LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA ON COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
no. 293-XIII of November 23,1994 (Amended by Law no. 1268-XV, of July 25, 2002)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Article Chapter I: General Provisions
Legal Basis 1
International Treaties 2
Basic Concepts 3
Chapter II: Copyright
General Provisions 4
Scope of Copyright 5
Works Protected by Copyright 6
Works Not Protected by Copyright 7 Acknowledgement of Authorship; Presumption of Authorship;
Registration of Works 8
Moral Rights 9
Economic Rights 10
Works of Joint Authorship 11
Copyright in Audiovisual Works 12
Copyright in Composite Works 13
Copyright in Derived Works 14
Copyright in Collective Works 15 Right of Access to Works of Fine Art; Resale Royalty
16
Transfer of Copyright by Succession; Term of Copyright 17
Copyright in Works Created in the Execution of Duties 18
Use of the Works of Authors by Other Persons 19
,
Chapter III: Limitations on Economic Rights
Reproduction of Works for Personal Use 20
Reprographic Reproduction by Libraries;
Archive Services and Teaching Establishments 21
Free Use of Works 22
Reproduction of Computer Programs and Databases;
Decompilation of Computer Programs 23
Chapter IV: Authors' Contracts
Transfer of Economic Rights by Author's Contract 24
Conditions and Form of Authors' Contracts 25
Chapter V: Neighbouring Rights
Holders of Neighbouring Rights; Scope of Neighbouring
Rights 26
Rights of Performers 27
Rights of Phonogram Producers 28
Rights of Broadcasting and Cable Distribution Organisations
29
Limitation of the Rights of Performers, Phonogram Producers and Broadcasting and Cable Distribution Organisations 30
Use of Phonograms Published for Commercial Purposes 31
Ephemeral Recording of a Performance or of a Program Broadcast by a Broadcasting or Cable Distribution 32
Organisation Term of Neighbouring Rights 33
Chapter VI: Collective Administration of Economic Rights
Functions of State Agencies in the Protection of Copyright
and Neighbouring Rights 34
Establishment of Organisations for the Collective
Administration of Economic Rights 35
Functions and Obligations of Organisations for the Collective
Administration of Economic Rights 36
Chapter VII: Infringement of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Infringement of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights; Infringing Copies of Works and Phonograms 37
Remedies in Copyright and Neighbouring Rights 38
Chapter VIII: Welfare Law Protection of Authors and Holders of Neighbouring Rights
Guarantees in Respect of Economic Rights 39
Independent Creators 40
Chapter I General Provisions
Legal Basis
Art. 1. - (1) Copyright and neighbouring rights and the protection and sanction of those rights shall be governed by the Constitution, by this Law and by other texts.
(2) This Law governs the relations that arise from the creation and use of literary, artistic and scientific works (copyright) and from the creation and use of performances, phonograms and the broadcasts of radio and television organisations (neighbouring'rights).
International Treaties
Art. 2. Where an international treaty to which the Republic of Moldova is party contains rules different from those specified in this Law, the provisions of the international treaty «shall apply.
