FIRST ISSUE
ISSUE NUMBER 25
4 MARCH 1993
LAW 2121/1993
COPYRIGHT, RELATED RIGHTS AND CULTURAL MATTERS
We, the President of the Hellenic Republic, hereby grant our assent
to the following law which Parliament has approved:
SECTION I
OBJECT AND CONTENT OF COPYRIGHT
Article 1
Copyright
1. Authors shall have, with the creation of the work, the right of
copyright in that work, which includes, as exclusive and absolute rights,
the right to exploit the work (economic right) and the right to protect
their personal connection with the work (moral right).
2. The above-mentioned rights shall include the powers to authorise
which are provided in Articles 3 and 4 of this Law
Article 2
Object of the right
1. The term «work» shall designate any original intellectual
literary, artistic or scientific creation, expressed in any form, notably
written or oral texts, musical compositions with or without words, theatrical
works accompanied or unaccompanied by music, choreografies and pantomimes,
audiovisual works, works of fine art, including drawings, works of painting
and sculpture, engravings and lithographs, works of architecture and
photographs, works of applied art, illustrations, maps and three dimensional
works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science.
2. The term «work» shall, in addition, designate translations,
adaptations, arrangements and other alterations of works or of expressions
of folklore, as well as collections of works or collections of expressions
of folklore or of simple facts and data, such as encyclopaedias, anthologies
and data bases, provided the selection or the arrangement of their contents
is original. Protection afforded to the works listed in this paragraph
shall in no way prejudice rights in the pre-existing works, which were
used as the object of the alterations or the collections.
3. Without prejudice to the provisions of section VII of this Law,
computer programs and their preparatory design material shall be deemed
to be literary works within the meaning of the provisions on copyright
protection. Protection in accordance with this Law shall apply to the
expression in any form of a computer program. Ideas and principles which
underlie any element of a computer program, including those which underlie
its interfaces, are not protected under this Law. A computer program
shall be protected if it is original in the sense that it is the author’s
personal intellectual creation.
4. The protection afforded under this Law shall apply regardless of
the value of the work and its destination and regardless of the fact
that the work is possibly protected under other provisions.
5. The protection afforded under this Law shall not apply to official
texts expressive of the authority of the State, notably to legislative,
administrative or judicial texts, and nor shall it apply likewise to
expressions of folklore, news information or simple facts and data.
Article 3
Economic rights
1. The economic rights shall confer upon the author notably the rights
to permit or prohibit: a) the fixation and reproduction of the work
by any means, such as mechanical, photochemical or electronic means;
b) the translation of the work; c) the arrangement, adaptation or other
alterations of the work; d) the distribution of the original or copies
of the work via a transfer of ownership, a rental arrangement or public
lending, and, notably with reference to the use of copies, the imposition
of limiting conditions on a transfer of ownership or a rental or public
lending arrangement; e) the communication of the work to the public;
f) the public performance of the work; g) the broadcasting or rebroadcasting
of the work to the public by radio or television, by wireless means
or by cable or by any kind of wire or by any other means, in parallel
to the surface of the earth or by satellite; h) the import of copies
of the work produced abroad without the creator’s consent or the
import of copies from a country outside the European Community when
the right over such imports had been retained by the author through
contract.
2. The use, performance or presentation of the work shall be deemed
to be «public» when the work thereby becomes accessible
to a circle of persons wider than the narrow circle of the family and
the immediate social circle of the author, regardless of whether the
persons of this wider circle are at the same or at different locations.
Article 4
Moral rights
1. The moral rights shall confer upon the author notably the following
rights: a) to decide on the time, place and manner in which the work
shall be made accessible to the public (publication) ; b) to demand
that his status as the author of the work be acknowledged and, in particular,
to the extent that it is possible, that his name be indicated on the
copies of his work and noted whenever his work is used publicly, or,
oppositely, if he so wishes, that his work be presented anonymously
or under a pseudonym; c) to prohibit any distortion, mutilation or other
modification of his work and any offence of the author due to the circumstances
of the presentation of the work in public; d) to have access to his
work, even when the economic right in the work or the physical embodiment
of the work belongs to another person; in those latter cases, the access
shall be effected with minimum possible nuisance to the rightholder;
e) in the case of a literary or scientific work, to rescind a contract
transfering the economic right or an exploitation contract or licence
of which his work is the object, subject to payment of material damages
to the other contracting party, for the pecuniary loss he has sustained,
when the author considers such action be necessary for the protection
of his personality because of changes in his beliefs or in the circumstances.
2. With reference to the last case of the preceding paragraph, the
rescission takes effect after the payment of the damages. If, after
the rescission, the author again decides to transfer the economic right,
or to permit exploitation of the work or of a like work, he must give,
in priority, the former other contracting party the opportunity to reconstitute
the old contract with the same terms or with terms similar to those
which were in force at the time of the rescission.
3. The moral rights shall be independent from the economic rights and
shall remain with the author even after the transfer of the economic
right.
Article 5
«Droit de suite»
1. Whenever an original work of fine art is resold at a a public auction
or by an art dealer or through the mediation of an art dealer, the author
of the work and his heirs shall have the right to demand a share of
five per cent of the selling price. This right shall not be trasferrable
between living persons.
2. The amount shall be rendered by the organizer of the public auction
or by the art dealer.
3. Each year, when requested, organizers of public auctions and art
dealers are obliged, to provide the Fine Arts Chamber of Greece and
the fine arts collecting societies with exact information regarding
the works sold by them, or through their intervention, and on the sales
prices of such works, during the preceding calendar year.
SECTION II
THE INITIAL SUBJECT OF COPYRIGHT
Article 6
The initial rightholder
1. The initial holder of the economic rights and the moral rights in
a work shall be the author of that work.
2. The above-mentioned rights shall be vested in the author of a work
without resort to any formality.
Article 7
Works of joint authorship,collective and composite works
1. The term «work of joint authorship» shall designate
any work which is the result of the direct collaboration of two or more
authors. The initial rightholders in respect of the economic and moral
rights in a joint work shall be the co-authors of that. Unless otherwise
agreed the rights shall be shared equally by the co - authors.
2. The term «collective work» shall designate any work
created through the independent contribution of several authors acting
under the intellectual direction and coordination of one natural person.
That natural person shall be the initial rightholder of the economic
right and the moral rights in the collective work.
Each author of a contribution shall be the initial rightholder of the
economic rights and the moral right in his own contribution, provided
that that contribution is capable of separate exploitation.
3. The term «composite work» shall designate a work which
is composed of parts created separately. The authors of all of the parts
shall be the initial co-rightholders of the rights attaching to the
composite work and each author shall be the exclusive initial holder
of the rights of the part of the composite work which he has created,
provided that that part is capable of separate exploitation.
Article 8
Employee-created works
Where a work is created by an employee in the execution of an employment
contract the initial holder of the economic and moral rights in the
work shall be the author of the work. Unless provided otherwise by contract,
only such economic rights that are necessary for the fullfilment of
the purpose of the contract shall be transferred to the employer.
Article 9
Audiovisual works
The principal director of an audiovisual work shall be considered as
its author.
Article 10
Presumptions
1. The person whose name appears on a copy of a work in the manner
usually employed to indicate authorship, shall be presumed to be the
author of that work. The same shall apply when the name that appears
is a pseudonym, provided that the pseudonym leaves no doubt as to the
person’s identity.
2. In the case of collective works, computer programs or audiovisual
works, the natural or legal person whose name or title appears on a
copy of the work in the manner usually employed to indicate the rightholder
shall be presumed to be the rightholder of the copyright in the particular
work.
3. The presumption referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above may be rebuted
by evidence to the contrary.
Article 11
Fictitious initial rightholders
1. Whoever publishes an anonymous or pseudonymous work is deemed, in
relation to third parties, to be the initial holder of the economic
and moral rights in that work. When the true author of the work reveals
his identity, he aquires the above-mentioned rights in the condition
they are as a result of the actions of the fictitious rightholder.
2. Whoever possesses and publishes works of authors, who have deceased
and are no more protected under copyright, is deemed to be the initial
holder of the economic and moral rights in those works.
