Representatives of the national association “Copyright” said the new Law on Copyright and Related Rights, which, according to the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), ensures increased protection for copyright owners, actually encroaches on their rights. According to them, the new law stipulates a list of equipment on the import of which compensatory payments are collected, but these cannot be collected even for the positions included in the list owing to the outdated customs codes that are no longer used.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, “Copyright” head Liviu Știrbu said the new law promoted by the State Agency on Intellectual Property created an unprecedented situation for all the copyright owners. Not only the national copyright owners, but also the foreign artists are this way affected.
Author Eugen Turuta, doctor habilitate of technical sciences, said the previous Law on Copyright stipulated a percentage rate of 3% as compensatory payment collected on the import of equipment used to reproduce original works of authorship, such as mobile phones, mp3 players and TV sets. This payment was obtained by collective management organizations and was distributed to members.
But the new law stipulates a concrete list of equipment for which that percentage will be collected was and the parentage rate of the payment was decreased from 3% to 0.3%. The list was approved even if the Constitutional Court in 2018 ruled that the provisions of the law that was in force at that time were constitutional and a concrete list of equipment wasn’t mentioned then.
Moreover, compensatory payments cannot be collected even for the positions specified in the list because the law stipulates old customs codes that are no longer used. “90% of the compensatory payments, before the new Law on Copyright took effect, were collected on the import of mobiles, cellphones with the customs code 851712000. But the new nomenclature that took effect on January 1, 2023 does not stipulate such a customs code. This customs code was replaced with a new one, while cellphone was replaced with smartphone. So, no payment in favor of copyright owners and singers of the Republic of Moldova will be collected on the import of cellphones as from January 1, 2023,” stated Eugen Turuta.
Representatives of the national association “Copyright” called on President Maia Sandu to intervene and solve the difficult situation in which the copyright owners and singers found themselves given that their rights are affected by the new Law on Copyright and Related Rights that was promoted by AGEPI.
Note: IPN News Agency gives the right of reply to persons who consider they were touched by the news items produced based on statements of the organizers of the given news conference, including by facilitating the organization of another news conference in similar conditions.
