12. 08. 2010

ANEM AND NUNS CALL ON THE GOVERNMENT TO APPOINT MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS

Belgrade, August 12, 2010 - The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) call on the Government of the Republic of Serbia to fulfill its legal obligation and immediately appoint the members of the Commission on Copyright and Related Rights, allowing unhindered implementation of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights.

ANEM and NUNS emphasize that the Law on Copyright and Related Rights - adopted at the end of the last year - requires formation of the Commission as a body that would be authorized to issue opinions on proposed tariffs by the collective organizations. The Law stipulates that the tariffs related to the fees paid to collective organizations shall be established in a form of an agreement between collective organizations, on the one side, and representative associations of users, on the other side. In the absence of such an agreement, proposed tariffs are to be established by managing boards of collective organizations and delivered to the Commission on Copyright and Related Rights, which would then issue its opinion. If the Commission's opinion is positive, such tariff shall be published in the Official Gazette and become legally effective. If the opinion is negative, collective organizations are obliged to repeat negotiations with representative associations of users i.e. to deliver a new tariff proposal. If the Commission's opinion is again negative, the decision on the tariffs to be applied shall be made exclusively by the Commission. If the process of setting of new tariffs is not fully completed, the fees must be paid in accordance with the existing tariffs.

ANEM and NUNS point out that one of the reasons for adoption of the new Law on Copyright and Related Rights was the users' discontent with the arbitrariness in the process of establishing tariffs. Legislators have tried to solve this problem by forming the Commission on Copyright and Related Rights. Members of the Commission are appointed by the Government after proposal by the head of the Intellectual Property Office. The failure by the Government of the Republic of Serbia to appoint the members of the Commission - although the Intellectual Property Office has timely delivered the list of proposed members in accordance with the Law - has left radio and TV stations in Serbia, as well as other users of copyright and related rights, at the mercy of collective organizations' arbitrarily set tariffs.

The extent to which the tariffs have been inappropriate is best visible in the fact that SOKOJ has increased its authors' fund by 23% despite the drastic fall, for the third consecutive year, of radio and TV stations' revenue earned through advertising, as well as the fact that the biggest user, RTS, has not paid any of the music copyright fees, whose dept toward SOKOJ, as ruled by the first instance decision of the Commercial Court in Belgrade, has amounted to no less than 136 million dinars (without interest).

In the short term, music authors will benefit greatly, since they have received 23% more money than in the previous year. In the long term, due to disproportionately high burden on commercial broadcasters, the collective organization that should be working in the best interest of authors will destroy the foundation for the fees paid to the very same authors, eroding at the same time the media system of the country itself and gradually leading to closure of radio and TV stations. The Government of the Republic of Serbia has the power to appoint the Commission and regulate this area. However, its failure to make this step allows further erosion of commercial broadcasting, depriving Serbian citizens of private media outlets and information offered by such media.

ANEM President,

Sasa Mirkovic