Film Control Act 1978, exhibitor and lender licensing and film classification
Film Control Act 1978, No. 26 (Samoa)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
In force since 12 October 1979.
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding public and private bodies.
As of 7 September 2026.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 10 requires a person to hold a licence from the Film Control Board before exhibiting or lending a film, and section 10(3) lets the Board determine licence classes for exhibitors including broadcast, cable or satellite television service providers, picture theatres, educational institutions, and internet or other computer-based suppliers.
Section 19 requires the Principal Censor, on approving a film for public exhibition, to classify it either for general exhibition or for exhibition restricted to a specified class of persons only, being persons of or over the age of 5 years, or for specified purposes or occasions only, and section 19(2) bars exhibiting a film contrary to that classification.
Section 3A makes the Act binding on the Government, and section 21 requires the owner, manager, or occupier of exhibition premises to display the Principal Censor's certificate notifying the public of the film's classification.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 10(2) and 10(2A) make it an offence to exhibit or lend a film without a licence, or contrary to a licence's terms, punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units (WST $10,000) for a company or 50 penalty units (WST $5,000) or imprisonment not exceeding 1 year, or both, for an individual. Section 26 separately makes it an offence to exhibit a film contrary to Part 4's censorship and classification requirements, punishable by a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units (WST $2,000) for an individual or 50 penalty units (WST $5,000) for a company. No provision states a term of imprisonment for a section 26 offence.
Penalty structure
Section 10(2) caps the licensing offence at 100 penalty units for a company or 50 penalty units, or up to 1 year's imprisonment, or both, for an individual. Section 26's classification and censorship offence carries a lower cap of 50 penalty units for a company or 20 penalty units for an individual. Samoa fixes the penalty unit at WST $100 under section 4 of the Fines (Review and Amendment) Act 1998, so the licensing cap is WST $10,000 for a company and WST $5,000 for an individual, and the classification cap is WST $5,000 for a company and WST $2,000 for an individual.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- 7 September 2026
- Currency
- WST
- Fixed cap
- 10,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Film Control Board and Principal Censor
What it reaches
Obligation class
Age verification, Licensing
When LexLint raises it
publishes_adult_content
Read the law
Text of the Film Control Act 1978, Samoa Consolidated Legislation 2020, PacLII, archived copy