The government has registered a new bill in the National Assembly that requires individuals or companies to obtain permission from the Film Development Board before releasing films on over-the-top (OTT) platforms or YouTube.
The bill, formulated to amend and consolidate existing film-related laws, mandates that any digital platform, individual, or entity must acquire a license from the Board to screen films or film-related content digitally.
The bill defines digital platforms as including OTT platforms, YouTube, Twitter (rebranded as X by Elon Musk over a year ago), and other similar services.
Currently, films do not require prior approval for release on such platforms.
Film director and producer Nischal Basnet said that until now, filmmakers did not need permission to release films on OTT platforms. However, the bill grants the Board the authority to determine license fees, royalties, and other charges for digital screenings.
Additionally, the bill says that film production licenses will be valid for four years, which can be extended for one more year if production delays occur. Film distribution and exhibition licenses will be valid for five years.
The bill also requires the Board’s approval for reproducing films or film-related content and for selling and distributing such reproduced content. The bill's definition of film-related content includes songs, music, posters, motion posters, teasers, trailers, or a portion of a film.
Furthermore, the bill requires films to be approved by a review committee before they are screened in Nepal. This committee will be chaired by a joint secretary from the Ministry of Communication. Representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation will also be part of the committee. Additionally, two members appointed by the Ministry of Communication and a representative from the Film Development Board will serve as members, with an under-secretary from the Ministry of Communication acting as the member-secretary. This government mechanism will decide whether to grant or deny permission for a film’s screening after reviewing it.
Film director Deepak Raj Giri said that the bill fails to grant autonomy to the Film Development Board.
“The Board should have been recognized as an autonomous institution, but its autonomy appears weakened,” Giri said. “It has been made necessary to refer every matter to the Board.”
He added that their proposal to limit the Censor Board’s role to only issuing certifications was not accepted.
“I had suggested creating guidelines for film censorship. With guidelines in place, there would be no need for ministry representatives. If a film satirizes doctors, a representative from the Health Ministry would be required. If a review committee is formed this way, representatives from all ministries would be required,” he said.
“In some countries, there is no censorship at all. There should be no censorship except for nudity, content that harms nationality, or disrupts religious harmony. But here, even wearing a police uniform gets censored,” he said.
The bill also requires television channels to have telefilms reviewed before broadcasting them. The government review committee will set the conditions and criteria for such reviews. Television channels must submit details of telefilm reviews to the government review committee.
Telefilm producer Marichman Shrestha said that the provision for reviewing telefilms is necessary. Currently, the Board has not set any conditions or restrictions for private television channels. But Nepal Television has been reviewing telefilms before broadcasting.
“Reviewing telefilms for television is necessary because 2-3 million people will be watching them simultaneously,” Shrestha said. “Some scenes that can’t be watched together with the family have also been broadcast. I believe some authority should oversee this matter.”
Sharing his experience, Shrestha said that while private television channels also reviewed content before broadcasting, Nepal Television’s review process was stricter. “At Nepal Television, even a scene where a hand is raised to hit a woman gets edited out,” Shrestha said. “Private channels don’t pay much attention to such matters, but certain scenes don’t air on Nepal Television.”
The bill requires obtaining permission from the local level for constructing cinema halls. The Film Development Board will set the criteria for operating cinema halls. It will determine whether a cinema hall will cause inconvenience or obstruction to nearby educational institutions, hostels, hospitals, places of public importance, or government offices.
