On June 20 this year, in one of the Legal Alerts we already informed about upcoming changes regarding the Copyright and Related Rights and certain other acts Act of February 4, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as “Copyrights Act” or “the Act”).[1] The final version of the act adopted by the Sejm differs from its original draft.

The Sejm has adopted an amendment to the Act

Less than 8 days after the publication of one of our Legal Alerts, i.e. on June 28, 2024, the Sejm adopted the Copyrights Act amendment, 417 members of the parliament voted in favor of the Act, 18 were against and only one abstained from voting. The bill, which is slightly different from the original draft, will now be proceeded by the Senate.

Poland has still not implemented two copyright directives

Regardless of the adoption of the legislative changes mentioned, Poland is the last (and currently the only) country in the European Union that has not implemented two important copyright directives:

• Directive (EU) 2019/789 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC (OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 82), and
• Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC (OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 92; hereinafter referred to as “DSM”).

Thus, the new regulations are intended to implement these directives.

The changes brought by the enacted Act

Primarily, it should be emphasized that the Sejm did not adopt all the proposed amendments. Amendments No. 8,9, and 10 (hereinafter referred to as “Amendments”) were rejected by the Sejm by a majority of votes (including the Civic Coalition, the Third Way, and Confederation). Furthermore, not only Law and Justice but also the Left supported the adoption of the amendments. Ultimately, the act was passed by the Sejm, but without three amendments, providing for:

• the competence of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (hereinafter referred to as: “UOKiK”) to establish, by a decision, the terms of remuneration between the publisher and corporations;
• clarifying the regulations regarding remuneration for publishers and;
• clarifying the regulations requiring Big Tech companies to provide publishers with the data necessary to determine their remuneration.

Therefore, the Sejm disregarded three key amendments that corresponded with the expectations of the journalists and publishers. According to the President of the Chamber of Press Publishers, the rejection of the amendments means that the adopted act does neither introduce significant, necessary changes nor does it provide protection for Polish publishers and journalists, which they have been asking for years.[2]

What is new in the Act? That is, what corrections were made

• The permissible volume of a work used for teaching or scientific purposes has been conditionally increased.

The Sejm decided to increase by 22% (from 3% to 25%) the volume of the work used to illustrate its content for teaching purposes or related to conducting scientific activities provided that “this use is not commercial and is carried out under the responsibility of these institutions or entities, on their premises or elsewhere, or through a secure electronic environment available, through the use of authentication procedures, only to students and teachers or those conducting research activities in a given institution or entity.[3]

• A change of statutory terms from “artists and performers” to “authors and performers”

The Act in its current wording used the terms “artists and performers.” The amendment provides that these terms will be changed to “authors and performers.”

• Granting the right to remuneration for the author of a literary, journalistic, scientific, musical, or verbal-musical work

The draft also includes the right to remuneration for authors of a literary, journalistic, scientific, musical, or verbal-musical work for “making the recording of the artistic performance publicly available in such a way that everyone can have access to it at a place and time of their choosing.” [5]

Dispute over royalty payments—an expansion of the statutory catalog of eligible professions

The Act passed by the Sejm includes a change in the remuneration for rebroadcasting the work and adding provisions regarding fair remuneration appropriate to the benefits from the use of the work.

Moreover, the statutory catalog of entities that can apply for royalties has been expanded. The expanded catalog included the performers of literary, journalistic, scientific, musical, or verbal-musical works.

Amendments have also been introduced regarding the cut-off date from which the right to use commercially unavailable works may arise.

Jabłoński Koźmiński Law Firm has been advising on complex and often precedent-setting cases in the field of intellectual property law, including copyright, for many years. Should you have any questions or doubts regarding this issue, please feel free to contact us.

[1] Spór o tantiemy, czyli dyskusja na temat wynagrodzenia twórców i wykonawców w końcu w Sejmie – JKLAW [access from July 4, 2024].

[2] Sejm zdecydował o przyszłości mediów w Polsce. To gwóźdź do ich trumny (msn.com) [The Sejm decided on the future of the media in Poland. This is the nail in their coffin, own translation], access from July 4, 2024.

[3] Article 1 Point 7 Akt prawny (sejm.gov.pl) [own translation], access from July 4, 2024.

[4] Article 1 Point 21 Akt prawny (sejm.gov.pl) [own translation], access from July 4, 2024.