Basic Concepts Art. 3. For the purposes of this Law:
- author means the natural person whose creative effort has led to the creation of a work;
database means a compilation of data or other materials both in a mechanically readable form and in other form, which by selection and arrangement of contents represents the result of a creative work;
audiovisual work means a work consisting of a series of coherent frames (recorded with or without sound) giving an impression of movement and which is intended for audio-visual perception (when recorded with sound);
collective work means a work created by more than one natural person at the initiative and under the direction of a natural or legal person who will publish the work under his own name;
derived work means the result of creative intellectual effort based on a preexisting work (translation, adaptation, stage adaptation, transformation, etc.);
computer means an electronic or similar device capable of processing information;
exploitation means any publication, public communication, public show, public performance, recording, rental, reproduction, broadcast, retransmission or other actions carried out using in any form and in any way copyright and neighbouring rights, as well as folklore expressions;
public communication (communication for general information) means the transmission by air, including by satellite, by cable or by any other means, of frames, sounds or frames and sounds of works, performances, phonograms or broadcasts of broadcasting or cable distribution organisations where such frames or sounds may be perceived by persons outside the usual family circle and their close acquaintances in places sufficiently distant for the frames or sounds not to be perceivable without such transmission. Communication of codified signals shall represent a transmission by air when the decoding means are offered to the public by the air broadcasting organisation or with its consent;
public show means the showing of an original or a copy of a work, a performance or a broadcast of a broadcasting or cable distribution organisation either directly or on a screen
by means of a film, a slide, a frame or any other device or process (except for transmission by air or by wire) where the work, the representation or performance may be perceived by persons outside the usual family circle and their close acquaintances; the public presentation of an audiovisual work consists in the showing of individual frames of an audiovisual work irrespective of order;
broadcast of a broadcasting or cable distribution organisation means a broadcast created by the broadcasting or cable distribution organisation itself or, on its instructions and with its funds, by another organisation;
phonogram means any exclusively sound recording of performances, or of other sounds or representations thereof, except for recording of sounds included in the audio-visual work; a duplicate of a phonogram on any material medium whatsoever, made directly or indirectly from another phonogram and incorporating all or some of the sounds recorded on such phonogram, constitutes a copy of a phonogram;
performer means an actor, narrator, singer, musician, dancer or any other person who performs, sings, narrates or executes in any other way a literary or artistic work, or folklore expressions;
public performance means the presentation of works, performances, phonograms or broadcasts of broadcasting or cable distribution organisations, by reciting, playing, singing or any other means of expression either in a live show or with the aid of a device or process of any kind (except for transmission over the air or by wire) where the works, performances, phonograms or broadcasts may be perceived by persons outside the usual family circle and their close acquaintances;
recording means the fixing, by technical means, of sounds or frames, or representations thereof, or of both in a material form that permits them to be repeatedly perceived, reproduced or communicated;
rental means the transfer of ownership of an original or of a copy of a work or of a phonogram for a fixed period of time for direct or indirect profit;
information on rights administration means any information, provided by the right holder, identifying the work or any other object protected by the present law, the author or another right holder, or information on work or another object exploitation conditions, as well as any figures and codes containing such information, taking into account that any such pieces of information are shown on the work copy or on another object protected by the present law, or which occur in relation with the publication or public communication of such work or of the object concerned;
technical means of copyright and neighbouring rights protection means any technical equipment or its components which control the access to works or to objects of neighbouring rights, thus preventing or limiting the actions unauthorised by the holders whose rights are protected by the present law on copyright and neighbouring rights;
organisation for collective administration of economic rights means specialised legal person, established directly by copyright or neighbouring right holders, registered according to legislation, carrying out the collective administration of economic rights in accordance with the present law, within the terms of reference mandated to it by the copyright or neighbouring right holders;
audio-visual producer means natural or legal person, on whose initiative and responsibility the audio-visual work is created;
phonogram producer means the natural or legal person on whose initiative and responsibility the first fixation of a performance sounds, of other sounds or of some sound representations is made;
computer program means a set of instructions and commands expressed in words, codes or diagrams presented in machine-readable form and which may operate a computer
with a view to a specific aim or result; this concept covers both the preparatory material produced during development of the program and the audiovisual displays generated by the program;
publication means the causing to appear or putting into circulation of a work or a phonogram with the consent of the author or other holder of the copyright or neighboring rights, in sufficient quantity to satisfy the needs of the public; this concept also covers the lawful making available of a work or of a phonogram by computerized means;
reproduction means the making of one or more copies of a work or of a phonogram in any material form whatsoever, including an audio or video recording, and the recording of a work or of a phonogram with a view to temporary or permanent storage in an electronic (including digital) or optical form or in any other machine-readable form;
reprographic reproduction means the facsimile reproduction of the original of a written or other graphic work, whether in the same format, enlarged or reduced, by means of photocopying or with the aid of other technical means, except those of publishing; reprographic reproduction does not include recording in an electronic (including digital) or optical form or in any other machine-readable form;
retransmission means the simultaneous broadcasting (or cable transmission) by a broadcasting or cable distribution organisation of programs of another broadcasting or cable distribution organisation;
holder of copyright or neighbouring rights means either the author or performer or a natural person other than the author or performer or a legal person who enjoys the economic rights.
