Research On Rules Regulating Subsidies To Cultural Products

Digitization is the most distinctive historical background nowadays.It affects both domestic and international society in every way.Under the digital background,compared with other products,in a broader range,deeper degree and faster speed,cultural products change into virtual form and eventually present to be services.Cultural products have three specificities: the specificity of the way in which international trade in cultural products conducts;the specificity of being public goods and being cultural;and the specificity of being virtual and presenting to be services.These specificities jointly lead to the pursuit by states of legitimate policy objectives below: increasing the international trade of cultural products,providing public goods in the cultural field,as well as protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions.In this situation,subsidies become necessary to those objectives above because of having less trade distortion and more advantages.From the perspective of international law,there are two kinds of rules regulating subsidies to cultural products: general subsidy rules in trade agreements;subsidy rules in cultural convention and dedicated but not systematic rules regulating subsidies to cultural products in trade agreements.Existing trade agreements usually regulate subsidies to cultural products in three approaches: treating subsidies to all kinds of products generally;in positive or negative lists attached restricting national treatment of subsidies to cultural products;and excluding cultural industry out of relevant agreements.However,subsidy rules in all of the three approaches above fail paying appropriate attention to the specificities of cultural products and subsequently failing appropriately considering the legitimate policy objectives pursued by states who implement the subsidies.In such circumstance,those subsidy rules only focus on the prohibition but do not exempt subsidies which pursue legitimate policy objectives.Accordingly,all the subsidy rules do not adapt to the specificities of cultural products and we need to construct subsidy rules which are adaptable.It's legitimate for trade agreements to adapt to specificities of certain products and to show their non-trade concerns.Special rules regulating subsidies to cultural products materially contribute to the above adaption and are non-substitute,as well as have limited negative effects.This explains the necessity of the adaption mentioned above.Different kinds of trade agreements commonly tend to the balance between cultural concern and free trade,as well as the approach of constructing special rules regulating subsidies to cultural products.This explains the feasibility of the adaption mentioned above.Concerning the specificity of cultural products under the digital background,it points to being digital,virtual and presenting to be services.It seems to be in vogue to put cultural products under the new concept of digital products.However,on the one hand,rules regulating trade in digital products significantly focus on the liberalization of trade and accordingly there is few rules applicable to subsidies and other restricting measures.On the other hand,existing dedicated rules regulating subsidies to cultural products mainly locate in rules regulating trade in services.In this situation,it is better to focus on cultural products' specificity of presenting to be services and accordingly find out the reason why subsidy rules do not adapt to specificities of cultural products.Only in this way can we take the advantage of improving rules regulating trade in services to construct special rules regulating subsidies to cultural products.The construction of special rules regulating subsidies to cultural products proceeds from two sides.On one side,considering both the distortion of and legitimate policy objectives pursued by subsidies,exempt those whose legitimate policy objectives amounts to equate their distortion.On the other side,the implementation of subsidies is required to be transparent,necessary,and proportionate.In the digital background,there is an expansive overlap between cultural and digital products.Such reality's projection in law is the overlap of rules regulating trade in cultural products and those regulating trade in digital products.Since dedicated rules regulating trade in cultural products mainly locate in rule regulating trade in services,the overlap above is the epitome of rule regulating trade in services and those regulating trade in digital products.In order to cope with the problem of the simultaneous application of the two kinds of rules,it is needed to state clearly the prior application of special rules regulating subsidies to cultural products.In the long run,out of the demand for developing digital economy,states will pay more attention on the specificity of cultural products of being digital and require the development of progressive liberalization of flow of products and information.Subsidies and other restricting measures will gradually disappear and accordingly subsidy rules will not ever exist.On the international level,states should jointly promote the construction of special rules regulating subsidies to cultural products.On the domestic level,after achieving legitimate policy objectives by way of subsidies,state should let such policies eventually recede.In this situation,after experiencing the stage of harmonization with existing international rule and that of being compliant with special rules constructed by this paper,receding mechanism of subsidies should be build in domestic law to deliberately cope with the progressive liberalization of flow of products and information.