Budapest CISAC/BIEM seminar underscores importance of effective private copying and reprography

201812 Budapest PC seminar
Societies and government bodies came together in Budapest to examine how to boost private copying and reprography in Central and Eastern Europe.

In Central and Eastern Europe, private copying is the third largest source of revenues for creators after broadcasting and background music. It accounts for approximately €44 million in 2017, according to the 2018 CISAC Global Collections Report.

The region shows potential for improvement if problems identified by the CISAC Private Copying Global Study are improved in countries such as Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. These include certain national authorities not properly enforcing private copying and/or promptly updating national systems to the digital era.

The 15th annual Central and Eastern Europe seminar, organised by CISAC and BIEM with Artisjus, sought to address private copying and reprography in the region on December 11th and 12th in Budapest. Hungary was the third country to introduce private copying in the world after Germany and Austria. Former WIPO Deputy Director Mihaly Ficsor, who was instrumental in establishing private copying in the country, delivered a keynote on the justification of private copying by international norms and current challenges posed by new technologies and unsatisfactory legal frameworks.

The seminar examined legal developments in Europe, collections, enforcement and distribution issues. IFRRO Manager for Policy and Regional Development Pierre-Olivier Lesburguères addressed reprography remuneration and current challenges in addition to underscoring the close cooperation between IFRRO and CISAC on reprography.

Copie France, ZPÜThuiskopie and RAO contributed to helping state representatives better understand private copying and reprography. State regulatory representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine attended the seminar.