Parliament adopted the amendment at the end of July.
As reported on the website of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda signed the law on Wednesday, August 14. This is the biggest change copyright for 30 years. It adapts the Polish legal system to the contemporary realities of the functioning of the media, culture and art markets. The regulations include, among others: new rules on fair remuneration of creators and performers. In the media sector, the amendment will enable publishers to operate effectively in the digital world, for example by charging royalties on journalistic content used by big tech.
In justifying the President’s decision, it was recalled that “in order to achieve the above objective, the legislator amended the Law of 4 February 1994 on copyright and related rights, the Law of 15 June 2018 on collective management of copyright and related rights and the Law of 27 July 2001 on the protection of databases.
What changes does the amendment to the copyright law introduce?
- Possibility of mediation between publishers and digital platforms in determining remuneration for the use of journalistic content
- Royalties for creators for showing films and series on the Internet (so-called streaming royalties)
- Introduction of a new related right for press publishers to use journalistic content digitally
- Unification of the rules governing the liability of online content sharing service providers for copyright infringements – transfer of liability to the service provider
- Use permitted for scientific, educational and collection preservation purposes
The law shall come into force one month from the date of the announcement, with the exception of the provisions regulating authors’ royalties. The article establishing them Point 21 shall come into force 6 months after the date of the announcement.
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The biggest copyright law reform in 30 years
The amendment implements two EP directives into the Polish legal system. The first of these, called the SATCAB II Directive, is intended to create conditions that allow for a wider broadcast in the Member States of television and radio programmes originating from other Member States.
The second, known as the DSM Directive, was the EU’s response to the challenges related to the development of digital technologies in the area of copyright. The regulation introduces, among other things: new forms of fair use of works, objects of related rights and databases (text and data mining, reproduction for the preservation of cultural heritage collections) and significantly modifies the forms already existing in EU law (use of works for distance learning purposes).
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– The amendment to the Copyright Act was signed by the President and we are pleased with this fact. We are particularly pleased with the inclusion of the ZAiKS amendments that guarantee the right to fair and adequate remuneration for creators. We participated in both the creation and implementation of the DSM Directive, starting with the conceptual work in the European Parliament that began 10 years ago. Our many years of efforts are reflected in the final text of the law. The introduced solutions will not only contribute to the development of local culture in the domestic market, but will also strengthen the position of Polish authors in the international arena – comments Karol Kościński, Licensing Director of the ZAiKS Authors’ Association.
