The “Copyright” National Association and the National Association of Phonogram Producers and Performers addressed an open letter to the senior administration, warning that the draft law on copyright is absolutely incompatible with Moldova’s EU candidate status. Representatives of the two associations, in the name of over 650 artists, composers, singers and other categories of members, said that the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) is against copyright owners.
In a news conference hosted by IPN, “Copyright” Association chairman Liviu Știrbu said the bill drafted by AGEPI contains a number of inconsistencies that should not be found in a law that transposes European directives. “Moreover, the assertions made by the AGEPI director are not true and mislead the authors and artists who are promised increased protection of their rights and larger remuneration. They also mislead the public authorities, including the Government,” noted the composer.
Liviu Știrbu said that in its expert report, the National Anticorruption Center warned about the corruptible character of the bill, about the risk of corruption and integrity incidents. The allowed deficiencies make the legal norms and, respectively, the regulatory administrative processes look uncertain. “The NAC said the provisions of the bill should be revised in terms of conception. In other words, the whole bill should be revised,” stated the composer. He added that even if the administration of AGEPI said there is a renewed NAC appraisal and all the objections were dealt with, the Center said that a renewed appraisal is not possible. Also, the Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption said that a number of the provisions should be reviewed so that they meet the quality criteria: accessibility, predictability and clarity. The inter-ministerial meetings were kept secret, but these should have been attended by all the interested sides so as to remove the divergences.
“The Center for Legislation Harmonization also noted the violation of the EU directives and said that some of the norms were misinterpreted with regard to the directives, but AGEPI ignored this fact. Given the conclusions of NAC, CNA, CAPC, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Center for Legislation Harmonization, we cannot allow Parliament to adopt a law with multiple derogations and procedural violations, especially now that the Republic of Moldova obtained the EU candidate status,” said Liviu Știrbu.
The representatives of the Copyright” National Association and the National Association of Phonogram Producers and Performers, in the name of over 650 artists, composers, singers and other categories of members, called on the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova to put off the adoption of the draft law on copyright and related rights until the competent international organizations they requested provide expert reports.
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