Showbiz Legislation in Italy and Albania: Comparative Analysis

Legal decision-making in Albania as well as in EU countries (including Italy) concerning culture and showbiz is relatively recent. The Treaty of Rome did not contain in fact any specific chapter or paragraph for treating cultural policies. Only in the Treaty preamble was indirectly suggested that the culture is a unifying element and promoter of socio-economic development.In Albania, due to known causes, decision-making concerning culture and showbiz has been of secondary, let alone tertiary level. Shifting from a centralised and ideologised model of cultural policy that had nothing to do with the free market rules to a new model was traumatic. The absence of mentality, in particular, as well as the legal vacuum made it for many artists and individuals working in the domain of arts, the new reality to be experienced as a failure. Italy could offer a model to follow but the terrain for having it adapted, and moreover to have it applied was not one of the most compatible with this new wave of changes. Nevertheless, the great number of foreign artists having come to Albania (most of them from Italy) influenced not only the transformation of the etatist mentality of art-making and culture but also encouraged lawmakers and artists for drafting a modern legal framework on showbiz. Thus, acknowledging the great cultural and social value of the showbiz, the main objective is the verification of the current normative stage of this sector in both countries, highlighting the differences, similarities, possible legal gaps, with the aim of formulating proposals and fulfil legal gaps, considering the need for approximating the Albanian legislation to the principles of community law. This is the objective this comparative analysis aims to achieve.