On 24th November 2022, Law 4996/2022 concerning the exercise of intellectual property rights and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions by broadcasters and retransmissions of television and radio programs, was published.
The new law provides for certain additions and amendments to the existing law 2121/1993, transposes three important EU directives on intellectual property rights in the digital single market and is divided into four parts respectively.
The implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/789 into Greek legislation is analyzed in Part A.
Directive 789/2019 introduces rules to enhance the wider dissemination in Member States of television and radio programs originating in other Member States, by facilitating the licensing of copyright and related rights in works and other protected subject matters contained in broadcasts of certain types of television and radio programs.
The implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/790 into Greek legislation is analyzed in Part B.
The new Copyright Directive provides rules for the adaptation of certain exceptions and limitations to copyright and related rights in digital and cross-border environments, as well as measures to facilitate certain licensing practices. It contains, inter alia, rules to facilitate the use of content belonging to the public domain, as well as rules on rights in publications, for the use of works or other subject matter by online service providers that store and provide access to content uploaded by users.
The implementation of the Directive (EU) 2006/115 into Greek legislation is analyzed in Part C, which focuses on rental right, lending right and certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property.
The main provisions of the enacted Law include among others:
– The definition of “ancillary online service”, as well as the country-of-origin principle for the exercise of copyright and related rights is given, in order to facilitate the clearance of rights for the provision of online services across borders,
– The exercise of broadcasting rights by both broadcasters and other rightholders is regulated. The concept of mandatory collective management is extended to retransmission of broadcasting programs for rightholders, who must receive appropriate remuneration for the broadcasting of protective works,
-Authors of works incorporated in a press publication shall receive a percentage of the annual revenues earned by press publishers for the use of press publications by information society service providers,
-The use of intellectual creations and objects protected by intellectual property law in digital teaching activities is regulated,
-Obligation of transparency for the benefit of authors, who need up-to-date, relevant and sufficient information from their counterparties in order to assess the economic value of their rights,
-An effective mechanism is introduced to protect copyright and performers’ rights for the use of their works on online platforms, in order to ensure both that the use of rights is subject to authorization and that the reasonable interests of rightsholders are safeguarded so that they can receive remuneration for the use of their works online,
-Public borrowing is established for the first time as a right to reasonable remuneration for the author.
In an essence, the new law which focuses on online and digital broadcasting, aims to reduce uncertainty for right holders and users, in particular taking into account not only the new technological developments that are constantly transforming the way protected works are created, produced, distributed and used but also the emergence of new business models and operators.
The Editorial Team