Contribution by attorney Antonio Vigliotti published on N&T Plus Diritto – Il Sole 24ORE.
The Council of Ministers, held on November 4, 2021, definitively approved the legislative decree implementing Directive (EU) 2019/790, of April 17, 2019, of the European Parliament and of the Council on copyright and related rights in the single digital market, which amended Directive 96/9/CE and Directive 2001/29/CE.
The measure of the Italian government establishes, inter alia, that online platforms, including social networks, which wish to use newspaper articles must pay fair compensation to publishers; it is also provided that the authors of journalistic content have the right to receive a share of the proceeds attributed to publishers.
Furthermore, online platforms, and with them social networks, where they grant public access to works protected by copyright, have the obligation to obtain specific authorization from the holders of the related rights; conversely, online encyclopedias, educational and scientific repositories, online marketplace providers and cloud services are not required to request the same authorization.
The innovations also concern actors, singers, musicians and, in general, other persons who represent or perform in any manner works of intellectual creation: in the event of assignment or transfer of exclusive rights, they are entitled to fair remuneration, which shall be adequate and proportionate, according to specific contractual clauses, to the potential or actual value of the rights granted in license or transferred.
The remuneration referred to above, in certain cases specifically provided for by the decree, may be realized on a flat-rate basis.
In the measure implementing the directive, the assisted negotiation mechanism has also been strengthened: it has been provided that the parties, should they fail to reach an agreement for the exploitation of audiovisual works on video-on-demand services, may request the assistance of AGCOM, which may provide guidance for the conclusion of the contract, including for the determination of the compensation due.
Recognition has also been given, among the categories of copyright holders, to the figures of dubbing directors, dubbing actors, dialogue adapters and translators.
It has finally been clarified that, where a text or data covered by copyright is extracted for purposes of scientific research, the publication may disclose only the results of the research and not also the material used in the course thereof.
