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On behalf of the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, Mr. George Papanastasiou, I convey to you warm greetings and wishes for every success in today's event, in which reasons beyond his will do not allow him to be with us today.
First of all, I would like to thank you for the kind invitation and the opportunity to welcome this Conference on Copyright and the use of works by businesses and shops.
The Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry, dear friends, considers the role that Intellectual Property Rights play in the business world and in the development of culture in our country to be extremely important.
It is well known that the vast majority of businesses use artistic works in their daily activities in order to attract customers, to create a pleasant experience for the citizen-consumer, for their entertainment and for other reasons.
Intellectual Property is intertwined with "business", regardless of its relation to the profitability of the business.
At the same time, of course, Intellectual Property is a form of property owned by creators who have the right to enjoy or dispose of those rights. Any use of such property by third parties entails the payment of fair and reasonable remuneration to the authors.
So while this commercial relationship between owners of Intellectual Property Rights and users sounds perfectly normal, always in the context of healthy entrepreneurship, nevertheless in Cyprus there are occasional disagreements and points of friction between the parties involved.
Therefore, legislative regulation at EU level was deemed necessary in order to establish a modernised, coherent and efficient governance and transparency framework for the collective management of rights, but also for an improved process of transnational licensing of musical works, while also contributing to the development of the single market.
In private meetings held at the Ministry with various Organisations we have listened to the concerns of the parties involved with Intellectual Property Rights and we believe that the legislative regulation of the collective management of Intellectual Property Rights and Related Rights is imperative.
Only in this way will the Intellectual Property Authority be able to play an active role and provide solutions to the disagreements and concerns of the parties involved, certainly within the framework of the current legislation.
It is a fact that this legislative regulation has been largely delayed, thus reinforcing any disagreements between creators and users. The Ministry has prepared and submitted its views regarding the proposal to amend the "On the Collective Management of Intellectual Property Rights and Related Rights and on the Granting of Multi-territorial Licences for Online Uses of Musical Works Act 2017", which is currently under discussion in the House of Representatives. The same applies to the relevant implementing Regulations, which have been submitted to the Parliamentary Committee for discussion.
The Ministry's task is, by amending the above legislation and enacting the Regulations, to implement a fair and clear system for determining fees for the licensing of Intellectual Property Rights in line with the EU Directive and the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time, the operation of the Copyright Authority, which will supervise the Collective Management Organisations and the management of their members' fees and deal with users' complaints, must be launched without fail.
The Ministry has been and remains at the disposal of stakeholders to discuss issues of concern to them regarding the allocation of Intellectual Property Rights in Cyprus. We are also at the disposal of the Parliament for any additional submission of views that will assist in the fastest and most effective implementation of the legislation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am here today with my colleagues to listen to and discuss the positions and concerns of parties affected by the use of Intellectual Property Rights in Cyprus. I find the topics of the conference very interesting and the speakers participating are experienced. I am, therefore, fully convinced that the discussion will be highly constructive and the conclusions very useful.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you every success in the proceedings of the Conference.
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