Cultural Industries Exception In International Investment Agreement

With the trend of globalization and the continuous expansion of trade and investment among the world,the huge market of cultural industries is gradually attaching importance to all countries.The international investment in cultural industries has been continuously active.However,the cultural industries are different from ordinary industries.Considering the cultural attributes,while paying attention to economic benefits,cultural industries should also pay attention to the special significance of cultural inheritance and cultural diversity behind the cultural industries.Facing the strong cultural invasion of the United States,France,Canada and other countries put forward the Cultural Exception.Cultural exception gradually entered the field of investment and formed the cultural industries exception clause in the IIA.However,compared with other provisions in IIAs,the cultural industries exception started late,neither in the practice of international investment arbitration nor in the field of international investment law.They have not received sufficient attention.This article aims to analyze the origins of the cultural industries exception clauses and the forms of the cultural industries exception clauses.Based on the analysis and application of the cultural industries clauses concerned with the case studies,this paper analyzes the cultural industries exception clauses in the international investment agreements of our country and the domestic legal environment,with a view to put forward countermeasures and suggestions.This article is divided into the following sections:The first chapter is the introduction of this article,which includes three parts:the significance of the topic,the literature review and the research methods,introduces the background and significance of this article,the domestic and foreigner research status,and the research methods used in this paper.The second chapter is divided into an overview of investment in international cultural industries and an overview of cultural industries exceptions.First of all,based on the overview of investment in international cultural industries,the author introduced the definition of cultural industries in various countries,then introduced the general situation of investment in international cultural industries.The second part mainly introduces the cultural industries exception principle,starting from the origin of cultural exception,introduces the development process of cultural industries exception from WTO to IIA,and then from the double attributes and cultural diversity of cultural industries,to discuss the necessity and importance of the introduction of cultural industries exception in IIAs.The third chapter is the core part of this article,which is divided into three sections:The first section analyzes the relevant provisions of cultural industries exception,through the comparative analysis of some typical cultural industries exception clauses,the similarities and differences between the different terms as well as the advantages and disadvantages.Section two analyzes the regulations and attitudes on cultural industries exception in Canada and the United States,analyzes the new trends in the development of cultural industries exception.The third section mainly focuses on case studies.It introduces two cases of disputes over investment in cultural industries between UPS v.Canada and Lemire v.Ukraine,and compares the two cases to analyze the interpretation and application of cultural industries exception clauses.The fourth chapter mainly focuses on our country,introduces the relevant provisions of cultural industries exception in our country's IIAs,and through the comparison with the third chapter finds out the shortcomings of our clauses.Then it analyzes the adjustment and trend of the negative list concerning the cultural industries and objectively discusses the progress and shortage of the negative list.At the same time,the existence of cultural industries exception does not exclude the foreign investment in our country's cultural industries.In order to attract foreign investment better,this chapter also analyzes the current relevant laws and regulations on foreign-invested cultural industries and China's policies on overseas investment in cultural industries.By combing a series of laws and regulations,we find the shortcomings in current legislation.At last,we put forward relevant countermeasures and suggestions on how to include the exception of cultural industries in the IIAs,how to stipulate the cultural industries exception better and how to improve relevant domestic laws and regulations.