IP/N/1/TUR/C/1

Türkiye

Draft Law on amending some articles of Intellectual and Artistic Works Law Nº 5846

Under Turkey-EU Customs Union, within the framework of the harmonization of legislation, to fulfill the obligations in Annex 8 joint Council Decision 1/95, some articles in Law Nº 5846 modified by Law Nº 4110, entered into force on 6 June 1995. Following the entering into force, Law Nº 4110, the Laws concerning the participation to the "Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms" and "Bern Convention on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (amended by Paris Text in 1979)", went into effect after being published in Official Journal Nº 22341 on 12 July 1995. However, that some articles in Law Nº 5846 modified by Law Nº 4110 were not harmonized with the above-mentioned international conventions was conceived after some technical studies. In this context, to comply with Council Directives and the aforementioned international conventions and to fulfill the obligations under the TRIPS Agreement, a draft law amending some articles of Law Nº 5846 was prepared. Arrangements by the Draft Law were achieved in compliance with Council Directive, Rome and Bern Conventions, TRIPS Agreement and WIPO Copyright Treaty, WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. (Turkey is planning to be a party to the last two mentioned Treaties.) By the Bill, it is aimed: 1. to amend Article 23 concerning the right of distribution; 2. to amend Article 25 concerning the right of communication to the public by any means of transmitting signs, sounds or images; 3. to modify Article 43 concerning the right of the payment pertaining to the authors whose works are transmitted and/or broadcasted by broadcasting organizations; 4. to amend Articles 71, 72 and 80 concerning the criminal articles in case of infringement of moral and financial rights of the authors and right holders of neighbouring rights for increasing penalties (imprisonment between 1 and 3 years and fines between 5-10 billion Liras), 5. to amend Articles 73-81 with the aim of preventing piracy activities for increasing penalties (imprisonment between 2 and 4 years and fines between 10 and 15 billion Liras); 6. to modify Article 75 with the aim of increasing the imprisonment and fine in case of repetition of the act; 7. to modify article 76, for the establishment of specialized courts; 8. to amend article 77, for the closure of the business places where piracy takes place and confiscation of infringing copies; 9. to change Article 80, for the regulations of the provisions concerning moral and financial rights; 10. to amend the annex to Article 2, for providing retroactive protection of intellectual and artistic works.