Two Working Meetings took place on December 15 and 17, in online format, focused on the harmonization of legislation in the field of copyright and related rights of the Republic of Moldova to international and European standards in the field.
The events were organized within the European Union project “Support for Structured Policy Dialogue, Coordination of the Implementation of the Association Agreement, and Enhancement of the Legal Approximation Process”. The first meeting was attended by representatives of collective management organizations (CMOs), and the second was dedicated to users of the copyright and related rights system.
The purpose of the meetings was to identify the shortcomings of the copyright and related rights protection system and to highlight the best solutions to overcome them in the light of European best practices.
During the events, Irina Lucan-Arjoca, European expert, Deputy Director General of the Romanian Copyright Office, presented the preliminary findings identified regarding the degree of harmonization of the regulatory framework of the Republic of Moldova in the field of copyright and related rights with European Union regulations and directives.
It should be mentioned that Irina Lucan-Arjoca carries out an evaluation mission of the Law of the Republic of Moldova 139/2010 on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights as well as of the draft amendment to Law 139/2010 under public consultation procedure in terms of compliance of national legislation with the European regulatory framework in the field.
The evaluation mission, whose main beneficiary is AGEPI, aims to identify the European Union legislation to be transposed and the mechanisms for its implementation at national level in the spirit of European best practices.
During the events, a series of normative-legal and structural aspects of collective management were addressed: the international and European legal framework; legal and organizational issues of collective management, in particular the setting of tariffs, the authorization procedure for CMOs, the mechanisms for collecting and distributing remuneration. At the same time, the participants in the meetings also discussed current and emerging issues in the field of collective management such as private copying in the digital field; user obligations; the role of public authorities in ensuring an efficient management system, etc.
The project “Support for Structured Policy Dialogue, Coordination of the Implementation of the Association Agreement, and Enhancement of the Legal Approximation Process” has for an object to increase the capacity of the Government of the Republic of Moldova and other key national institutions in implementing the Republic of Moldova-European Union Association Agenda by: enhancing the structured policy dialogue with the involvement of civil society and raising awareness on the Association Agreement; improving the policy development mechanisms for adequate budgeting and feasibility of strategic documents as well as action plans related to the implementation of the Association Agreement; supporting the legal approximation process by providing technical expertise; upgrading the IT systems used to support the implementation of the Association Agreement.
The project is funded by the European Union and will be implemented within a five-year period (June 19, 2020 - June 18, 2025) by an international consortium led by DAI/Human Dynamics.
