictures. Imports from U. S. A. — 1932— Positive, sound 129,231 ft. $2,012 1933 — First Six Months: 1933 — Positive, sound 56,911ft. 878 1051