Regulations
Regulation for Licensing and Supervising Entertainment and Support Activities
Chapter One
Definitions
Article One:
The following words and phrases shall have the meanings assigned to them below unless the context requires otherwise:
The Regulation: The Regulation of Licensing and Supervising Entertainment and Support Activities.
The Authority: The General Entertainment Authority.
The Board: The Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority.
The Chairman: The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority.
The CEO: The Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.
Entertainment Activities: The operation or organization of amusement parks, entertainment centers, entertainment destinations, event facilities, or the production of shows and events.
Event: An occasion that provides entertainment and enjoyment, such as shows, festivals, concerts, plays, and entertainment exhibitions.
Entertainment Facilities: They refer to the main entertainment activities and include the following:
- Amusement Parks: stand-alone entertainment venues that contain various areas, open entertainment spaces, and mechanical, water, electronic, electrical, technical, or physical entertainment games, including cities that are based on a specialized theme (such as cartoon characters, movies, or animals).
- Entertainment Centers: stand-alone entertainment venues or a part of another facility that contains various entertainment corners, such as different types of entertainment games, entertainment showrooms, or rooms with specialized features of mazes and puzzles. The centers also include places with corners for hobbies and entertainment activities for the purpose of entertainment.
Entertainment Events: They refer to the main entertainment activities, which include the following:
- Organizing entertainment events: Events that are held at a specific time and place in the presence or participation of an audience and include shows or activities aimed at entertainment. Types of events include live shows, festivals, concerts, singing and chanting performances, theatrical plays, entertainment exhibitions, and theatrical performances.
- Holding entertainment shows: Live entertainment shows held at a specific time and place for the purpose of entertainment, including independent shows with limited attendance, accompanying events authorized by other government entities, or shows held in commercial centers.
- Holding live shows in restaurants and cafes: Live entertainment shows held for the purpose of entertainment in restaurants and cafes. This includes music performances, singing shows, musical coordination shows, and improvisational comedy shows.
Support Activities: Organizing activities that support entertainment activities, including the following:
- Managing artistic and entertainment talent: Managing the talents that provide entertainment shows at events, live shows, or entertainment facilities. This includes developing and training artists, talented performers, actors, and performers to deliver these shows.
- Operating entertainment facilities: Managing and operating entertainment facilities, including amusement parks, entertainment centers and entertainment event facilities, and providing qualified technicians to operate the facility’s attractions. This includes operating music and theatrical performance halls and other facilities.
- Organizing and managing crowds: Providing crowd planning and management services at events or entertainment facilities, organizing visitor movement, guiding and assisting them, as well as conducting evacuation and emergency operations and crisis management in coordination with relevant authorities.
- Ticket booking and sales: Providing ticket sales services for events or entertainment facilities in accordance with the Authority’s Regulation. This includes selling tickets electronically or through non-electronic sales outlets, marketing and providing the ability to select, book, and choose seating locations.
Licenses: Licenses, permits, approvals, or accreditation certificates issued by the Authority in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation and bylaws.
Licensee: A person who has obtained a license, permit, approval, or accreditation certificate from the Authority to engage in entertainment or support activities.
Regulations for entertainment and support activities: A set of general and specific obligations that the licensee must comply with for entertainment and support activities.
Investor’s Guide: A comprehensive reference for investors in the entertainment sector to learn about regulations, bylaws, and procedures for obtaining the necessary licenses and the authorities that grant approvals according to the activities required to be practiced.
Beneficiary: Any natural or legal person who benefits from entertainment or support activities.
Supervision: Supervision through visits and inspections of entertainment or support activities held in Saudi Arabia to ensure their compliance with the Regulation and requirements issued by the Authority.
Inspector: Any person appointed by the Authority or contracted with to supervise entertainment or support activities.
Violation: Any act that conflicts with the Regulation and requirements of the Authority.
Violator: Any natural or legal person who commits an act or statement that violates the Regulation or requirements of the Authority.
Official channels: The Authority’s website, official paper correspondence submitted to the Authority’s headquarters, or any other means deemed appropriate by the Authority and announced accordingly.
