1 General Provisions

 1.1 The General Manufacturing and Delivery Conditions of the Austrian Association of the Film and Music Industry for the production of advertising films are fundamentally designed for transactions between companies and are an essential part of every offer and contract.

1.2 Should they exceptionally also apply to transactions with consumers within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, BGBl Nr.140/1979 in its currently valid version, they shall apply only insofar as they do not contradict the provisions of the first main section of this law.

1.3 A legal obligation of the producer arises only through the official confirmation of the offer/order (confirmation by fax is permissible) or the signing of the contract. By signing the order letter or the order confirmation, the General Manufacturing and Delivery Conditions are accepted. A confirmation by fax or email is equivalent to written confirmation.

1.4 The production of the film work, regardless of the medium (analog or digital), is based on the screenplay approved or provided by the client under the conditions laid down in writing in the production contract or accepted offer.

1.5 Treatments, screenplays, drawings, plans, and similar documents created by or on behalf of the producer remain the producer’s intellectual property, unless they are used in the film or a fee has been agreed upon. Any use, particularly distribution, reproduction, and publication, requires the producer’s express consent. Documents provided by the client can be reclaimed by them.

2 Costs

2.1 The agreed price includes all production costs, including a broadcast-ready first copy, as well as the granting of rights to the film work to the extent specified in point 7.2. The calculated working time per shooting day is a maximum of 10 hours.

2.2 Weather-related delays (weather risk) are not included in the calculated production costs. Additional costs incurred from this title will be invoiced based on documented expenses plus overhead (HU).

2.3 A separate contract can be concluded for the production of a treatment or screenplay. The price agreed in this contract must be paid by the client even if they do not have the treatment or screenplay filmed or withdraw from the order. If a screenplay or pre-existing film work is provided by the client or their representative, full unlimited rights transfer to the producer must be granted.

2.4 According to the agreement between CFP (Commercial Film Productions Europe) and EAAA (European Advertising Agencies Association), a surcharge of 15% for overheads (HU) and 10% for profit, totaling 26.5%, is added to the calculated net production costs. In addition, the statutory value-added tax is added.

2.5 If the client requests the conclusion of a specific insurance policy, they must notify the producer at the latest when the contract is concluded and cover the costs.

2.6 The client bears the costs for any technical advice they initiate.

3 Production, Modification, Acceptance, Foreign Language Versions

3.1 Pre-production, shooting, and comparable activities (see point 5.2) begin no earlier than after the signing of the production contract.

3.2 The artistic and technical design of the work is the responsibility of the producer. The producer must inform the client or their representative about the location and planned processes of pre-production, shooting, and post-production.

3.3 Acceptance by the client or their representative signifies approval of the artistic and technical quality.

3.4 If the client requests changes to the schedule, manuscript, screenplay, or already produced film parts before the film is accepted, these changes are at their expense unless it is a justified complaint of defects. The producer must promptly inform the client or their representative about the anticipated costs of these changes.

3.5 If the client requests changes after the film’s acceptance, they must communicate the desired changes in writing to the film producer. The producer alone is authorized to make changes. These changes are at the client’s expense.

3.6 If the producer proposes changes for artistic or technical reasons compared to the already approved screenplay, leading to additional costs beyond the agreed production price, these require prior written approval from the client or their representative. Unapproved additional costs cannot be claimed.

3.7 If foreign language versions of the film work are to be made through synchronization, packshot, or title change, an appropriate agreement must be made.

4 Liability

4.1 The producer is obliged to deliver a technically flawless broadcast copy (film / digital / HD format). They expressly guarantee that the production has flawless sound and picture quality. No warranty is provided for improper further processing by third parties (e.g., MPEG encoding).

4.2 If a circumstance occurs during the film’s production that makes contractual production impossible, the producer is only liable for intent and gross negligence. The impossibility of production or untimely completion of the film, neither attributable to the producer nor the client, only entitles the client to withdraw from the contract. However, the services provided so far plus overheads and profit shares will be charged.

4.3 Acknowledged defects by the producer must be rectified by them. If these corrections cannot be carried out without the cooperation of the client or their technical advisor, the producer can consider the contract fulfilled after a set period of at least two weeks for the corresponding action has fruitlessly expired. The producer is entitled to refuse to rectify the defects until the payments due at the time of the correction have been made.

4.4 The producer is liable for all legal violations caused by them during the production, but the client bears the risk of the props provided by them.

5 Withdrawal from the Contract by the Client

5.1 If the production order is placed and the client withdraws from the order without the producer’s fault between 14 and 10 days before the start of filming, the producer is entitled to charge 30% of the total amount.

5.2 If the client withdraws from the order between 10 and 4 days before the start of filming or a comparable status for film works made from existing and/or computer-generated material, the producer is entitled to charge 2/3 of the calculated and accepted net costs plus overheads and lost total profit.

5.3 If the client withdraws between the 3rd and 1st day before the planned start of filming or comparable activities (see point 5.2), the calculated and ordered total amount will be charged.

6 Payment Terms

Unless otherwise agreed, the following payment terms apply:

– 1/2 upon order placement
– 1/2 upon acceptance

For longer production times:

– 1/3 upon order placement
– 1/3 at the start of filming (or start of comparable activities / see point 5.2)
– 1/3 upon completion

In case of late payment, interest on arrears at the rate of the secondary market yield plus 3% from the due date will be charged.

7 Copyright

7.1 The film is produced based on the screenplay accepted by both the client and the film producer. According to § 38/1 UrhG, the producer has all necessary copyright exploitation rights (except if they lie with a collecting society), particularly the reproduction, distribution, broadcasting, performance, and related rights required for fulfilling the contract, which the producer continues to manage after the work’s completion.

7.2 The production contract must specify which usage rights to the finished work are granted to the client after full payment of the production costs, in what scope (spatially and temporally).

7.3 According to current practice, these are the broadcasting/performance rights for the territory of the Republic of Austria ORF, TV, cable companies, and/or cinema for one year from completion/first use. The binding documents for extending or expanding the broadcasting/performance rights, particularly for actors, speakers, music, archive materials, are available at the Austrian Association of the Film and Music Industry. The producer will invoice these costs according to point 2 of the General Terms and Conditions. This also applies to broadcasts beyond the broadcasting country via satellite, as far as this affects the producer’s or copyright and related rights, particularly for actors, speakers, music, archive materials. The CFP-published tariffs are the basis for compensating buy-outs.

7.4 A separate agreement is required for using the work on the internet or similar analog or digital platforms (so-called new exploitation types; e.g., for use on handheld computers, mobile phones).

7.5 Exempt from the rights grant are the rights for reproduction, processing, modification, addition, foreign language synchronization, and the use of excerpts in image and/or sound unless explicitly agreed and compensated separately in the contract. At least the lost production profit must be calculated for compensating these transferred usage rights. This does not affect the claim for damages.

7.6 The client expressly agrees that the legally required notifications to the respective collecting societies will be made by the producer.

 7.7
The client is obliged to immediately notify the producer of any use of the film outside the countries and periods specified in the production contract.

7.8 To secure the copyright exploitation rights, the source material (image and sound), especially negatives, master tapes, and residual material, remains with the producer.

7.9 The producer undertakes to store the original image and sound material of the delivered work for one year, and finished spots or other productions (contract production) for two years. Before the expiry of the respective period, the client can agree in writing on the duration of further, then chargeable, storage. When