EU directives in the field of copyright and related rights

• Author: Ana-Maria Marinescu
• Position: Director General PERGAM, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, 'Nicolae Titulescu' University of Bucharest (e-mail: amm_marinescu@yahoo.com).
• Pages: 50-65

LESIJ NO. XXII, VOL. 1/2015

EU DIRECTIVES IN THE FIELD OF COPYRIGHT AND

RELATED RIGHTS

Ana-Maria MARINESCU*

Abstract

The aim of this article is to underline the evolution and the importance o f the European

Directives in the field of copyright and related rights, their contribution to the development of the law

and the national implementation, namely their transposition into Romanian Law no. 8/1996 on

copyright and related rights. For this purpose, the article will analyze the historical evolution of the

European Directives in the field of copyright and related rights and their most important dispositions.

Given the wide range of subject matter with which it is concerned, the European Directives in the field

of copyright and related rights address to enforcement, protection of databases, protection of computer

programs, resale right, satellite and cable, term of protection, rental and lending rights, copyright and

related rights in the information society, orphan works and management of copyright and related

rights. Taking into account the wild range of subjects that European Directives in the field of copyright

and related rights address, it is important to observe the permanent interest of the European legislator

on the harmonization of the law on copyright and related rights. In this way, the result was the adoption

of 7 directives in a 10-year interval between 1991 and 2001, and of 4 directives, including the one for

the modification of the Directive on the term of protection, also in a 10-year interval between 2004 and

2014. Despite the extensive p rocess of harmonization, copyright law in the Member States of the

European Union is still largely linked to geographical boundaries of sovereign states.

Keywords: directive, copyright and related rights, enforcement, protection of databases,

protection of computer programs, resale right, satellite and cable, term of p rotection, rental and

lending rights, copyright and related rights in the information society, orphan works, management of

copyright and related rights, evolution, harmonization, national implementation.

1. Introduction *

At the present 11 Directives in the field

of copyright and related rights are in place in

the European Union

1

:

a). Council Directive 91/250/CEE

from the 14th of May 1991 on legal

protection of computer programs, published

in the Official Journal of European

Communities no. L 122 from the 17th of Mai

1991, replaced by the Directive 2009/24/EC

* Director Genera l PERGAM, PhD Candida te, Faculty of Law, “Nicolae Titulescu” University of Bucharest

(e-mail: amm_marinescu@yahoo.com).

1

Ciprian-Raul Romițan, Paul-George Buta, Drept român și comunitar al proprietății intelectuale: Dreptul de

autor și drepturile conexe (București: Ed. ASDPI, 2006), 141-318, http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/

copyright/acquis/index_en.htm, http://www.orda.ro/default.aspx?pagina=212

of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal

protection of computer programs, published

in t he Official Journal of the European

Union no. L 111/16 from the 5 of May 2009;

b). Co uncil Directive 92/100/CEE

from the 19th of November 1992 on the

rental and lending right a nd other rights

related to copyright in the field of the

intellectual property, published in the

Official J ournal of EC no. L 346 from the

24th of November 1992;

Ana-Maria MARINESCU 51

LESIJ NO. XXII, VOL. 1/2015

c). Council Directive 93/83/CEE from

the 27th of Septe mber 1993 on the

harmonization of certain provisions

regarding cop yright a nd neighboring rights

applicable to the broadcasting of programs

via satellite and cable retransmission,

published in the Official Journal of EC no. L

248 from the 6th of October 1993;

d). Council Directive 93/98/CEE from

the 29th of October 1993 on the

harmonization of the duration for the

protection of co pyright and certain

neighboring rights, published in the O fficial

Journal of EC no. L 290 from t he 24th of

November 1993;

e). European Parliament Directive and

that of the Council 96/9/CE from the 11th of

March 1996 on the legal protection of

databases, published in the Official Journal

of European Communities no. L 077 from

the 27th of March 1996;

f). European Parliament Directive and

that of the Council 2001/29/CE from the

22nd of May 2001 on the harmonization of

certain issues of copyright and neighboring

rights in the information society, published

in the Official Journal of European

Communities no. L 006 from the 10th of

January 2002;

g). European Parliament Directive and

that of the Council 2001/84/CE from the

27th of September 2001 on resale right for

the benefit of the author of original works of

art, published in t he Official Journal of

European Communities no. L 272 from the

13th of October 2001;

h). European Parliament Directive and

that of the Council 2004/48/CE from the

29th of April 2004 on insuring the

observance of intellectual property rights,

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Published in the Official Journal of Romania no. 60 from 26 March 1996, subsequently amended and completed

by Law no. 285/2004 on the modification and completion of Law no. 8/1996 (published in the Official Journal of

Romania no. 587/30.06.2004), GEO no. 123/2005 on the modification and completion of Law no. 8/1996 (published

in the Official Journal of Romania no. 843/19.09.2005) and Law no. 329/2006 (published in the Official Journal of

Romania no. 657/31.07.2006).

published in t he Official Journal of

European Communities no. L 157 from the

30th of April 2004;

i). Directive 2006/116/EC of the

European Parliament and of t he Council of

12 December 2006 on the term of protection

of co pyright and certain r elated rights,

published in the Official Journal of t he

European Union no. L 372/12 from 27

December 20 06, amended by the Directive

2011/77/EU of the European Parliament and

of the Council of 27 September 2011

amending Directive 2006/116/EC on the

term of protection of copyright and certain

related rights, published in the Official

Journal of the European Union no. L 265/1

from 11 October 2011;

j). Directive 201 2/28/EU of the

European Parliament and of t he Council of

25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of

orphan works, published in the Official

Journal of the European Union no. L 299/5

from 27 October 2012;

k). Directive 2014/26/EU of the

European Parliament and of t he Council of

26 February 2014 on collective management

of copyright and related rights and multi-

territorial licensing of rights in musical

works for o nline use in the internal market,

published in the Official Journal of t he

European Union no. L 84/72 from 20 March

2014.

Having in mind the wide range of

subjects concerning copyright and related

rights described by the Directives, it is

important to analyze their historical

evolution, their main dispositions, the level

of harmonization and their national

implementation into the Law no. 8/1996 on

copyright and related rights

2

.