Article Two:
This regulation aims to regulate the licensing process for entertainment and support activities, specify the procedures for obtaining licenses issued by the Authority, the obligations that must be followed, as well as the procedures for the supervision and monitoring of entertainment and support activities.
Chapter Two
Licenses
Article Three:
The licenses issued by the Authority that are subject to the provisions of this regulation are as follows:
1) Entertainment Facilities, including:
- License for amusement parks.
- License for entertainment centers.
2) Entertainment Events, including:
- Permit to organize an entertainment event.
- Permit to hold an entertainment show.
- Permit to hold live shows in restaurants and cafes.
3) Support Activities, including:
- License for managing artistic and entertainment talents.
- License for operating entertainment facilities.
- Accreditation certificate for crowd management and control.
- Accreditation certificate for booking and selling tickets.
Article Four:
The CEO has the authority to add, cancel, or modify the licenses listed in Article 3.
Article Five:
The authority is responsible for the following tasks:
- Reviewing all license issuance requests received.
- Issuing licenses.
- Issuing requests related to licenses and taking any actions related to them, such as extending, postponing, or canceling them.
- Providing post-licensing services.
- Supervising and monitoring entertainment and support activities.
- Developing appropriate solutions to reduce violations by licensees and investors in the entertainment sector.
- Dealing with complaints.
Article Six:
The license applicant must, when submitting any type of application or request related to the license, do the following:
- Submit license applications through the Authority’s electronic system, according to approved templates determined by the Authority, or by direct application at the Authority’s headquarters if electronic submission is not possible.
- Obtain all necessary licenses from all relevant authorities for the activity.
- Ensure that the content of the entertainment or support activity does not violate the culture and values of the Kingdom.
- Pay the financial fees determined by the Authority.
- Fulfill any other conditions specified in the Investor’s Guide or required by the Authority.
Article Seven:
Any entertainment or support activity is prohibited without obtaining the necessary licenses from the Authority.
Article Eight:
The Authority may exempt the applicant from some of the obligations specified in the regulations or the conditions and controls contained in the Investor’s Guide, as it deems appropriate.
Article Nine:
The Authority issues the license according to the following information:
- Its type (license, permit, accreditation certificate).
- The type of entertainment or support activity.
- Information about the licensee.
- The start and end dates of the license.
- Any other information that the Authority deems necessary to add.
Article Ten:
- The licensee may apply for the cancellation of the license according to the following periods:
- Cancelling entertainment facility licenses requires a minimum of five business days from the date of submitting the application.
- Cancelling entertainment event permits requires a minimum of ten business days from the date of submitting the application.
- Cancelling licenses and accreditation certificates for support activities requires a minimum of five business days from the date of submitting the application.
- Upon receiving a request to cancel the license, the Authority may inform the licensee of one of the following decisions:
- Acceptance of the cancellation request.
- Postponement of the acceptance of the cancellation request.
- Rejection of the cancellation request with an explanation.
Article Eleven:
Licenses are issued electronically, and government entities that deal with the licensee can verify the license through the Authority’s website.
Article Twelve:
- The Authority can reject a license application and can cancel a license based on a causative decision.
- The applicant has the right to object to the decision with the Authority.
- The Authority can suspend the license based on a causative decision and can, at its discretion, extend the license period for a duration equal to or less than the suspension period.
Chapter Three
Licensee Obligations
Article Thirteen:
The licensee is committed to the “Special Conditions for Entertainment and Support Activities” issued by the Authority.
Article Fourteen:
Reselling tickets for entertainment activities organized by the licensee is prohibited by any means without permission from the Authority, and all tickets for entertainment activities must include a text prohibiting ticket resale.
Article Fifteen:
The licensee is not allowed to do any of the following activities without obtaining the approval of the Authority:
- Waiving or exploiting the license, taking into account that the transferee meets the conditions and requirements necessary for obtaining the license in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation and the bylaws.
- Making any amendment to the commercial register.
- Making any amendment to the license data.
- Changing the location of the entertainment or support activity.
- Temporarily or permanently closing the entertainment or support activity site.
- Modifying or changing the approved operational plan by the Authority.