3. In the cases referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, the moral
right shall belong to the fictitious rightholder insofar as that is
compatible with his status.
SECTION III
TRANSFER, EXPLOITATION AND EXERCISE OF RIGHTS
Article 12
Transfer
1. The economic right may be transferred between living persons or
mortis causa.
2. The moral rights shall not be transferable between living persons.
After the death of an author, the moral rights shall pass to his heirs,
who shall exercise the rights in compliance with the author’s
wishes, provided that such wishes have been explicitly expressed.
Article 13
Exploitation contracts and licences
1. The author of the work may conclude contracts, by which he entrusts
economic rights to the other contracting party (exploitation contracts).
The other party to the contract undertakes the obligation to exercise
the rights thus entrusted.
2. The author of the work may authorize another person to exercise
economic rights (exploitation licences).
3. Exploitation contracts and licences may be exclusive or non-exclusive.
Exclusive exploitation contracts and licences shall empower the other
contracting party to exercise the rights conferred by the contract or
licence excluding any third person. Non-exclusive exploitation contracts
and licences shall give the right to the other contracting party to
exercise the rights conferred by the contract or licence in parallel
to the author and other contracting parties. In the absence of an agreement
to the contrary, the other contracting party shall be entitled in his
own name to seek legal protection against illegal infrigements by third
parties of rights he exercices.
4. Where doubt exists about the exclusivity of an exploitation contract
or licence the contract or licence shall be deemed to be non-exclusive.
5. The contract or licence may in no circumstance confer any total
right over the future works of the author, and shall never be deemed
to refer also to forms of exploitation which were unknown on the date
of the contract.
6. The rights of a person who undertakes to carry out the exploitation
of a work or who aquires the possibility of exploitation may not be
transferred between living persons without the consent of the author.
Article 14
Form of legal acts
Acts dealing with the transfer of economic rights, with the assignment
or licensing of the right of exploitation and with the exercise of the
moral right shall be null and void, unless they are concluded in writing.
Nullity may be invoked only by the author.
Article 15
Extent of transfer and of exploitation contracts and licences
1. The transfer of the economic right and exploitation contracts or
contracts licencing the exploitation of that right may restrict the
rights they confer, their scope and duration, the geographical application
and the extent or the means of exploitation.
2. If the duration of the transfer or of the exploitation contract
or licence is unspecified, its duration shall be deemed to be limited
to five years, provided conventional mores do not indicate otherwise.
3. If the geographical application of the transfer or of the exploitation
contract or licence is unspecified, the said legal acts shall be deemed
to apply to the country in which they were concluded.
4. If the extent and the means of exploitation which the transfer concerns
or for which the exploitation or the exploitation licence is agreed
are unspecified, it shall be deemed that the said acts refer to the
extent and the means, which are necessary for the fulfilment of the
purpose of the contract or licence.
5. In all cases involving the transfer of the economic right or the
granting of an exclusive exploitation licence, the person who aquires
the right or the licence shall ensure that within a reasonable period
of time, the work is accessible to the public via an appropriate form
of exploitation.
Article 16
Consent of the author as exercise of the moral right
The granting of consent by an author for an action or an omission which
would otherwise constitute an infringement of his moral right shall
be deemed to be a form of exercise of his moral right, and shall be
binding upon him.
Article 17
Transfer of the physical carrier
Unless there exists prior agreement to the contrary, in writing with
the initial rightholder of the economic right, the transfer of the ownership
of the physical carrier into which the work has been incorporated, whether
in the original form or in any form of copy, shall not constitute a
transfer of the copyright or confer on the new owner any rights to exploit
the work.
SECTION IV
LIMITATIONS TO THE ECONOMIC RIGHT
Article 18
Reproduction for private use
1. Without prejudice to the provisions laid down in the following paragraphs,
it shall be permissible for a person to make a reproduction of a lawfully
published work for his own private use, without the consent of the author
and without payment. The term «private use» shall not include
use by an enterprise, a service or an organization.
2. The freedom to make a reproduction for private use shall not apply
when the act of reproduction is likely to conflict with normal exploitation
of the work or to prejudice the author’ s legitimate interests,
and notably: a) when the reproduction is an architectural work in the
form of a building or similar construction; b) when technical means
are used to reproduce a fine art work which circulates in a restricted
number of copies, or when the reproduction is a graphical representation
of a musical work.
3. If for the free reproduction of the work technical means are used,
such as visual or sound, or audiovisual recording equipment, magnetic
tapes or other materials, suitable for the reproduction of sounds or
images or of sounds and images, photocopying machines, photocopy paper
or computers, an equitable remuneration shall be payable to the author
of the work and to any holders of related rights. The remuneration shall
be fixed at 6pct of the value of visual or sound, or visual and sound,
recording equipment and of magnetic tapes or other materials, at 4pct
of the value of photocopying machines and of photocopy paper and at
2pct of the value of computers. In any case, the calculation shall be
made at the time of the import, or of the distribution from the factory,
or at the time of the wholesale or retail sale. The remuneration shall
be paid by the manufacturers or the importers or the vendors of the
objects herein specified and shall be noted on the invoice, and collected
by the collecting societies, acting for all or part of the concerned
category of rightholders. The collecting societies shall collect the
said remuneration and shall choose the debtor. The remuneration collected
from the manufacture, import or sale of photocopying machines, photocopy
paper and computers shall be shared equally between the authors and
the publishers of printed matter. The remuneration collected from the
manufacturer, importer or vendor of visual or sound or audiovisual recordings
shall be distributed in the proportion of 55pct to the authors, 25pct
to the performers and 20pct to the producers of recorded magnetic tapes
or other sound or visual, or audiovisual recordings. The necessary details
pertaining to the allocation and payment of monies to the various categories,
or sub-categories of the same category, of rightholders can be determined
through regulation by the Minister for Culture.
Article 19
Quotation of extracts
Quotation of short extracts of a lawfully published work by an author
for the purpose of providing support for a case advanced by the person
making the quotation or a critique of the position of the author shall
be permissible without the consent of the author and without payment,
provided that the quotation is compatible with fair practice and that
the extent of the extracts do not exceed that justified by the purpose.
The quotation of the extract must be accompanied by an indication of
the source of the extracts and of the names of the author and of the
publisher, provided that the said names appear on the source.
Article 20
School textbooks and anthologies
1. The reproduction of lawfully published literary works of one or
more writers in educational textbooks approved for use in the primary
and secondary education by the Ministry of National Education and Religions
or another competent ministry, according to the official detailed syllabus,
shall be permissible without the consent of the authors and without
payment. The reproduction shall encompass only a small part of the total
output of each of the writers.
2. After the death of the author it shall be permissible to reproduce
his works in a lawfully published anthology of literary works of more
than one writer, without the consent of the rightholders and without
payment. The reproduction shall encompass only a small part of the total
output of each of the writers.
3. The reproduction, as specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, shall
not confict with the normal exploitation of the work from which the
texts are taken and must be accompanied by an indication of the source
and of the names of the author and the publisher, provided the said
names appear on the source.
Article 21
Reproduction for teaching purposes
It shall be permissible, without the consent of the author and without
payment, to reproduce articles lawfully published in a newspaper or
periodical, short extracts of a work or parts of a short work or a lawfully
published work of fine art work exclusively for teaching or examination
purposes at an educational establishment, in such measure as is compatible
with the aforementioned purpose, provided that the reproduction is effected
in accordance with fair practice and does not confict with the normal
exploitation. The reproduction must be accompanied by an indication
of the source and of the names of the author and the publisher, provided
that the said names appear on the source.
Article 22
Reproduction by libraries and archives
It shall be permissible, without the consent of the author and without
payment, for a non-profit-making library or archive to reproduce one
additional copy from a copy of the work already in their permanent collection,
for the purpose of retaining that additional copy or of transferring
it to another non-profit-making library or archive. The reproduction
shall be permissible only if an additional copy cannot be obtained in
the market promptly, and on reasonable terms.
