The Ministry of Culture proposes to introduce the status of an artist into the domestic legal order. Whoever gets it will be able to apply for a contribution for creative or study purposes.
A few days ago, the comment procedure for the draft amendment to the Act on Certain Types of Cultural Support, which was prepared by the Ministry of Culture, ended. The amendment primarily introduces the status of an artist, which should help artists who do not have sufficient income from their artistic activity. Those who obtain the status of an artist will be able to apply for contributions for creative or study activities, the so-called scholarships. Although these can already be granted at the present time, the conditions of who will be able to request everything will change.
Scholarship applicants will no longer be restricted by age (the age limit of 35 years is abolished) and the possibility of repeated drawing of the scholarship is further expanded – now it is possible to draw the scholarship only twice. The most important change, however, is the narrowing of the range of scholarship applicants to only those persons who have been granted the status of an artist, adds the explanatory report to the proposal, stating that 100 million crowns should go to scholarships.
The status of the artist will also be linked to possible support in extraordinary situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
How should an artist be defined?
The artist himself is defined using the general concept of copyright law and other regulations, not only legal ones. It is assumed that, for example, the National System of Occupations will be used. The proposal therefore treats the concept of artist in relation to various definitions introduced, e.g. copyright law or bilateral international treaties on the avoidance of double taxation, which define the concept of artist relatively precisely. At the same time, the proposal will also consider an author or translator in the sense of the copyright law, as well as related professions (e.g. sound engineer), as the explanatory report explains.
Conditions for obtaining artist status
Not all artists will be able to obtain artist status. The basic condition should be that the natural person performs an artistic or related activity for at least 24 months before the date of submission of the application for registration in the register. Another condition is that for at least 24 months prior to the date of submission of the application for registration in the register, the person concerned has not been in an employment relationship or an employment relationship exceeding half of the specified weekly working hours. The submitter assumes that artists with a legal relationship of this type have a certain income guaranteed in terms of relevant regulations, including in the area of health and social security, adds the explanatory report.
