IP/N/1/GRC/9, IP/N/1/GRC/C/4, IP/N/1/GRC/E/3

Greece

Intellectual property, related rights and cultural issues (Law 2121/1993)

Amendment of Art. 66E of Law 2121/1993 The provision of Art. 66E of Law 2121/1993 (Greek Copyright Act) has been revised twice during the last two years. This notification concerns the latest amendment -providing for the current version of the provision- which had been established under the Law 4821/2021 (Official Government Gazette (FEK) 134/Α/31.07.2021) by the means of which paragraph 10A concerning live blocking of sport and cultural events was amended. More precisely, it is provided that, following the filing of an application from the right holder and provided that: a) a large–scale violation of protected copyright and related rights on the internet is imminent in relation to events of either national or global viewing which are going to be transmitted simultaneously with their occurrence, b) the violation will take place, indicatively through certain uniform resource locators (URLs), IP addresses or domain names which support the unauthorized subscription connection by any means, and, in particular, by the use of passwords or of a decoder and c) there is an urgent case for preventing an immediate, serious and imminent danger or an irreparable damage to the public interest or to the right holder, EDPPI (the Committee for the Notification of Copyright and Related Rights Infringements on the Internet) may order the blocking of access to the specified uniform resource locators (URLs), IP addresses or domain names for a period of at least 15 days that is in practice extended up to six months for IP addresses and nine months for domain names. This application must be submitted to the Committee fifteen (15) days at the latest before the scheduled transmission of the event or, in the case where the application includes more events, 15 days at the latest before the first in-time scheduled transmission. If substantiated, EDPPI orders the blocking of access. In this case, the time–limit for compliance cannot be less than six (6) hours and no longer than twelve (12) hours from the dispatching of the said Decision. Within the above-mentioned deadline, Internet Access Providers shall send statements of compliance to EDPPI and to the respective Alert Authority of the Hellenic Telecommunications & Posts Commission. This order may impose the blocking of access to domain names of second level even if the access to content is allowed by domain names of third or other level. In addition, it shall be issued and communicated twenty–four (24) hours at the latest before the (first) transmission of the event(s). In the case where the Decision issued under the procedure No. 3 is circumvented, as well as in the case of recurrence of the infringement of the content referred to in the said Decision by any technical means, the offended right holder may submit additional evidence to EDPPI without paying a new fee as a review fee. If substantiated, EDPI issues a supplementary order. EDPPI's blocking orders (under the procedure No. 3) are extended beyond the URLs, IP addresses or domain names which are explicitly mentioned into their operative part to any other such means to which the illegal transmission may be transferred following the issuance of the said orders. Consequently, in the case where the illegal transmission is transferred (by any technical means) to a new URL, IP address or domain name (or more than one), right holders may submit to the relevant department of the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT), notifying simultaneously EDPPI, any supplementary evidence regarding the infringement of EDPPI's prior Decision(s) or the recurrence of the infringement, without any time-limit in relation to such a submission which may take place even during the transmission and without paying a new fee as a review fee. If the alleged infringement of EDPPI's prior Decision(s) or the recurrence of the infringement of the rights or of the content referred to in the said Decision - by any technical means - is anticipated, the relevant department of EETT sends (by e-mail) immediately an order to ISPs requiring them to block the access to the additional URLs, IP addresses or domain names. EDPPI is also simultaneously respectively notified. This order is effective until the issuance of the relevant supplementary decision of EDPPI, which is issued within a month. ISPs with more than fifty thousand (50,000) subscribers are obliged to block the access to the content within the time-limit set out by the EETT's notification and which cannot be longer than thirty (30) minutes from the dispatching of the EETT's order. EDPPI, following and in accordance with the respective EETT recommendation, and taking into consideration especially the supplementary evidence submitted by the right holder and the said order, issues a supplementary act, based on its prior Decision(s).

This provision concerns copyright and related rights enforcement on the Internet by providing several procedures both initial and supplementary - in the case where a decision already issued had been violated under the aim of promptly tackling online piracy of creative content - since the offended right holders may ask either for the removal or for the blocking of access to illegal content.

Hellenic Copyright Organization

https://ip-documents.info/2023/IP/GRC/23_10777_00_e.pdf