SBA Issues Historic Guidance Recognizing Content Creators as Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced in Washington on October 15 the first federal small-business classification guidance specifically recognizing content creators, clarifying that qualifying creator-led businesses are classified under NAICS 5121 — Motion Picture and Video Industries — for purposes of SBA lending and contracting program eligibility.
The SBA said the nation's roughly 27 million creator-led businesses include filmmakers, video producers, podcasters, streamers, gamers, digital publishers, social-media entrepreneurs and creative agencies. Creators have long been eligible for SBA support when they meet program requirements, but previously lacked clear guidance on the industry code that best reflects their integrated business models. Under the new guidance, such businesses should begin with NAICS 5121 and identify the six-digit code within that group that best matches their primary activity.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said creators are entrepreneurs who build businesses from original ideas, audiences and content, and that the guidance cuts through outdated classifications. Daniel Abas, founder and president of the Creators Guild of America, said the federal government has affirmed creators' small-business status and that millions stand to benefit. Nicole Nason, head of public policy at TikTok U.S., noted that more than 8.5 million American small businesses are on the platform.
The SBA said its proposed size standards would simplify standards for related motion-picture, video-production, post-production and distribution activities under NAICS 5121, and that it will consider comments — including requests for an industry exception for content creators — after the public comment period closes on November 20. The agency said it is helping qualifying creator-led businesses determine their small-business status and navigate SBA-backed financing and other resources.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：视频内容制作现场。来源：Wikimedia Commons，Don Ramey Logan 摄影，CC BY 4.0 / Photo: A video production setup. Source: Wikimedia Commons, by Don Ramey Logan, CC BY 4.0