Article 23
Reproduction of cinematographic works
In cases where the holder of the economic right abusively withholds
consent for the reproduction of a cinematographic work of special artistic
value, for the purpose of preserving it in the National Cinematographic
Archive, the reproduction shall be permissible without his consent and
without payment, subject to a decision by the Minister of Culture, taken
in conformity with the prior opinion of the Cinematography Advisory
Council.
Article 24
Reproduction for judicial or administrative purposes
To the extent justified for a particular purpose, the reproduction
of a work for use in the judicial or administrative procedures shall
be permitted without the consent of the author and without payment.
Article 25
Reproduction for information purposes
1. To the extent justified for the particular purpose, the following
acts of reproduction shall be permissible without the consent of the
author and without payment: a) for the purpose of reporting current
events by the mass media, the reproduction and communication to the
public of works seen or heard in the course of the event; b) for the
purpose of informing on current events, the reproduction and communication
to the public by the mass media of political speeches, addresses, sermons,
legal speeches or other works of the same nature, as well as of summaries
or extracts of lectures, provided the said works are delivered in public.
2. Wherever possible, the reproduction and communication to the public
shall be accompanied by an indication of the source and of the name
of the author.
Article 26
Use of images of works sited in public places
The occasional reproduction and communication by the mass media of
images of architectural works, fine art works, photographs or works
of applied art, which are sited permanently in a public place, shall
be permissible, without the consent of the author and without payment.
Article 27
Public performance or presentation on special occasions
The public performance or presentation of a work shall be permissible,
without the consent of the author and without payment on the following
occasions: a) at official ceremonies, to the extent compatible with
the nature of the ceremonies; b) within the framework of staff and pupil
or student activities at an educational establishment, provided that
the audience is composed exclusively of the aforementioned persons,
the parents of the pupils or students, persons responsible for the care
of the pupils or students, or persons directly involved in the activities
of the establishment.
Article 28
Exhibition and reproduction of fine art works
1. Museums which own the physical carriers into which works of fine
art have been incorporated, shall be entitled, without the consent of
the author and without payment, to exhibit those works to the public
on the museum premises, or during exhibitions organised in museums.
2. The presentation of a fine art work to the public, and its reproduction
in catalogues to the extent necessary to promote its sale, shall be
permissible, without the consent of the author and without payment.
3. In the cases dealt with in paragraphs 1 and 2 above, reproduction
shall be permissible, provided such reproduction does not conflict with
the normal exploitation of the work and does not unresonably prejudice
the legitimate interests of the author.
SECTION V
DURATION OF PROTECTION
Article 29
Duration in general
1. Copyright in a work shall last for the whole of the author’s
lifetime and for seventy years after his death, computed from the end
of the year of death.
2. After the expiry of the period of copyright protection, the State,
represented by the Minister of Culture, may exercise the rights relating
to the acknowledgement of the author’s paternity and the rights
relating to the protection of the integrity of the work deriving from
the moral rights pursuant to Article 4 (1b and 1c) of this Law.
Article 30
Works of joint authorship
Copyright in works of joint auhtorship shall last for the lifetime
of the last surviving author and for seventy years after his death,
computed from the end of the year of death.
Article 31
Special commencement of the duration
1. Copyright in works published anonymously or pseudonymously shall
last for seventy years, computed from the end of the year in which the
work was lawfully published for the first time, unless the author discloses
his identity before the expiry of that period, in which case the general
rules shall apply.
2. Copyright in works, published after the death of their authors by
third persons possesing them, shall last for seventy years, computed
from the end of the year in which the work was lawfully published for
the first time.
SECTION VI
RULES RELATING TO EXPLOITATION CONTRACTS AND LICENCES
Article 32
Percentage fee
1. The fee payable to the author by the other contracting party to
legal agreements relating to the transfer of all or part of the economic
rights, the granting of the exploitation or for the exploitation licence
shall be obligatorily determined as a percentage, agreed freely between
the parties. The computation of the percentage shall be based on gross
revenues without exception or the gross expenditure or on the combined
gross revenues and expenditure realised from the activity of the other
contracting party in the course of the exploitation of the work. By
way of exception, in the following circumstances, the fee may be agreed
as a lump sum: a) when it is practically impossible to establish the
basis for the calculation of a percentage fee or when there are no means
of monitoring the implementation of a percentage arrangement; b) when
the expenditure required for the calculation and the monitoring is likely
to be out of reasonable proportion to the fee to be collected; c) when
the nature or the conditions of the exploitation make the implementation
of a percentage impossible, notably when the author’ s contribution
is not an essential element in the intellectual creation as a whole,
or when the use of the work is secondary in relation to the object of
the exploitation.
2. The obligatory percentage arrangement of the fee prescribed in paragraph
1 above shall be implemented in all circumstances provided that this
Law does not stipulate otherwise, and provided that it does not concern
works created by employees in the execution of the employment contract,
computer programs or advertisement in any form.
Article 33
Rules relating to contracts on printed editions and translators’
rights
1. The fee payable by the publisher of a printed edition to the author
for the reproduction and putting into circulation of a work or of copies
of a work shall be agreed as a particular percentage of the retail selling
price of all of the copies sold. When the contract on printed edition
refers to a literary work, such as a short story, a short novel, a novel,
a poem, an essay, a critical essay, a theatrical work, a travel book
or a biography, which is being published in book form in its original
language, excluding pocket book editions, the fee payable to the author
by the publisher after the sale of one thousand (1000) copies cannot
be less than 10pct of the retail selling price of all the copies sold.
2. By way of exception to the provision in paragraph 1 above, the fee
payable to the author may be agreed as a lump sum when the work is any
of the following:
a) collective works ; b) encyclopaedias, dictionaries or anthologies
of works of others; c) school books ; d) albums, calendars, agendas,
instructional books, printed games and educational items such as maps
or atlases ; e) prefaces, comments, introductions, presentations ; f)
illustrations or photographic material in printed editions; g) non-literary
picture books for children; h) luxury editions of a limited number of
copies ; i) magazines or newspapers.
3. Where a work has more than one author, and in the absence of an
agreement to the contrary, the percentage fee shall be distributed among
the various authors proportionally according to the extent of their
contributions. Where one or more of the authors are unprotected by the
copyright provisions of the laws, those of the authors who do enjoy
copyright protection shall be paid the percentage fee agreed or that
percentage to which they would have been entitled under paragraph 1,
of the present article, if all of them had been protected.
4. Where copies of a work are the object of a rental or lending arrangement
involving third parties, the fee payable for the granting of the necessary
licence shall be shared equally between the author and the publisher.
5. In a case where the author’s fee is fixed as a percentage
or retail sales, and unless some other method of monitoring is agreed,
each of the copies to be sold shall be signed by the author. An alternative
method of monitoring the number of copies sold shall be fixed in a presidential
decree, to be promulgated within six months of the entry into force
of this Law, on the recommendation of the Minister of Culture after
consultation with the interested professional branches.
6. The fee payble by the publisher of a printed edition to the translator
of a work with respect to the translation, reproduction and distribution
of the work shall be agreed as a percentage of the retail selling price
of all the copies sold. The provisions of paragraphs 2, 4 and 5 of this
Article shall apply mutatis mutandis.
7. The translator’s name must be indicated on the main title
page of the work. If the publisher agrees, the translator’s name
may also be indicated on the outer cover of the work.
Article 34
Rules relating to audiovisual production contracts
1. A contract dealing with the creation of an audiovisual work between
a producer and an intellectual author shall specify the economic rights
which are to be transferred to the producer. If the aforementioned provision
is not met, the contract shall be deemed to transfer to the producer
the economic rights, which are necessary to the exploitation of the
audiovisual work, pursuant to the purpose of the contract. When the
master from which copies for exploitation are to be made, is approved
by the author, the audiovisual work shall be deemed to be accomplished.
No alteration, abridgement or other modification shall be made to the
definitive form of the audiovisual work, as the latter has been approved
by the author, without his prior consent. Authors of individual contributions
to an audiovisual work may exercise their moral right only in relation
to the definitive form of the work, as approved by the author.
2. The contract between the producer of an audiovisual work and the
creators of individual contributions incorporated in the work, shall
specify the economic rights, which are transferred to the producer.