Article Sixteen:
The licensee is committed to the following:
- Observing Islamic values and social culture in the Kingdom.
- Not harming individuals or entities in any way.
- Not committing any act that would violate public order or public morals.
- Obtaining the Authority’s approval before announcing the entertainment or support activity, while complying with the guidelines issued by the Authority.
- Displaying the license in a clear and continuous manner at the entertainment or support activity site.
- Taking all necessary security and safety measures at the entertainment or support activity site, including ensuring the maintenance of the equipment and buildings used in the entertainment activity, and other approved safety and security obligations.
- Not using the Authority’s logo without prior official approval from the Authority.
- Cooperating with authorized Authority inspectors and employees and providing necessary support to them to carry out their duties.
- Ensuring that all legal documents of the license applicant are valid.
- Applying all guidelines for entertainment and support activities approved by the Authority.
- Complying with the instructions and directives issued by the Authority.
Article Seventeen:
The CEO, or whoever is authorized by him, has the power to issue, modify, or cancel the guidelines and requirements for entertainment and support activities and anything that would develop the entertainment sector.
Chapter Four
Supervision and Control
Article Eighteen:
The inspectors and supervisors have the following powers:
- Verifying the legality of the entertainment and support activity and its compliance with the decisions and regulations issued by the Authority through field visits, social media research, or any other means deemed appropriate by the Authority.
- Entering the entertainment or support activity sites to verify their legality and compliance with what the Authority imposes and issues.
- Requesting documents, evidence, and relevant proof of the violation and seizing them.
- The inspector has the right to prove any violation in the way he deems appropriate (for example, not limited to: taking pictures during the field visit, verifying the accuracy of information posted on social media, taking screenshots or storing pictures and videos while fully committed to keeping the evidence collected during the investigation confidential and not publishing it to others, and deleting it from personal mobile devices immediately after archiving it in the Authority’s systems).
- The Authority has the right to assign part or all of the supervision and control tasks to a third party from the private sector, with the approval of the CEO or his delegate.
Article Nineteen:
Violations are considered by the relevant department in the Authority to take appropriate action regarding them.
Chapter Five
Penalties
Article Twenty:
- The Authority may impose one or more of the following penalties:
- Warning.
- Closing the entertainment facility until the violation is corrected.
- Suspending the entertainment or support activity until the violation is corrected.
- Revoking the license.
- Including the violator on the blacklist for a period not exceeding five years.
- The violation is recorded in the licensee’s account with the Authority and is not dropped until one year has passed with no other violations during this period.
- The penalty may be doubled if the same violation is repeated by the same violator within one year from the date of the penalty.
- The Authority issues a table of violations and penalties, taking into account the nature and severity of each violation.
- The violation and penalty remain in effect against the assignee or buyer of the activity until the penalty period expires, and the Authority has absolute discretion to exempt them from this.
Article Twenty-one:
- The licensee has the right to object to the Authority’s decisions before the Complaints Department, and the department considers the objection and takes appropriate action or refers it to the Appeals Committee for review.
- A committee to consider appeals shall be formed by a decision of the CEO, consisting of a chairperson and at least two members, one of whom must be a legal advisor to consider appeals against decisions and penalties. The decision to form the committee shall determine its working procedures.
- Appeals may be made against the decisions of the Appeals Committee before the Grievances Board within sixty days from the date of notification of the decision; otherwise, it shall be considered final and not subject to appeal.
Chapter Six
Final Provisions
Article Twenty-two:
- The Regulation shall be approved by the Board, and its provisions shall take effect within thirty days from the date of publication on the Authority’s website.
- The Board shall have the exclusive authority to issue interpretive decisions for the Regulation, and it shall be the reference for all matters not covered by its provisions.
- This Regulation shall replace the regulation for licensing entertainment activities issued by the Board of the General Entertainment Authority under decision No. 26/2018 dated 6/9/1439H, corresponding to 21/5/2018 AD, and amended by decision No. (4200539) dated 26/11/1442H, corresponding to 6/7/2021 AD, and all provisions and decisions that are inconsistent with it shall be canceled.
