“The Empress” (Netflix photo)
May 28, 2026
German lawmakers have passed a bill mandating domestic and foreign streaming, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and HBO Max, and TV networks invest at least 8% of their local revenue in local content.
The “Media Investment Obligation Act,” set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, would be in an addition to existing European Union mandates calling for a 30% minimum of European content being made available on streaming platforms operating across the organization’s 27 member countries.
“With today’s [May 27] cabinet decision, we are taking German cinema to a new level in the global competition between film hubs,” said Wolfram Weimer, state minister for culture and media. “We have decided, across party lines, to inject more money into the domestic film industry than ever before.”
The bill limits streamers’ exclusive rights to local content from three and seven years — preventing platforms from owning IP indefinitely. The bill would operate under a clause in the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive forcing international video-on-demand platforms and domestic TV networks to financially support the local content ecosystem.
The bill offers media companies an “opt-out” clause if they invest at least 12% of local revenue in content without having mandatory German language productions. The German government would make available more than $291 million (€250 million) in local content production subsidies.
While the German movie and TV production industry heralds the pending law as a positive, they argue that the 8% minimum is not high enough when compared with minimums from 12% to 15% in other European countries.
“The MedienInvestVG aims to eliminate existing structural shortcomings and lay the foundations for long-term value creation, innovation and sustainable employment in the German film and series industry. However, the present draft bill, as it stands, would not yet achieve the desired effect,” industry associations – German Producers Alliance, AG DOK, German Film Academy and PROG Producers of Germany — said in a statement.
Bitkom, Germany’s largest digital technology industry association, contends the law heightens government restrictions and bureaucracy.
“Sub-quotas for new productions interfere deeply with editorial and business decisions and mean that content is no longer created solely on the basis of quality and audience interest, but also in accordance with regulatory requirements,” said Bitkom CEO Bernd Rohleder.
Netflix has upwards of 19 million German subscribers as the No. 1 SVOD service operating in the country. Prime Video has about 17 million, while Disney+ has less than 5 million. HBO Max went live in Germany in January.
Top local streamers include RTL+ (6.5 million subscribers) and ProSiebenSat.1’s Joyn. About 70% of German streaming households have two or more SVOD subscriptions.
Wolf Osthaus, Netflix’s director of public policy in Germany, warned that forcing firms to reinvest might actually curb growth in the German entertainment market.
“If regulation ultimately makes it harder to invest in ambitious projects and, as a result, fewer titles are produced overall, that benefits neither audiences nor the production location,” Osthaus told the Financial Times.
Top German original Netflix productions include sci-fi series “Dark,” “The Empress,” “Kleo,” “How to Sell Drugs Online Fast,” “The Billion Dollar Code,” “The Signal,” and four-time Oscar winner, All Quiet on the Western Front.
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