If the aforementioned provision is not met, the contract between the
producer and the authors of individual contributions, other than the
composers of music and writers of lyrics, shall be deemed to transfer
to the producer those powers under the economic right, which are necessary
for the exploitation of the audiovisual work, pursuant to the purpose
of the contract. Where the contributions to an audiovisual work are
capable of separate use, the economic right in relation to other uses
shall remain with their authors.
3. The intellectual author of an audiovisual work shall retain the
right to a separate fee for each form of exploitation of the work. The
aforementioned fee shall be agreed as a percentage, specified in the
relevant contract. The calculation of the percentage shall be based
on gross revenues, without exception, or the gross expenditure or on
the combined gross revenues and expenditure, realized in the course
of the exploitation of the work. The producer of the audiovisual work
is obliged once a year to give the author of the work all information,
concerning the exploitation of the work, in writing showing him also
all relevant documents. Short advertising films shall be exempt from
the provisions of this paragraph.
4. When visual or audiovisual recordings carrying a fixation of an
audiovisual work are the object of a rental arrangement, the author
shall in all cases retain the right to an equitable remuneration. This
provision shall apply also in case of a rental arrangement relating
to sound recordings.
Article 35
Rules relating to broadcasting by radio and television
1. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the rebroadcasting
of a work by radio or television shall require no consent from the author
additional to that granted for the first broadcasting. However, when
a broadcasting oragnization rebroadcasts a work it shall pay an additional
fee to the author. For the first rebroadcast, the fee payable shall
be at least 50pct of the initial fee agreed for the first broadcast,
and for each subsequent broadcast the additional fee shall be 20pct
of the initial fee. This provision shall not apply to the arrangements
between collecting societies and users referred to in Article 56 of
this Law.
2. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the contract between
an author and a broadcasting organization shall not empower the broadcasting
organization to permit third parties to broadcast or rebroadcast to
the public the work, which is the object of the contract, by wireless
waves or by wire or by any other means, in parallel to the surface of
the earth or by satellite.
3. The broadcasting of a work via a satellite, offering reception over
the whole of or a substantial part of Greece, shall be lawful only when
the broadcasting organization, whence the up-link is released has aquired
the power or has been granted the licence to trasmit broadcasts by radio
and television in Greece.
Article 36
Theatrical performance fee
1. The rights of playwrights shall be determined as a percentage of
gross receipts after deduction of the public entertainment tax.
2. The fee shall be based on the gross receipts for the whole of the
programme of a performance of original works or translations or adaptations
of ancient or more recent classical works, the minimum fee shall be
22pct for performances in state theatres and 10pct for performances
in private theatres. For translations of modern works of the contemporary
international repertory, the minimum fee shall be 5pct. Where a programme
contains works by more than one playwright, the fee shall be shared
among them in proportion to the duration of each playwright’s
work.
Article 37
Musical accompaniment of films
The minimum fee payable to the composers of musical and song accompaniment
films, shown to the public in cinema halls or other spaces, shall be
1pct of gross receipts after deduction of the public entertainment tax.
Article 38
Photographers’ rights
1. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, a transfer of the
economic right or exploitation contract or licence dealing with the
publication of a photograph in a newspaper, periodical or other mass
media shall refer only to the publication of the photograph in the particular
newspaper, periodical or mass media specified in the transfer or exploitation
contract or licence and to the archiving of the photograph. Every subsequent
act of publication shall be subject to payment of a fee equal to half
the current fee. The publication of a transferred photograph from the
archive of a newspaper, periodical or other mass media shall be permitted
only when accompanied by a reference to the title of the newspaper or
of the periodical or to the name of the mass media, into whose archive
the photograph was initially and lawfully placed.
2. Where the publication of a photograph is facilitated by the surrender
of the photographic negative, use shall be made of the negative, in
the absence of an agreement to the contrary, only for the first publication
of the photograph, after which the negative shall be returned to the
photographer.
3. The photographer shall retain the right to access and request the
return to him of his photographs, which have been the object of an exploitation
contract or licence arrangement with a particular newspaper, periodical
or other mass media and which have remained unpublished three months
after the date of the exploitation contract or licence.
4. Each act of publication of a photograph shall be accompanied by
a mentioning of the photographer’s name. This shall apply likewise
when the archive of a newspaper or of a periodical or of another mass
media is transferred.
5. The owner of a newspaper or of a periodical shall not be entitled
to publish a photograph created by a photographer, employed by him,
in a book or album publication without the employee’s consent.
This shall apply likewise to the lending of a photograph.
Article 39
Nullity of contrary agreements
Except where provided for elsewhere in law, any agreement which lays
down conditions contrary to the provisions of the articles of this Section,
or which imposes a fee level lower than that prescribed in this Section,
shall be null and void in respect of those of its clauses which are
deleterious to the authors.
SECTION VII
SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING COMPUTER PROGRAMS
Article 40
Programs created by employees
The economic right in a computer program created by an employee in
the execution of the employment contract or following instructions given
by his employer, shall be transferred ipso jure to the employer, unless
otherwise provided by contract.
Article 41
Exhaustion of a right
The first sale in European Community of a copy of a program by the
author or with his consent shall exhaust the distribution right within
the Community of that copy, with the exception of the right to control
further rental of the program or of a copy thereof.
Article 42
Restrictions
1. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the reproduction,
translation., adaptation, arrangement or any other alteration of a computer
program shall not require authorization by the author or necessitate
payment of a fee, where the said acts are necessary for the use of the
program by the lawful acquirer in accordance with its intended purpose,
including for error correction.
2. Reproduction which does not fall under the restriction of the previous
paragraph, including such reproduction which is necessitated by the
loading, displaying, runninh, or storage of the computer program, shall
be subject to the authorisation of the author.
3. The making of a back up copy by a person having a right to use the
computer program may not be prevented by contract insofar as it is necessary
for the use of the program, and shall not necessitate an authorization
by the author or the payment of a fee.
4. The person having a right to use a copy of a computer program shall
be entitled, without the authorization of the author and without payment
of a fee, to observe, study or test the functioning of the program in
order to determine the ideas and principles which underlie any element
of the program, if he does so while performing any of the acts, which
he is entitled to do. Any agreement to the contrary shall be prohibited.
5. Reproduction of a computer program for private use other than in
the circumstances specified in paragraphs 3 and 4 above shall be prohibited.
Article 43
Decompilation
1. The person having the right to use a copy of a computer program
shall be entitled to carry out the acts referred to in Article 42 (1)
and (2) without the authorization of the author and without the payment
of a fee when such acts are indispensable to obtain the information
necessary to achieve the interoperability of an independently created
computer program with other programs, provided that the information
necessary to achieve interoperability has not previously been easily
and readily available to the person having the right to use the computer
program, and provided that these acts are confined to the parts of the
original program, which are necessary to achieve the said interoperability.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not permit the information obtained
through its application: a) to be used for goals other than to achieve
the interoperability of the independently created computer program;
b) to be given to others, except when necessary for the interoperability
of the independently created computer program; or c) to be used for
the development, production or marketing of a computer program substantially
similar in its expression to the initial program, or for any other act
which infringes copyright.
3. The provisions of this Article may not be interpreted in such a
way as to allow its application to be used in a manner which would conflict
with a normal exploitation of the computer program or would unreasonably
prejudice the author’s legitimate interests.
Article 44
Duration of protection
Protection shall be granted for the life of the author of the computer
program and for fifty years after his death, computed from the end of
the year of the author’s death.
Article 45
Validity of other provisions and agreements
1. The provisions of this Section shall be without prejudice to other
legal provisions, relating notably to patent rights, trade marks, unfair
competition, trade secrets, protection of semi-conductor products or
the law of contract.
2. Agreements contrary to the provisions of Article 42 (3) (4) and
Article 43 of this Law shall be null and void.
SECTION VIII
RELATED RIGHTS
Article 46
Licence by performers
1. The term «performers» shall designate persons who in
any way act or perform works, such as actors, musicians, singers, chorus
singers, dancers, puppeteers, shadow theatre artists, variety performers
or circus artists.
