Facts Company A (a Greek company) provides music programmes – based on a specific repertoire and intended to function as background music – to retail stores and, more broadly, to commercial or workplaces. Such music is used as a background for the broadcasting of advertising messages that are heard in such commercial spaces on a … Continue Reading
Legal forms of CMOs According to article 8(1) of Law 4481/2017 on the collective management of copyright and related rights, “collective management organisations operate under any legal form under the terms of article 3(a)”. Therefore, upon the establishment of a collective management organisation (CMO) in Greece, the members (ie, the rights holders) themselves are free … Continue Reading
Authors’ rights According to the Copyright Law, authors of audiovisual works have various rights, including: producing fixations or reproductions of the work; making the work available to the public (eg, by publishing it on an on-demand video service); broadcasting the work on TV or the radio; and communicating the work to the public.… Continue Reading
Introduction In recent years there has been a remarkable effort to make Greece an attractive destination for the production of audiovisual works (eg, films, TV series and video games). The most important initiatives in this respect are: the cash rebate state aid scheme, which covers 40% of eligible production costs; and the tax relief incentive, … Continue Reading
Law 2121/1993 on Copyright, Related Rights and Cultural Matters (the Copyright Law) does not provide for a fair use or fair dealing defence.(1) Nevertheless – and in compliance with the EU Information Society Directive (2001/29/EC) – the Copyright Law contains an exhaustive list of specific statutory exceptions and limitations on authors’ economic rights.… Continue Reading
Introduction In March 2020 – during the lockdown imposed by the government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic – Greece adopted a new Trademark Law (4679/2020), which replaced the previous Trademark Law (4072/2012). The purpose of adopting this new law was to implement the EU Trademarks Directive (2015/2436/EC) into Greek law. By virtue of this new … Continue Reading
In Greece the main legislative instruments regulating copyright and related rights are: Law 2121/1993 on Copyright, Related Rights and Cultural Matters (the Copyright Law); and Law 4481/2017 on the Collective Management of IP Rights and Related Rights and Collecting Organisations.… Continue Reading
Although in Greece, in principle, no permit is required for filming in public open-air spaces, there are few exceptions to the above rule that could make the situation a little bit complex. These exceptions are mostly linked with the venue where the filming is going to take place, regardless of whether we are talking about … Continue Reading
The field of collective management of music authors’ rights in Greece is currently experiencing a series of ongoing developments regarding the establishment and operation of collecting societies representing music authors in the country, with the situation still remaining uncertain as to how the landscape will look like in a few months’ time. It is noted … Continue Reading
A recent decision of the Three-Member Court of Appeals of Komotini (Felonies Department), dated 19/11/2019, has been intensely debated by the national media as resulting to the first “real” prison sentence that has ever been imposed in our country to a website owner for illegally distributing copyright-protected content. Although the judgement has not been published … Continue Reading
In the framework of its efforts against online copyright piracy, the Hellenic Copyright Organization (“HCO”, Greek Acronym “OPI”) launched, on August 1st 2019, a new web portal, under the domain name “theLegalBay.gr”. The new website aims to be the place where online users can easily find web platforms available either solely in Greece or worldwide … Continue Reading
While in some jurisdictions the concept of a “patent attorney” or also a “patent judge”, referring to persons who not only have knowledge of patent law but also acquire technical expertise in relation to patents, is common, this is not the case in Greece. Of course, there are lawyers with high-level expertise in patent law, … Continue Reading
On 26 February 2019, the Hellenic Copyright Organization (Greek acronym: “OPI”) launched a new online service for “electronic timestamping” of all types of works. The service, which can be accessed at www.timestamp.gr/en , claims to offer the opportunity to creators, both amateurs and professionals, to easily get certified proof of existence of their work at … Continue Reading
On November 6, 2018 a remarkable blow was delivered to online piracy in Greece. On that day, the newly-formed “Committee for Online Copyright Infringement” – informally and more descriptively also known as the Greek “Anti-Piracy Committee” – published its first decisions, ordering, by one of those (Decision No. 3/2018), all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in … Continue Reading
INTRODUCTION The present article constitutes an amendment of my article “The New Legal Framework in Greece about Cash Rebates for the Production of Audiovisual Works” dated 16.04.2018 (available here), which provided a brief and general outline of the legal framework in Greece about the state aid scheme for the production of audiovisual works in Greece … Continue Reading
The issue of the blank tape levy, due for certain devices and media which are suitable for the reproduction of protected works as equitable remuneration for the reproduction for private use, and which is payable by the importers or manufacturers of such devices, has often in recent years been a subject of dispute between creators, … Continue Reading
INTRODUCTION The purpose of the present article is a brief and general outline of the new legal framework in Greece about the state aid scheme for the production of audiovisual works in Greece based on the incentive of a cash rebate of the 25% of the eligible costs of the production incurred within the Greek … Continue Reading
Nowadays, intellectual property rights constitute very important assets of the companies. Therefore, in order to avoid conflicts and uncertainty, Greek legislation offers specific provisions concerning the ownership of inventions, designs and the copyright on a work created in the course of an employment relationship. These provisions could be of interest of any company operating in … Continue Reading
Summary In its decision no 1589/2017 the Greek Supreme Court upheld the appeal brought by the Greek company “DPH” against the Dutch company “P”. The Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals’ decision, which had upheld definitely the lawsuit of “P” against “DPH” for breach of “P”’s essential patents, was wrong in finding they … Continue Reading
Introduction The Collective Management Organisations in Greece are subject to the legal framework of the Law 2121/1993, as amended recently by Law 4481/2017 regarding the collective management of copyright and related rights, thereby the Greek legislation was harmonised with the Directive 2014/26/EU. In this article we aim to focus on one aspect of the new … Continue Reading
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) with its decision X 2r 33/10, announced on August 21, 2012, rejects claims for infringement of MPEG-2 video coding patents by a Greek DVD manufacturer: The DVD, as such, is NOT a means of infringement of the patent claim in dispute. On August 21, 2012 the German Federal … Continue Reading
