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Article: La regle du jeu: French-inspired plans to protect Europe's film industry are extremely silly.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- March 18, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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GLUED to their television sets tonight, will the citizens of Europe be enjoying a common European culture? Yes--but it is more likely to be "Baywatch" than the works of Wagner, Shakespeare or Fellini. The cultural ties that unite the continent tend to be woven in Hollywood. This upsets some European governments. Next week the European Commission will talk about toughening the limits, set in 1989, on the amount of programmes made outside Europe that television stations may buy or show. Such protection is mainly intended to protect Europe's sickly film industry. It is more likely to make it harder for Europe to produce films its citizens want to watch.
The commission ...