2. Performers shall have the right to authorize or prohibit : a) fixations
of their live performances on a visual or sound or audiovisual recording;
b) the direct or indirect reproduction of fixations of their performances
as well as the distribution of the recording via a transfer of ownership,
a rental arrangement or public lending; c) the radio or television broadcasting
by any means such as wireless waves, satellite, cables, as well as the
public performance of a recording with an illegal fixation of their
performances; d) the radio or television broadcasting by any means,
such as wireless waves, satellite or cable of their live performances,
except where the said broadcasting is a rebroadcasting of a lawful broadcasting;
e) the communication to the public of their live performances by any
means other than radio or television transmission.
3. Subject to contractual clauses to the contarry, explicitly specifying
which acts are authorized, the acts listed in paragraph 2, above, shall
be presumed to have been authorized when a performer has entered into
an employment contact, having as its object the operation of those particular
acts, with a party who is doing such acts. The performer shall at all
times retain the right to remuneration for each of the acts, listed
in paragraph 2, above, regardeless of the form of exploitation of his
performance. In particular, the performer shall retain an unwaivable
right to equitable remuneration for rental, if he has authorized a producer
of sound or visual, or audiovisual recordings, to rent out recordings
carrying fixations of his performance.
4. Where a performance is made by an ensemble, the performers making
up the ensemble shall elect and appoint in writing one representative
to exercise the rights listed in paragraph 2 above. This representation
shall not encompass orchestral conductors, choir conductors, soloists,
main role actors and principal directors. If the performers making up
an ensemble fail to appoint a representative, the rights listed in paragraph
2 above shall be exercised by the director of the ensemble.
5. It is prohibited to transfer during the lifetime of the performer
and to waive the rights referred to in paragraph 2 above. The administration
and protection of the aforementioned rights may be entrusted to a collecting
society pursuant to Articles 54 to 58 of this Law.
Article 47
Licence by producers of sound and visual recordings
1. Producers of sound or visual or sound and visual recordings shall
have the right to authorize or prohibit the direct or indirect reproduction
and the distribution through transfer of ownership, rental or public
lending of their recordings. They shall also have the right to prohibit
the import of recordings produced in a foreign country without their
consent, or where the right to import has been retained through contract
by the producer, the right to prohibit the import of recordings from
any country outside the European Community.
2. The term «producer of sound recordings» shall designate
any natural or legal person who initiates and bears the responsibility
for the realisation of a first fixation of a series of sounds only.
The term «producer of visual or sound and visual recordings»
shall designate any natural or legal person who initiates and bears
responsibility for the realisation of a first fixation of a series of
images with or without sound.
Article 48
Licence from radio or television organisations
1. Radio or television organisations shall have the right to authorize
or prohibit: a) The retransmission of their broadcasts by any means
such as wireless waves, satellite, cables; b) the communication to the
public of their broadcasts in places, accessible to the public against
payment of an entrance fee; c) the fixation of their broadcasts on sound
or visual or sound and visual recordings regardeless of whether the
broadcasts are transmitted by wire or by the air, including by cable
or satellite; d) the direct or indirect reproduction of fixations of
their broadcasts as well as the distribution of recordings carrying
the fixation of their broadcasts through transfer of ownership, rental
or public lending.
2. Radio or television organisations shall not have the right provided
for in paragraph 1(c) above, when they merely retrarnsmit by cable the
broadcasts of radio or television organisations.
Article 49
Right to equitable remuneration
1. When sound or visual or audiovisual recordings are used for a radio
or television broadcast by any means, such as wireless waves, satellite,
cable, or for communication to the public, the user shall pay a single
and equitable remuneration to the performers, whose performances are
carried on the recordings and to the producers of the recordings. This
remuneration shall be payable only to collecting societies. The said
collecting societies shall be responsible for negotiating and agreeing
the remuneration levels, raising the claims for the payment and collecting
the remuneration from the users. Where there is dispute between the
users and the collecting societies, the level of the equitable remuneration
and the terms of payment shall be determined by the single-member court
of first instance pursuant to the cautionary measures procedure. The
final judgement concerning the remuneration shall be rendered by the
competent court.
2. Without prejudice to the obligatory assignment of the administration
of rights and the collection of the remuneration by collecting societies
operating according to articles 54 to 58 of the Law, the right of performers
to the reasonable remuneration prescribed under paragraph 1 above shall
not be assignable.
3. The collected remuneration shall be distributed in the order of
50pct to the performers and 50pct to the producers of the recordings.
The distribution of the collected remuneration among the various performers,
and, among the various producers, shall be effected pursuant to agreements
among them, that are contained in the rules of each collecting society.
4. Performers shall have the right to an equitable remuneration in
respect of any radio or television rebroadcast of their performance
transmitted by radio or television. Without prejudice to the possibility
of assigning the administration of rights and the collection of remuneration
to collecting societies according to the provisions of Articles 54 to
58 of this Law, an equitable remuneration prescribed in this paragraph
shall not be assignable.
Article 50
Moral right
1. During their lifetime, performers shall have the right to full acknowledgement
and credit of their status as such in relation to their performances
and to the right to prohibit any form of alteration of their performances.
2. After the death of a performer that person’s moral right shall
pass to his heirs.
3. The provisions of Article 12 (2) and Article 16 of this Law shall
be applicable mutatis mutandis to the moral right of performers.
Article 51
Rights of publishers
Publishers of printed matters shall have the right to authorize or
prohibit the reproduction by reprographic, electronic or any other means
of the type-setting and pagination format of the works, published by
them, if the said reproduction is made for exploitation purposes.
Article 52
Form of the licence, limitations and duration of the rights
The rights prescribed in Articles 46 to 51 of this Law shall be subject
to the following rules : a) agreements concerning those rights shall
be valid legal agreements only when concluded in writing; b) The limitations
applicable to the economic right attaching to copyright shall apply
mutatis mutandis ; c) protection of the rights of performers prescribed
in Articles 46 and 49 of this Law shall be granted for fifty years from
the end of the year in which the performance took place, but shall in
no case expire before the death of the performer; d) protection of the
rights of producers of recordings, of radio or television organisations
and of publishers prescribed in Articles 47 to 49 and Article 51 of
this Law shall be granted for fifty years from the end of the year in
which the recording was made or the first radio or television broadcast
took place or in which the last edition of the work was published.
Article 53
Protection of copyright
The protection provided under Articles 46 to 52 of this Law shall leave
intact and shall in no way affect the protection of copyright. In no
circumstance shall any of the provisions of the aforementioned Articles
be interpreted in such a manner as to lessen that protection. Where
performers, producers of sound or visual or audiovisual recordings,
radio or television organisations and publishers acquire the copyright
in a work in addition to related rights, such rights shall apply in
parallel with each other and shall confer the rights, deriving therefrom.
SECTION IX
ADMINISTRATION BY COLLECTING SOCIETIES
Article 54
Assignation of administration
1. Authors may assign the administration and/or protection or the administration
and protection of their rights to a collecting society established exclusively
to engage in the functions of administering and protecting all or part
of the economic rights. Likewise, collecting societies may perform those
functions for a person to whom the author has granted a right as a gift,
for a general proxy, for an heir or for a foundation set up by an author.
A collecting society may have any form of company status. Where a collecting
society is registered as an incorporated company all of its shares shall
be nominal. All other matters pertaining to the company status of collecting
societies shall be regulated pursuant to Articles 24 (2) (4) of Law
1746/1988. The notification provided for under Article 24 (4) of Law
1746/1988 shall be issued only by the Ministry of Culture. A collecting
society may have the status of an urban cooperative pursuant to Law
1667/1986. Where a collecting society has the status of an urban cooperative
the following provisions shall apply: a) wherever, in Law 1667/1986,
competence is granted to the Ministry for the National Economy, that
competence shall be transferred to the Ministry for Culture; b) by way
of derogation from the principle of locality, the cooperative may be
established and function on a nationwide basis; c) legal persons may
participate in the cooperative; d) subject to the promulgation of a
presidential decree issued on the recommendation of the Minister of
Culture, matters pertaining to the cooperative’s shares may be
regulated in a manner other than that prescribed in Law 1667/1986.
