1 November 2013Jurisdiction reportsHanna Nylund and Davide Battistelli

Copyright under review

The EU directives on the extension of the term of protection for performances and sound recordings (2011/77/ EU) and on orphan works (2012/28/EU) are about to be implemented, and the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) is preparing a new government bill that, according to reports, would address among other things the private copying levy system and enforcement measures against unauthorised use of copyrighted material online.

Implementing new EU directives

A government bill implementing the EU directives on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights and on certain permitted uses of orphan works is in its final stages. Following hearings in September and early October, the main parliamentary committee, the Education and Culture Committee, gave a positive opinion on the bill. The bill is set to become law on November 1, 2013.

The bill will introduce a number of changes to the Finnish Copyright Act, one of the most significant being the extension of the term of protection for performances and sound recordings from 50 to 70 years from publication or making available to the public. The domestic music market is particularly strong in Finland: according to the record company trade association IFPI’s Recording Industry in Numbers 2013, Finnish artists represented almost 70 percent of the total sales in Finland in 2012.

The extended term will, therefore, be of great importance for local artists and record companies. The extension will apply to all sound recordings protected on November 1, 2013, which means that out-of-copyright recordings will not be brought back to protection.

inland, like other Nordic countries, applies an extended collective licence (ECL) scheme to certain specific areas enabling an accredited collective management organisation representing numerous authors of works used in Finland in a given field to license the rights in question also on behalf of authors who are not directly represented by the organisation (provided that they have not forbidden the licensing of their rights).

The bill proposes to broaden the ECL scheme to cover certain digital uses of archived material of broadcasting organisations and newspaper publishers. It is, however, recognised in the bill’s explanatory memorandum that despite the new ECL areas, direct individual licensing of rights remains the main rule.

“THE EXTENSION WILL APPLY TO ALL SOUND RECORDINGS PROTECTED ON NOVEMBER 1, 2013, WHICH MEANS THAT OUT-OF-COPYRIGHT RECORDINGS WILL NOT BE BROUGHT BACK TO PROTECTION.”

The orphan works directive is not implemented into the Finnish Copyright Act but as a separate act that closely follows the directive. According to the proposed new law, public libraries and museums may make available to the public orphan works and copy them for the permitted purposes, such as preservation or restoration. The act defines orphan works, eligible institutions, diligent search, and permitted uses in a manner that faithfully follows the directive.

Upcoming changes to the Copyright Act

As the current bill is close to being adopted into law, the MEC is already preparing further amendments addressing areas and issues covered by the current government’s programme.

According to reports, the MEC is considering a revision of the private copying levy system. The government programme includes a pledge to reform the system to ensure fair remuneration for the creative industries, while also taking into account the technological progress in copying equipment and services. An independent review commissioned by the MEC in 2012 that proposed a new levy model lowering the levy rates but widening the scope of devices subject to levies to computers, tablets, printers and cloud services, was rejected equally by all parties.

The introduction of fair and more efficient measures and procedures to reduce unauthorised use of copyrighted material online was also part of the government’s programme. The issue has been under discussion in Finland for a long time; in 2010, a bill introducing a copyright notice system was presented to parliament, but it was not put to the vote due to upcoming elections.

Further, the Copyright Commission, a consultative body appointed by the State Council, proposed in 2012 that rights holders should be allowed to seek permanent injunctions against Internet intermediaries. Currently, the only remedy rights holders have against intermediaries is to apply for interim injunctions in conjunction with an action against the primary infringer. The measure is highly ineffective against pirate services that hide their identities and cannot be sued in Finland.

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