Informative Notice
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Activity of collecting societies in the field of copyrights
Collective management of rights enables authors and other right holders to manage their rights more simply and efficiently in cases of mass and widespread utilisation of their works, and it facilitates simple access to lawful use of numerous works for users.
On the basis of an authorisation from authors and in their name, collecting societies:
- allow the use of work from the repertoire of protected works;
- inform users of the amount of proposed remunerations and concludes with them agreements concerning the conditions for the use of protected works;
- publish the tariffs for the payment of remuneration;
- conclude agreements with foreign collecting societies;
- monitor the use of works from the repertoire;
- recover the payment of remunerations and royalties;
- distributes collected funds to right holders;
- enforce the protection of copyrights before courts and other state authorities.
Only collecting societies of authors with a licence form the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office may collectively manage copyrights.
Collecting societies manage copyrights on the basis of contracts with authors. In cases of mandatory collective management of copyrights, collecting societies are authorised on the basis of the Copyright and Related Rights Act. Therefore, a contract between a collecting society and the author is not required. Collective management is mandatory in the following cases:
- communication of non-stage musical and written works to the public;
- resale of original paintings;
- reproduction of copyright works for private or own use, and their copying over the volume permitted;
- cable rebroadcast of copyright works, except in cases of radio and television organisations' own broadcasting, regardless of whether these are their own rights or the rights have been transferred to them by other right holders;
- right to additional annual compensation in the field of phonograms.
The rights to communicate non-stage musical and written works to the public may be exceptionally managed individually if the main performer of all works performed at a certain event is also the holder of these copyrights.
Supervision of the operation of collecting societies is the responsibility of their members, while the State also has certain competences, i.e. it supervises the compliance of the operation of collecting societies with the Copyright and Related Rights Act through the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office.
In the Republic of Slovenia, only one collecting society may have a licence to collectively manage the rights for one type of copyright work and the same rights.
The described content which refers to copyrights also applies mutatis mutandis to related rights.
Applies for SKD:
- Activities of professional membership organisations S94.120
- Activities of other membership organisations n.e.c. S94.999
Conditions
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Registration and appropriate status form are required in order to pursue the activity.
A legal entity must be organised to pursue a non-gainful activity, and carry out its operation in accordance with the purpose of the establishment and operation.
Each activity that is pursued in the market to generate profit and an activity whose pursuit means that the entity competes in the market with other entities is deemed gainful activity.
A legal entity may pursue only the activity of collecting societies in the field of copyrights. A legal entity may not register and pursue two or more activities.
A collecting society may operate only on the basis of a licence obtained from the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and within its scope.
Evidence
- Extract from the Business Register (AJPES) – the competent authority acquires it ex officio.
- The statute shows that a legal entity pursues a non-gainful activity and that they pursue only the activity of collecting societies in the field of copyrights.
Legal basis
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Collecting societies manage rights on the basis of contracts with authors. Contracts include the author's authorisation to manage their rights, the type of work and rights managed for the author, as well as the duration of the contract which must not exceed five years. After the expiration of this period, the contract may be extended for further five-year periods.
In the case of mandatory collective management, the competent collecting society may manage these rights without a contract with the author. An author may not manage rights personally if the collective management of rights is transferred to a collecting society pursuant to the Copyright and Related Rights Act or on the basis of the author's authorisation.
Evidence
- Author's authorisation
Legal basis
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A licence to pursue the activity of collecting societies may be acquired by legal entities that meet the prescribed conditions.
A written application for the acquisition of the licence is filed with the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office.
The competent authority does not issue a licence if an authorisation for the collective management of copyrights has already been issued for the same type of copyright works to another collecting society, unless the legal entity demonstrates that it could provide more efficient and rational management of copyrights, and that it could, based on contracts with authors, manage a more comprehensive repertoire of protected works than the existing collecting society. The earlier authorisation shall terminate with the issuance of an authorisation to the new collecting society.