2. In cases of unaltered and unabridged secondary transmissions of
radio and television programs by cable or other physical means, administration
by collecting societies shall be obligatory for the rights of authors.
3. The title (of a collecting society) may be established by a transfer
of such economic rights, for which protection is sought, or by grant
of appropriate powers of attorney. The title shall be established in
writing and shall be for a specified period which shall never be longer
than three years. The agreement establishing the title shall specify
precisely which of the author’s works are included under the title
as suitable for exploitation. In case of ambiguity, it shall be presumed
that the agreement embraces all the author’s works, including
any works he may create during the term of agreement, which shall in
no case be longer than three years.
4. Before commencing operations, a collecting society which has undertaken
or proposes to undertake the administration or protection of rights
stemming from the economic right of authors shall lodge a statement
to that effect with the Ministry of Culture together with a copy of
its rules providing at least the following information: a) the amount
of the society’s share capital; b) if the society has company
status, its articles of association or deed of association; c) the name
of the responsible spokesman of the society and the names of the persons
responsible for its administration, all of whom shall be of proven professional
repute and without convictions for felony or misdemeanor against ownership
or property; d) the number of authors who have assigned to the society
the administration of rights stemming from their economic right; e)
the legal form through which the title of administration has been effected;
f) in each case, duration of the title ; g) the principles governing
the distribution of remuneration to rightholders and the proposed dates
and manner of distribution; h) the level of management expences as well
as any element necessary to ensure the viability of the collecting society
and the efficiency of its operations. The Ministry of Culture shall
check the statement and rules lodged by the collecting society and,
provided that the information therein contained demonstrates compliance
with the requirements of this Law, grant approval for the society’s
operations. Any subsequent alteration of the collecting society’s
rules shall be submitted to the Ministry of Culture for approval. No
alteration to a society’s rules shall be valid without the approval
of the Ministry of Culture, and in a case where such approval is either
not sought or not granted the rules as initially approved shall continue
to apply in their entirety.
5. The Ministry of Culture shall monitor the operations of collecting
societies to ensure that they comply with the provisions of this Law
and with their rules. Each collecting society shall, when requested,
surrender its accounts to the competent department of the Ministry of
Culture for inspection and submit any other information which is necessary
to the effective monitoring of its operations. Except when a collecting
society is a non-profit organisation, its accounts shall be subject
to inspection by sworn auditors regardless of its company status.
6. Where a collecting society is found to have perpetrated a serious
violation of the Law or of its rules, or continues to perpetrate such
a violation despite being admonished by the Ministry of Culture to desist,
the Minister of Culture may impose on the collecting society, without
prejudice to the applicability of other penalties, an administrative
fine of from 500.000 to 10.000.000 drachmas. Matters pertaining to monitoring,
the interviewing of alleged perpetrators of violations, the procedure
for the imposition of fines and adjustments to the above financial amounts
shall be determined by presidential decrees issued on the recommendation
of the Minister for Culture.
7. Wherever the term «rules» appears in this Law it shall
have the meaning of the term as it is used in paragraph 4 of this Article.
Article 55
The competence of collecting societies
1. Collecting societies shall have the competence to perform the following
functions: a) concluding contracts with users specifying the terms of
exploitation of works and the renumeration payable; b) securing for
authors the percentage fee referred to in Article 32 (1) of this Law;
c) collecting renumeration and distributing it among authors as necessary;
d) collecting and allocating among authors the remuneration referred
to in Article 18 (3) of this Law; e) effecting all administrative, judicial
and extrajudicial tasks necessary to secure lawful protection of the
rights of authors and other rightholders, notably taking legal steps
and court actions, lodging of complaints and serving writs, appearing
as civil plaintiffs, seeking the prohibition of acts deemed to infringe
rights whose protection is assigned to them and requesting seizure of
unlawful copies pursuant to Article 64 of this Law; f) obtaining from
users all information needed for the computation, collection and allocation
of renumeration; g) carrying out, in collaboration with public authorities
or pursuant to the procedure referred to in Article 64 of this Law,
all necessary checks at outlets for the sale, rental and lending of
copies of works under their protection, and at public performances of
works, in order to protect against infringements of the rights of authors.
The establishment act of the collecting society can limit its competence
to be only parts of the above-mentioned.
2. A collecting society shall be presumed to have the competence to
administer and/or protect the rights in all of the works or in respect
of all of the authors concerning which or whom a declaration of transfer
to the society has been effected in writing, or for which it has been
granted power of attorney. Regardless of whether its authorization rests
on a transfer of rights or on power of attorney, a collecting society
shall in all circumstances be entitled to initiate judicial or extrajudicial
action in its own name and to exercise in full legitimacy all the rights
transferred to it, or for which it holds power of attorney.
3. When seeking the protection of the courts for works or authors under
its protection a collecting society shall not be required to provide
an exhaustive list of all of the works which have been the object of
the unlicensed exploitation, and it may lodge only a sample list.
4. If a rightholder disputes a collecting society’s competence
over a work which is assumed to be included under the declaration referred
to in paragraph 2 above and which has ensuingly, on the basis of that
declaration, been included in a contract concluded by the collecting
society with a user, the collecting society shall defend the case of
the user and offer all possible assistance in any court action which
may follow. If the collecting society is adjudged not to have competence
over the work, it shall, in addition to any penalty imposed upon it,
be liable for the payment of compensation to the user with which it
signed the contract, the amount of which shall be determined pursuant
to the special safeguarding measures.
Article 56
Relations with users
1. When granting users the facility to make use of works assigned to
it, a collecting society shall demand from the users payment of the
percentage fee specified in Article 32 (1) of this Law. The exceptions
provided for in Article 32 (2) of this Law with respect to the percentage
fee shall not apply in these circumstances.
2. A collecting society may not refuse to conclude a contract with
a user, as referred to in Article 55 (1) (a) , without good reason.
If an aspiring user is of the opinion that the remuneration demanded
by a collecting society is clearly in excess of that usually payable
in similar circumstances, the aspiring user shall pay to the collecting
society, in advance of any use, either the remuneration demanded or
an amount determined, upon request, by a court of the first instance
as being equal to the remuneration usually payable in similar circumstances,
pursuant to the safeguarding measures. The final judgement concerning
the remuneration shall be rendered by the competent court.
3. Organizations representing users may, together with collecting societies,
decide by written agreement to appoint an arbiter, specifically by name
or position, to determine the amount of remuneration to be paid by a
user before disagreement arises. Before finally deciding on the remuneration
due the arbiter may order the user to lodge a down payment. An arbiter
thus appointed shall have exclusive competence for the settling of disagreements.
The decisions of an arbiter shall be equitable. The Minister for Culture
may himself decide to appoint an arbiter. In such a case, recourse to
that arbiter by the parties to a dispute shall be voluntary and by agreement.
Collecting societies shall draw up lists of the remuneration payable
by users (remuneration tariffs) and shall promulgate the said lists
in not less than three daily journals, one of which shall be a financial
journal. When drawing up and implementing their remuneration tariffs,
collecting societies shall refrain from inconsistency and discrimination.
4. In order to facilitate the actions referred to in circumstances
a), b), c) and d) of Article 55 (1), users shall without delay make
available to collecting societies lists of the works of which they are
producing, selling, renting or lending copies, together with the exact
numbers of copies produced or distributed , and likewise lists of the
works they are performing publicly, together with a statement of the
frequency of such performances.
Article 57
Relations with authors
1. A collecting society may not without good reason refuse to undertake
for any particular author the administration and/or protection of the
rights deriving from the economic right of that author and its subject
of the administration of the collecting society.
2. A collecting society shall consult annually with the authors whose
rights are transferred to it in order that the authors may express their
views concerning the rules used to determine levels of remuneration,
the methods used for the collection and distribution of remuneration
and any other matter pertinent to the administration and/or protection
of their rights. The collecting societies have to take into consideration
these views during the processing of the ways of administration.
3. Authors who transfer the administration and/or protection of their
rights to a collecting society, together with the societies which represent
them, shall be entitled to all relevant information concerning the activities
of the collecting society.
