Cultural activities are normally financed according to two classic paradigms: government funding and market financing. The former consists of direct state action or funding of civil society's cultural practices with state resources; the latter is anchored in the liberal or neoliberal tradition, the most recent expression of which involves the dominant currents of the creative economy. Based on a theoretical review and the analysis of two Brazilian policies the Cultura Viva or "Living Culture" program and the Law for the Promotion of Theater in the city of São Paulo we argue that these experiences constitute the genesis of a third paradigm that we identify and develop. This paradigm does not seek to finance cultural products per se, but the cultural production process, and thus aims to establish a social right, namely the right to produce culture.