Chapter II Copyright
General Provisions
Art. 4.-(\) This Law shall protect as copyright works of the mind created in the literary, artistic and scientific fields, expressed in any material form that permits their reproduction, whether they have been disclosed or not, and whatever their form, purpose, value or means of reproduction.
Scope of Copyright
Art. 5.-(l) Copyright protection shall extend to
(a) works, irrespective of place of first publication, of which the copyright holder is a natural or legal person of the Republic of Moldova;
(2) A work shall be deemed published for the first time in the Republic of Moldova if it has been published in the country within 30 days of the date of its first publication abroad.
Works Protected by Copyright
Art. 6. -(1) Copyright shall extend to literary, artistic and scientific works expressed in the following forms:
(2) Copyright protection shall extend to
(g) works of architecture, town planning and park and garden design; (h) works of applied art;
(i) photographic works and works obtained by processes analogous to photography;
(j) maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relating to geography, topography, architecture and other scientific fields;
(k) derived works and composite works (translations, adaptations, arrangements and other transformations of literary, artistic or scientific works, instrumental adaptations of musical works, and encyclopaedias, anthologies, collections, databases, etc.); derived works and composite works shall be protected by copyright regardless of any protection that may attach to the works from which they are derived or to the works they include;
(1) other works.
Creations Not Protected by Copyright Art. 7.-(l) Copyright shall not extend to
(2) The mode of expression rather than ideas, processes, functioning methods or mathematical concepts as such shall be protected by copyright.
Acknowledgement of Authorship; Presumption of Authorship; Registration of Works
Art. 8.-(\) In the absence of proof to the contrary, the person or persons under whose name a work has been disclosed shall be deemed to be the authors thereof.
(2) A holder of rights may have his rights acknowledged by means of a copyright notice which should be placed on each copy of the work and should consist of the following three elements:
Moral Rights
Art. P.-(l) An author of a work shall enjoy the following moral rights:
be permissible provided that the author pays in advance the damages incurred by the holder of the right to exploit the work.
(2) Moral rights shall be inalienable; if an author transfers his economic rights, he shall maintain his moral rights.
Economic Rights
Art. 10.-(\) An author or other holder of copyright shall enjoy the exclusive right to exploit his work in any form and by any means.
(2) The exclusive right to exploit a work means the right to perform, authorize or prohibit the following acts:
(h) transformation, adaptation, arrangement or any like modification of the work;
(1) communication of the work for general information in such a manner as to enable all public representatives to access the work, on their own choice, from any place and at any time (the right to public communication in interactive regime, including by Internet);
(j) communication of the work by air (including by satellite) or by cable.
Works of Joint Authorship
Art. 11.-(\) Copyright in a work which is the result of the joint creative effort of two or more persons shall belong in common to the joint authors, regardless of whether the work constitutes an indivisible whole or is composed of parts.
(2) A part of a work shall be deemed independent if it may be used separately from the other parts of the work.
Copyright in Audiovisual Works
Art. 12.-(I) The following shall be recognized as authors or joint authors of an audiovisual work:
Copyright in Composite Works
Art. 13.-(I) The compiler of a collection or any other composite work shall enjoy copyright in the compilation or arrangement he has made of the materials if such selection or arrangement constitutes the result of a creative effort.
(4) Notwithstanding the copyright of the compiler, any other person may make an independent compilation or an independent arrangement of the same materials for the purpose of creating his own composite work.
(5) Selections containing various informative materials (articles and information, allocutions and essays, diagrams and tables, etc.), if such selection or arrangement constitutes the result of an intellectual activity, shall be protected as such. Protection shall not extend to numerical data nor to the content of the informative materials included in the selection.
Copyright in Derived Works
Art. 14.-(\) Translators and other authors of derived works shall enjoy copyright in the translations, adaptations, arrangements or other transformations made by them.