4. Where the author transfers all of his works to a collecting society
for administration and/or protection, he shall give the society full
information in writing about the publication of those works and shall
inform the society whenever he publishes a new work after the date of
the transfer of his rights.
5. Collecting societies shall draw up rules for the distribution of
remuneration to authors. Distribution shall be effected at least once
annually and shall to the highest possible extent be proportionate to
the actual use made of the works.
6. For each general category of authors and each form of exploitation,
collecting societies shall fix a percentage of the remunerations collected
to cover their expenditures. Authors shall be informed of the relevant
percentage before they transfer or grant power of attorney over their
rights. The fixed percentage may be increased only with the consent
of the author or after notice, served one year in advance.
7. An author or a collecting society shall be entitled to abrogate
the agreement transferring economic rights where irrefutably good grounds
exist for such action. Provided not less than three months’ notice
is given, the abrogation shall take effect from the end of the calendar
year in which it is notified. If less than three months’ notice
is given, the abrogation shall take effect from the end of the following
calendar year.
Article 58
Application to related rights
The provisions of Articles 54 to 57 shall be applicable mutatis mutandis
to the administration and/or protection of the related rights regulated
by the provisions of Section VIII of this Law.
SECTION X
MEASURES TO PREVENT INFRINGEMENTS
Article 59
Imposition of and adherence to specifications
Presidential decrees may be issued, on the reccomendation of the Ministry
of Culture, laying down specifications for the equipment and other materials
used in the making of reproductions of works with a view to preventing
or limiting the use of such equipment and materials for purposes which
conflict with the normal exploitation of copyright and related rights.
Article 60
Use of control systems
Presidential decrees may be issued on the recommendation of the Minister
for Culture, making compulsory the use of equipment or systems which
permit the designation of reproduced or used works and the extent and
frequency of the reproduction or use, subject to such methods not causing
unjustifiable harm to the lawful interests of users.
Article 61
Control labeling
Presidential decrees may be issued, on the recommendation of the Minister
for Culture, stipulating that visual or sound or visual and sound recordings
may circulate only when they carry on their outer casing or in another
prominent position a special mark or control label of any type supplied
by the competent collecting society, indicating that their distribution
on the market or their circulation in some other manner, does not constitute
an infringement of the rights of the author.
Article 62
Prohibition of decoding
The distribution, use, and the possession with intent to use or distribute,
of decoding equipment shall be prohibited without the permission of
the broadcasting organizations which transmit encrypted programs by
wire or over the air, including by cable or satellite.
Article 63
Stopping an infringement or its continuation
1. Where a potential infringement of copyright is identified, such
as where there is a clear intention to offer an unlawful public performance
of a theatrical or cinematographic or a musical work, the competent
local police authority shall prohibit the infringing act when requested
to do so by the author or rightholder. When requested, the prosecuting
authorities shall grant the police authority any necessary mandate.
The same shall apply when the public presentation of a work has been
in progress for more than two days without payment of due remuneration.
2. The granting of a police licence permitting the use of musical instruments
or certifying the suitability of premises, or of any other licence required
in law for the use of premises for the performance of musical or other
works, whose administration is entrusted to a collecting society competent
to authorize the public performance of works, shall be conditional on
the deposition by the applicant of a written authorization for the performance,
issued by that collecting society.
3. Where there is reason to believe that an infringement of copyright
is occuring or may occur, a single-member court of first instance shall
be empowered to invoke the safeguarding measures and to issue a prohibition
order without the necessity of specifically designating the works thereby
protected.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis,
to infringements of the related rights referred to in Articles 46, 47
and 48 of this Law.
SECTION XI
SANCTIONS
Article 64
Seizure
Where there is reason to believe that an infringement of copyright
or of the related rights referred to in Articles 46 to 48 and 51 of
the present law is occuring or may occur, a single-member court of first
instance shall order, as a cautionary measure, the conservatory seizure
of any item in the possession of the defendant which is manifestly a
means to the effecting of the infringement, or a product of or evidence
of the infringement. Instead of conservatory seizure, the court may
order that a detailed inventory and photographic record to be made of
items. Each of the aforementioned actions shall be effected in accordance
with Articles 687 (1) of the Civil Procedure Code and a provisionary
order shall be obligatorily issued pursuant to Article 691 (2) of the
Civil Procedure Code.
Article 65
Civil sanctions
1. In all cases of infringement of copyright or of related rights the
author or rigthholder shall be entitled to demand the recognition of
his right, the suppression of the infringement and the omission of the
infringement in the future.
2. A person who by intent or negligence infringes copyright or a related
right of another person shall indemnify for the moral damage caused,
and be liable for the payment of damages of not less than twice the
legally required or normally payable remuneration for the form of exploitation
which the infringing party has effected without licence.
3. Instead of seeking damages, and regardless of whether the infringement
was commited by intent or negligence, the author or the rightholder
of the related right may demand either the payment of the sum accrued
by the infringing party from the unlicenced exploitation of a work,
or of the object of a related right, pursuant to Articles 46 to 48 and
51 of this Law, or the profit gained by the infringing party from such
an exploitation.
4. For each act of omission contributing to an infringement, the court
may impose a fine of from three hundred thousand to one million drachmas
payable to the author or to the rightholder of the related rights referred
to Articles 46 to 48 and 51 of this Law and imprisonment of up to one
year. The same shall apply when the conviction is effected pursuant
to the procedure under the safeguarding measures. All other matters
shall be regulated pursuant to Article 947 of the Civil Procedure Code.
Article 66
Criminal sanctions
1. Any person who, in contravention of the provisions of this Law or
of the provisions of lawfully ratified international conventions on
the protection of copyright, unlawfully makes a fixation of a work or
reproduces an original or a translation or an adaptation of a work,
or distributes a work or possesses a work with the intent of distributing
it, or infringes restrictions on the use of work, or presents a work
to the public, or performs a work in public, or broadcasts a work by
radio or television, or in any way exploits a work which is the object
of copyright, or who imports copies of a work or organizes a public
performance of a work or acts against the right of the author to decide
freely on the presentation of his work to the public without additions
or deletions, shall be liable to imprisonment of not less than one year
and to a fine of from 1 to 5 million drachmas.
2. The sanctions listed in paragraph 1 above shall be applicable to
any person who, in contravention of this Law, as it refers to related
rights, or of the provisions of lawfully ratified international conventions,
as they refer to related rights : a) makes a fixation of sound or visual
or sound and visual recording, or broadcasts by any means or presents
to the public a live performance without the consent of the performer;
b) effects a rebroadcast of a radio or television broadcast by any means
or makes a fixation of a radio or television broadcast or presents to
the public, on payment of an admission fee, a radio or television broadcast
without the consent of the broadcasting organization which is the rightholder
in respect of the broadcast; c) reproduces or distributes, or possesses
with intent to distribute a sound or visual recording bearing a fixation
of a performance without the consent of the producer and of the performer;
d) presents a performance to the public by any means other than by a
radio or television transmission without the consent of the performer;
e) reproduces, distributes or uses in any manner a fixation of a broadcast
without the consent of the broadcasting organization which is the rightholder;
f) imports sound or visual recordings produced in a foreign country
without the consent of the producer, or imports sound or visual recordings
whose import is not permitted under the licence. In circumstances a),
e) and f) the guilty person shall be convicted and if he ought to know
the lack of the licence.
3. If the financial gain sought or the damage caused by the perpetration
of an act listed in paragraphs 1 and 2 above is particularly great,
the sanction shall be not less than two years imprisonment and a fine
of from 2 to 10 million drachmas. If the guilty party has perpetrated
any of the aforementioned acts by way of standard practice or if the
circumstances in connection with the perpetration of the act indicate
that the guilty party poses a serious threat to the protection of copyright
or related rights, the sanction shall be imprisonment of up to 10 years
and a fine of from 5 to 20 million drachmas, together with the withdrawal
of the trading licence of the undertaking which has served as the vehicle
for the act. The act shall be likewise deemed to have been perpetrated
by way of standard practice if the guilty party has on a previous occasion
been convicted of a contravention pursuant to the provisions of this
Article or for a violation of the preceding copyright legislation and
sentenced to a non-redeemable period of imprisonment.
