The draft Law on Copyright and Related Rights is in the procedure of adoption before the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
The new Law has proclaimed the goals of establishing more effective legal protection in this area of legislation, in parallel with the process of harmonization with the legislation of the European Union, as a necessary condition in the process of joining Serbia to that organization.
Amendments of the Law introduce the calculation of the protection duration of coauthor property rights, on musical compositions with words (primarily in the case of the rights of songwriters and music authors). According to the European Union Directive 2011/77/EU, a unique protection period for musical compositions with words is now 70 years from the death of the last surviving coauthor. Also, the protection of property rights of interpreters, which have recorded their interpretations on a phonogram, is also being extended from 50 to 70 years.
The number of persons authorized to file a lawsuit for infringement of copyright and related rights has been extended. The new Law stipulates that provisional measures can be taken without hearing the defendant, especially when such delay could cause damage to the plaintiff. In order for these measures to be determined, it is necessary that the person proposing the measure make likely that the copyright or related right is violated, or that it will be violated. The abolition of a unique fee paid to organizations for the collective protection of copyright and related rights is also foreseen.
The new Law introduces some important novelties regarding the provisions governing the collective protection of copyright and related rights. Amendments to Article 162 make a clear distinction between the two grounds for revoking the organization’s license for the collective protection of copyright and related rights. The institute of serious violations of the law and the institute of repeated violations of the law are also introduced. The proposed amendment to Article 184 specifies the issue of the costs that organizations have in their work of protecting the collective rights of the author or holders of the related rights. The content of the reports submitted by organizations to the Intellectual Property Office, as a supervisory body is regulated more precisely, as well as the definition of the issue of determining the fee tariffs.
Finally, the material position and rights of the interpreters are improved, especially those interpreters whose interpretations are recorded on the sound and image carrier. The right of compensation for broadcasting and re-interpreting their interpretations has so far been recoknized only by interpreters whose interpretations are recorded on the sound carrier. Now, these rights will be available to the actors too.
The full text of the amendments to this Law can be found on the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia website, given in the link bellow: http://www.parlament.gov.rs/upload/archive/files/cir/pdf/predlozi_zakona/2019/225-19.pdf.