Copyright in Collective Works
Art. 15.-(I) Natural or legal persons who publish encyclopaedias, dictionaries, collections of scientific works - appearing periodically or regularly - newspapers, reviews and other periodicals shall enjoy an exclusive right to exploit such collective works as a complete entity. Such persons shall have the right to advertise their name or designation or to require that it be advertised in relation to any exploitation of such collective works.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed in the author's contract, the authors of works included in a collective work shall maintain their exclusive rights in their own works and may exploit them independently of the collective work as a whole.
Right of Access to Works of Fine Art; Resale Royalty
Art. 16.-(1) Reproduction of a work of fine art for commercial purposes shall be permitted under the contract signed with the author.
(2) The author of a work of fine art shall have the right to require the owner of the work to allow him the possibility of reproducing his work (right of access). However, the owner of the work may not be required to deliver the work to the author to that end.
(3) Creation and distribution of a work of fine art containing a portrait shall be permitted with the consent of the represented person or testamentary heirs of the represented person.
(4) For each public resale of the original of a work of fine art (sale by auction or at an art gallery, exhibition, shop, etc.), the vendor shall be required to pay to the author or his heirs remuneration representing 5% of the resale price (resale royalty) where such price is at least 20 times the minimum wage.
(5) This right shall be inalienable during the lifetime of the author and may be transferred only to the legal or testamentary heirs of the author, for the duration of copyright.
Transfer of Copyright by Succession; Term of Copyright
Art. 17. -(1) Copyright shall be transferred by succession.
(9) The moral rights of authors shall be protected without limitation in time. After the death of an author, the protection of his moral rights shall be assumed by his heirs and by the organisations duly authorized to assume the defence of authors' rights. Such organisations shall also assume protection of moral rights in the absence of heirs or where the copyright of the heirs has terminated.
Copyright in Works Created in the Execution of Duties
Art. 18.-(\) The moral rights in a work created in the execution of explicit instructions from an employer or service duties (service creation) shall belong to the author of such work.
Use of the Works of Authors by Other Persons
Art. 19. (1) The use by other persons of an author's work, unchanged, after transformation or in translation, shall require a contract to be concluded with the author or his successors in title, except in the cases referred to in Articles 20 and 23 of this Law. The limitations provided for with respect to authors' rights shall apply on condition that the use shall not prejudice normal exploitation of the work nor the rights and legitimate interests of the authors.
The author of a literary work, dramatic, dramatico-musical and/or musical work, recorded as a phonogram or included into an audiovisual work shall be entitled to a royalty for each public resale of the copies of this work. The amount of the royalty shall be determined by agreement between the beneficiary and the author or by license granted by the organisation for the collective administration of economic rights.
Chapter III Limitations on Economic Rights
Reproduction of Works for Personal Use
Art. 20.-(1) The reproduction of a single copy of a lawfully published work shall be permitted without the consent of the author or other holder of copyright and without payment of remuneration if made by a natural person for his own exclusive personal use and in compliance with the conditions set out in paragraph (3) of this Article.
(2) The faculty afforded by paragraph (1) of this Article shall not extend to reproduction
(7) No compensatory remuneration shall be paid in respect of the equipment and recording mediums referred to in paragraph (3) of this Article where they are exported, where they constitute professional equipment not intended for home recording or where they are imported by a natural person for his own exclusive use.
(8) With the author's consent or with the consent of another copyright holder and without paying any royalty, the temporary reproduction of the work shall be allowed subject to the following conditions:
Reprographic Reproduction by Libraries; Archive Services and Teaching Establishments
Art. 21.-(V) It shall be permissible without the consent of the author or other holder of copyright and without payment of remuneration, but subject to mention of the name of the author whose work is used and of the source of the borrowing, to make reprographic reproduction in one copy, without gainful intent and to the extent justified by the aim pursued,
(a) of a lawfully published work if the reproduction, in one copy, is made by a library or an archive service and if its purpose is to replace copies that have been lost, destroyed or have become unusable or to make a copy available to other libraries or similar archive services in order to replace in their own collections works that have been lost, destroyed or have become unusable, where it is impossible to obtain copies of the work through usual channels;
(b) of isolated articles and other succinct works or of short extracts of written works (save for computer programs) that have been lawfully published if such reproduction, in one copy, is made by a library or archive services to meet the needs of natural persons who use the copy so obtained for the purpose of study or research or for their own personal use;
(c) of isolated articles and other succinct works or of short extracts of written works (save for computer programs) that have been lawfully published if such reproduction is made by a teaching establishment and the copy so obtained is intended for use in the classroom.