4. The sanctions specified in paragraph 1 above shall be applicable
likewise to any person who: a) uses or distributes, or possesses with
the intent to distribute, any system or means whose sole purpose is
to facilitate the unpermitted removal or neutralization of a technical
system used to protect a computer program; b) manufacturers or imports
or distributes, or possesses with intrent to distribute, equipment and
other materials utilizeanble for the reproduction of a work which do
not conform to the specifications determined pursuant to Article 59
of this Law; c) manufactures or imports or distributes, or possesses
with intent to distribute, objects which can thwart the efficasy of
the above-mentioned specifications, or engages in an act which can have
that result; d) reproduces or uses a work without utilizing the equipment
or without applying the systems specified pursuant to Articles 60 of
this Law; e) distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute, a
phonogram or film without the special mark or control label specified
pursuant to Article 61 of this Law.
5. Where a sentence of imprisonment is imposed with the option of redeemability,
the sum payable for the redemption shall be ten times the sum specified
as per the case in the Penal Code.
6. Where mitigating circumstances exist, the fine imposed shall not
be less than half of the minimum fine imposable as per the case under
this Law.
7. In all cases of conviction the court may order the publication of
an abstract of the verdict at the convicted person’s expense.
SECTION XII
FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Article 67
Applicable legislation
1. Copyright in a published work shall be governed by the legislation
of the state in which the work is first made lawfully accessible to
the public. Copyright in an unpublished work shall be governed by the
legislation of the state in which the author is a national.
2. Related rights shall be governed by the legislation of the state
in which the performance is realized, or in which the sound or visual
or sound and visual recording is produced, or in which the radio or
television broadcast is transmitted or in which the printed publication
is effected.
3. In all cases, the determination of the subject, object, content,
duration and limitations of the right shall be governed by the legislation
applicable pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 above, with the exception
of any exploitation licence arrangement. The protection of a right shall
be subject to the legislation of the state in which the protection is
sought.
4. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above shall apply except where they run contrary
to any international convention ratified by Greece. In the case of states
not conjoint with Greece through the ratification of an international
convention, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 above shall be applicable as regards
any protection of copyright or of any particular object of copyright
or of any particular related right, provided that the legislation of
the relevant state offers adequate copyright protection to works first
made accessible to the public in Greece and to related rights stemming
from acts effected in Greece.
Article 68
Law not retroactive
1. Works for which the duration of protection has expired prior to
the entry into force of this Law shall remain without copyright protection.
2. The protection prescribed under Article 2 (3) and Articles 40 to
53 shall become applicable to computer programs created in the past
and to related rights stemming from acts effected in the past from the
date of the entry into force of this Law.
3. Contracts concluded before the entry into force of this Law shall
be governed by the preceding legislation for one year from the date
of the entry into force of this Law.
Article 69
Establishment of the Copyright Organization
1. A legal entity in private law under the jurisdiction of the Ministry
of Culture shall be established at a registered address in Athens under
the title «The Copyright Organization». The purpose of the
Copyright Organization shall be the protection of authors and of holders
of related rights, the supervision of the collecting societies, the
implementation of this Law and of related international conventions,
the preparation of legal studies on matters pertaining to copyright
and related rights and the representation of Greece in dealings with
all the competent international organizations and with the institutions
of the European Community. The Copyright Organization may in addition
convene seminars of any type for the purposes of providing information
and training to judges, lawyers, administrators, intellectual authors,
holders of related rights, students and other interested parties on
matters pertaining to copyright and related rights. In no circumstance
shall the Copyright Organization have as its purpose the administration
of rights pursuant to Articles 54 to 58 of this Law.
2. The Copyright Organization shall receive, by way of grant financing,
a percentage, not greater than 5pct, of the gross sums collected by
the collecting societies. The exact percentage and the manner of its
payment shall be determined by presidential decree issued on the recommendation
of the Minister of Culture. The Copyright Organization may also receive
grant financing from international organisations and the institutions
of the European Community, gifts and bequests, grants from any third
party and the revenues due to it for the rendering of services. As commencement
finance the Copyright Organization shall receive a one-off grant of
twenty million (20.000.000) drachmas from the budget of the Ministry
of Culture.
3. Matters pertaining to the main focus and detailed field of competence
of the Copyright Organization within the framework of its overall purpose,
the exact manner of its overall purpose, the exact manner of its powers
and the procedure relating to its exercise of them, its management and
the supervision of its administration, its internal structure and personnel,
the fees it charges for services which may, as required., adjusted by
decision of the Minister of Culture, the determination of its scientific,
management and ancillary staffing requirement, its remuneration and
every other detail shall be determined by presidential Decree* issued
on the joint recommendation of the Minister of Culture, the Minister
to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Finance.
* Presidential Decree 311/1994 (Official Journal of the State Republic
of Greece, First Issue, Number 165 October 6th 1994)
Article 70
Collecting societies already functioning
1. Collecting societies which are already functioning at the date of
the promulgation of this Law shall within twelve months of the entry
into force of this Law lodge with the Ministry of Culture the statement
and copy of their rules required under Article 54(4) of this Law and
generally shall carry out all other actions necessary to comply with
this Law.
2. Societies of authors which at the date of the promulgation of this
Law are carrying on the administrative activity referred to in Article
5 of Law 4301/1929 and Article 43 of law 1597/1986 may continue to carry
on that activity for twenty-four months from the date of the entry into
force of this Law.
Article 71
Implementation of directives of the European Community
1. Articles 2 (3) and 40 to 45 of this Law shall constitute implementation
of Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection
of computer programs.
2. Articles 3 (1) (d), 9, 34, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52 and 53 of this Law
shall constitute implementation of Council directive 92/100/EEC of 19
November on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related
to copyright in the field of intellectual property.
Article 72
Repeal of provisions and regulation of other matters
1. From the date of the entry into force of this Law every provision
which runs counter to this Law or deals with matters which are regulated
by this Law shall be repealed. Specifically, the following laws and
parts of laws shall be repealed: GYPG/1909 and 2387/1920, Legislative
Decree 12/15 of June 1926, Laws 4186/1929, 4301/1929 and 4489/1930,
Article 2 (1) of legislative Decree 619/1941, Legislative Decree 2179/1943,
Laws 763/1943, 1136/1944 and 56/1944, Article 12 of Law 3188/1995, Legislative
Decree 4264/1962, Article 4 of Law 1064/1980, Articles 5 and 10 to 22
of Law 1075/1980, Article 19 of Law 1348/1983 and Articles 3,40, 43
and 46 of Law 1597/1986.
2. Law 988/1943 shall remain in force.
3. Collecting societies established and functioning pursuant to Articles
54 to 58 of this Law shall have the right to organize conferences on
matters pertaining to copyright and related rights and to participate
in such conferences. Articles 54 to 58 of this Law shall not prevent
the concluding of reciprocal contracts between collecting societies
established in other countries and collecting societies established
in Greece.
4. Until 1 July 1994, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Articles 49 of this
Law shall not be applicable to phonograms used for presentations to
the public in cafes in communes with populations of less than 5.000
inhabitants.
5. Article 38 (4) (a) of this law shall apply to the publication of
any photograph whatsoever.
SECTION XIII
CULTURAL MATTERS AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS
* Articles 73 and 75-76 are not reproduced because they do not concern
copyright or related rights
Article 74
The positions of managing director, director general, manager, chairman
and vice-chairman of a non-profit -making collecting society shall not
be deemed out of keeping with the calling of lawyer and shall not be
grounds for removing from a register of lawyers the name of any lawyer
holding such a position or for downgarding the status of any such lawyer.
SECTION XIV
ENTRY INTO FORCE
Article 77
With the exception of Article 69, this Law shall enter into force from
the date of its promulgation in the official Journal. Article 69 of
this Law shall enter into force six months after the date of the promulgation
of this Law in the Official Journal.
We command the promulgation of this Law in the Official Journal and
its implementation as a law of the State.
Athens, 3 March 1993
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