§515.563 Journalistic activities in Cuba.
(a) General license. The travel-related transactions set forth in §515.560(c) and such additional transactions as are directly incident to journalistic activities in Cuba are authorized, provided that:
(1) The traveler is at least one of the following:
(i) Regularly employed as a journalist by a news reporting organization;
(ii) Regularly employed as supporting broadcast or technical personnel;
(iii) A freelance journalist with a record of previous journalistic experience working on a freelance journalistic project; or
(iv) Broadcast or technical personnel with a record of previous broadcast or technical experience, who are supporting a freelance journalist working on a freelance journalistic project; and
(2) The traveler's schedule of activities does not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule.
Note to §515.563(a): Each person relying on the general authorization in this paragraph must retain specific records related to the authorized travel transactions. See §§501.601 and 501.602 of this chapter for applicable recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
(b) An entire group does not qualify for the general license in paragraph (a) of this section merely because some members of the group qualify individually.
(c) Certain travel-related transactions restricted. Nothing in paragraph (a) of this section authorizes the lodging, paying for lodging, or making any reservation for or on behalf of a third party to lodge, at any property on the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List to the extent prohibited by §515.210.
(d) Specific licenses. Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the travel-related transactions set forth in §515.560(c) and such other transactions as are related to journalistic activity in Cuba that do not qualify for the general license under paragraph (a) of this section.
[80 FR 2296, Jan. 16, 2015, as amended at 85 FR 60071, Sept. 24, 2020]
1) See FAQ # 700 and Compare scope of new general license with Red Bull North America, Inc. (2013). Depending on the facts, the new "journalistic activity" general license may have covered such activity.
2) For guidance on the notion of consistency with a "full-time schedule," see Letter from Treasury to Rep. Diaz-Balart re: SCP Cuba Travel; FAQ # 711 and "Prepaid Tourist Packages are Prohibited" (2001 guidance), and comments thereto.
3) Provision amended on 9-24-2020 to account for the addition of 515.210 to the CACR.
4) In Comprehensive Guidelines for License Applications to Engage in Travel-Related Transactions Involving Cuba (2004-2015), OFAC advanced interpretations of a previous version of 515.563(a) that appear to be of significance for the purposes of interpreting the current version of 515.563(a). At the time of the last revision of the “Comprehensive Guidelines” (prior to their 2015 removal following a major overhaul of the CACR travel GLs), 515.563 provided as follows:
§ 515.563 Journalistic activities in Cuba.
(a) General license. The travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and such additional transactions as are directly incident to journalistic activities in Cuba by persons regularly employed as journalists by a news reporting organization or by persons regularly employed as supporting broadcast or technical personnel are authorized.
[…]
(b) Specific licenses. (1) Specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis authorizing the travel-related transactions set forth in § 515.560(c) and other transactions that are directly incident to journalistic activities in Cuba for a free-lance journalistic project upon submission of an adequate written application including the following documentation:
(i) A detailed itinerary and a detailed description of the proposed journalistic activities; and
(ii) A resume or similar document showing a record of journalism.
(2) To qualify for a specific license pursuant to this section, the itinerary in Cuba for a free-lance journalistic project must demonstrate that the journalistic activities constitute a full work schedule that could not be accomplished in a shorter period of time.
(3) Specific licenses may be issued pursuant to this section authorizing transactions for multiple trips to Cuba over an extended period of time by applicants demonstrating a significant record of journalism.
See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2014-title31-vol3/xml/CFR-2014-title31-vol3-part515.xml.
As it relates to the general license at 515.563(a), the version active as of 1/2022 is substantively identical to the 2014 version, except insofar as the current version includes authorizations for “[a] freelance journalist with a record of previous journalistic experience working on a freelance journalistic project”; or “ Broadcast or technical personnel with a record of previous broadcast or technical experience, who are supporting a freelance journalist working on a freelance journalistic project.” The current “freelance” provisions in the GL are similar to the previous specific licensing policy as it related to freelancers.
In the “Comprehensive Guidelines” document, OFAC gave the following notable “examples” of travel within the scope of the GL at 515.563(a) (2014):
Example 1: A local television station wishes to send regularly employed reporters and supporting broadcast personnel to Cuba to cover a news story. The reporters’ and support personnel’s journalistic activities in Cuba qualify for the general license.
Example 2: An organization that disseminates news images wishes to send two of its regularly employed photojournalists to Cuba to take pictures of a news event that the organization will post for sale on its website. Such activities in Cuba by the photojournalists qualify for the general license.
“Example 2” here clarifies that “organization that disseminates news images” counts as a “news reporting organization,” even where the means by which the organization disseminates the images is by selling them on the internet (presumably to more traditional “news” reporting organizations).
Such travel is presumably authorized under the current version of the GL.
Also of note, OFAC gave the following two examples of “Potentially licensable” travel under the specific licensing policy for freelancers:
Example 1: A free-lance writer wishes to travel to Cuba to write a series of articles on Cuban music. The writer has a significant record of publication during the past three years and will have his articles published in a newspaper.
Example 2: A free-lance photo-journalist with a significant record of publication of her photographs over the past three years as a sports photographer wishes to travel to Cuba to photograph specific sporting events. The photographs will be used in a photo essay in a magazine.
Those examples would presumably qualify for the current GL applicable to freelancers, but note that conditions attached to the previous specific licensing policy do not apply to the current GL, including that the freelancer “demonstrate that the journalistic activities constitute a full work schedule that could not be accomplished in a shorter period of time” and that the freelancer has a “a record of journalism” (as opposed to “experience working on a freelance journalistic project”). Also, the previous specific license policy was for "a free-lance journalistic project," and the absence of that language suggests that the freelancer need not be assured that the fruits of the would-be labor will necessarily be published (i.e. that the freelancer has been specifically commissioned to gather a set of materials for a specific project).