Implementing Regulations of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights and Multi-Territorial Licensing of Rights in Musical Works for Online Use

On 27 February 2019, the question of the implementing regulations for the Law on Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights and Multi-Territorial Licensing of Rights in Musical Works for Online Use (L. 65(I)/2017) was discussed before the Committee of Commerce and Industry of the House od Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus.

We recall that Law 65(I)/2017, which implements Directive 2014/26/EU, brought significant changes because a mechanism of exercising supervisory authority over Collecting Management Organizations (CMOs) was instigated for the first time in Cyprus. The Law provides for the creation of registries of the CMOs and independent management entities which operate in Cyprus. Prior to the implementation of the Directive, the regulation of CMOs in Cyprus was far more liberal, in the sense that no specific state supervision was introduced for CMOs. Therefore, “licensing bodies” (the term CMOs did not appear in the Law on Copyright 59/1976), were able to operate in Cyprus without any specific obligations and formalities, provided that they had been properly formed as legal entities according to the law of Cyprus.  For an analysis of the changes brought by the new law, see the blog of EDPI Chair at Kluwer Copyright Blog: Tatiana Synodinou, The adventures and misadventures of the implementation of the Directive on collective managementof copyright in Greece and in Cyprus (Part II), April 4, 2018 [

 Article 51 of Law 65(I)/2017 provides that the Council of Ministers may issue Regulations for the determination of any matter which, in accordance with this Law, is in need of or is susceptible of designation, such as operational issues and procedures of the competent authority, the content and means of disclosure of the Registers, the fee for registration in the Register and the renewal fee for registration in the Register.  However, those regulations have not been enacted yet.

EDPI ("Ενωση Δικαιωμάτων Πνευματικής Ιδιοκτησίας Κύπρου") was invited to the meeting and represented by two of its founding members, Polymnia Lefteri and Nicoletta Epaminonda.  All the participants in the discussion (mainly representatives of copyright right holders and of users) stressed the importance to move forward with the adoption of the regulations, which are vital for the proper and transparent collection of payments for uses of copyright protected works and other protectable subject matter in Cyprus. The regulations are anxiously awaited in order to clarify certain aspects of the application of the afore-mentioned Law.

It is now expected that a draft of these regulations will soon be available for consultation by relevant stakeholders. We are part of the discussion and will keep an eye on developments."

Update on the implementation of Directive 2017/1564 in Cyprus

Cyprus has prepared a bill to transpose EU Directive 2017/1564 on certain permitted uses of certain works and other subject matter protected by copyright and related rights for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled (the "Directive"). The bill aims to amend the Cypriot Copyright and Related Rights Act of 1976, in order to harmonise Cypriot EU law with the Directive.

The aim of the Directive is to improve availability of works and other subject matters in accessible formats for beneficiaries through the establishment of mandatory exception from copyright and related rights throughout EU. The Directive is part of the EU legislative plan to implement obligations resulting from the Marrakesh Treaty into the EU. The first part of this effort is the Regulation 2017/1563 on the cross-border exchange between the Union and third countries of accessible format copies of certain works and other subject matter protected by copyright and related rights for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled, which focus specifically on the international cross-border exchange of accessible format copies for beneficiary persons.

Although the Regulation 2017/1563 applies since 12 October 2018, the Directive 2017/1564 has not yet been transposed in all Member States (it should have been transposed by 11  October 2018), including Cyprus.

EDPI ("Ενωση Δικαιωμάτων Πνευματικής Ιδιοκτησίας Κύπρου")  has been asked to submit comments in relation to the bill. One point of interest is that Cyprus has made a political decision not to transpose Article 3(6) of Directive 2017/1564, which states that "Member States may provide that uses permitted under this Directive, if undertaken by authorised entities established in their territory, be subject to compensation schemes within the limits provided for in this Directive." Article 2(4) of the Directive defines an authorised entity as "an entity that is authorised or recognised by a Member State to provide education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access to beneficiary persons on a non-profit basis. It also includes a public institution or non-profit organisation that provides the same services to beneficiary persons as one of its primary activities, institutional obligations or as part of its public-interest missions". This means that such entities will be able to avail themselves of the permitted uses of copyright-protected works set out in the Directive, without paying fees or royalties to do so.

The rest of the bill is very much in line with the Directive. The bill has not yet been put before the Plenary of the House of Representatives. We will aim to follow the progress of its enactment and keep you updated.