Copyright contract

Copyright work in Slovenia includes individual pieces of work in literature, science and art which can be expressed in various ways:

• spoken work like speeches or lectures;
• written work, e.g. literary work, articles, handbooks, studies and computer programmes;
• music, with or without text; theatre,
• theatre music and puppetry work;
• choreography and pantomime;
• photographic work and work conducted usingphotography-like procedures;
• audio-visual work;
• artistic work, e.g. paintings, graphics and sculpture;
• architectural work, e.g. sketches, plans and constructed buildings in the field of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture;
• applied arts and industrial design;
• cartographic work;
• presentations of a scientific, educational or technical origin (technical drawings, plans, sketches, tables, expert opinions, presentations and other work of similar origin).

In Slovenia, a copyright contract is agreed by a contractor and an author. The contractor may be an individual or legal entity. The author is an individual who has created a copyrighted piece of work. Authors can be:

•  in a regular employment relationship (unless the contract contains a non-competition clause),
• the owner of a legal entity,
• sole trader,
• person performing work via a contract for work,
• full- or part-time student.

The other elements of the copyright contract are agreedby the provisions that apply to the contract for work. A copyright contract is very similar to a contract for work, the only difference being the subject of the contract.

The new Labour Market Regulation Act stipulates that, as of 1 January 2011, data on copyright contract does not have to be provided to the Employment Service of Slovenia.

The payment from a contract for work is considered as the income of the individual, and is taxed within the income tax schedule as employment income.

Payment from a contract for work is individual income, and is taxed within the income tax schedule within the scope of income from other types of contractual relationship, and is included in the annual income tax base.

The tax base is income reduced by expenses within the amount of 10% of income. Along with expenses, an individual can claim a rebate for actual transport and accommodation costs related to the services arising from the contract for work. Real costs can be rebated only on the basis of actual documents such as invoices. that show they are a valid expense to set against income tax.

As with other income from employment, the contractorshould pay a prepayment of income tax of 25% of the tax base, which is counted as paid income tax.

Example of taxation of income arising from a copyright contract
 An example of a taxed contract for copyrighted work is given below:

• Gross amount: €1,500.
• Normalised expenses (10%): €150.
• Tax base: €1,350.
• Prepayment of income tax (25%): €337.50.
• Net payment: €1,162.50.
• Cost to payer: €1, 500.