(2) Reprographic reproduction as referred to in paragraph (l)(b) and (c) of this Article shall be permitted on condition that no reprographic reproduction license is offered by an organisation for the collective administration of the economic rights of authors in such a manner that the library, archive service or teaching establishment is aware or should be aware thereof.
Free Use of Works
Art. 22.-(1) The following shall be authorized without the consent of the author or other holder of copyright and without payment of remuneration, but subject to mentioning the name of the author whose work is used and the source of the borrowing:
(a) quotation in the original language or in translation, in articles or studies, press reviews or radio and television programs of a critical, polemic, teaching, scientific or informational nature, of extracts from lawfully published works; in order to be authorized without payment of remuneration, the length of quotations may not exceed,
for an isolated extract (prose): 400 words,
for more than one extract from the same work: in the case of prose, 300 words for each extract, but not more than one author's sheet in all; in the case of poetry, 40 lines, subject to the extract not constituting more than one quarter of the work of poetry concerned;
(2) The exporting of a copy of a work by a natural person for his own exclusive use shall be permitted without the consent of the author or other holder of copyright and without payment of remuneration.
Reproduction of Computer Programs; Decompilation of Computer Programs
Art. 23.-(1) Any person lawfully in possession of a copy of a computer program may, without the consent of the author and without payment of royalty,
(reproduce and translate the object code to source code) in order to achieve interoperability of the program with other computer programs, on condition
(4) Computer programs shall be protected as literary works, regardless of their form and manner of expression. The author of a computer program shall enjoy all moral rights and economic rights referred to in Articles 9, 10 and 17.
Chapter IV Authors' Contracts
Transfer of Economic Rights by Author's Contract
Art. 24.-(1) The economic rights referred to in Article 10 may be transferred by the author or other holder of copyright by means of an author's contract.
(2) Economic rights may be the subject of an author's contract for the transfer of exclusive rights (exclusive license) or an author's contract for the transfer of non-exclusive rights (non-exclusive license):
(3) Unless otherwise agreed by contract, the rights under an author's contract shall be deemed non-exclusive.
Conditions and Form of Authors' Contracts
Art. 2J.-(1) An author's contract shall be concluded in written form and shall set out the types of use of the work (the rights transferred by the contract), the term of the contract and the territory for which rights are transferred, the amount of remuneration or the conditions for determining such amount for each of the types of use of the work, the conditions and time limits for payment of the remuneration and any other conditions considered essential by the parties. An author's contract on exploitation of publicized works in periodic press may also be concluded verbally.
(2) If an author's contract does not stipulate the territory for which a right is transferred, such transfer shall have effect on the territory of the Republic of Moldova only.
(3) If an author's contract does not stipulate its term of validity, it shall be deemed concluded for three years as from the date of conclusion if it concerns use of a work in its original form or for five years if it concerns use of a work in a modified form or in translation.
(4) The National Copyright Agency shall draw up model authors' contracts in collaboration with the organisations concerned.
Chapter V Neighbouring Rights
Holders of Neighbouring Rights; Scope of Neighbouring Rights
Art. 26.-(Y) Performers, phonogram producers and broadcasting and cable distribution organisations shall be the holders of neighbouring rights. Neighbouring rights shall be exercised without prejudice to author's rights.
(c) the year of first publication of the phonogram.
(4) The rights of performers shall be protected in accordance with this Law if (a) the performer is a national of the Republic of Moldova;
(5) The rights of phonogram producers shall be protected in accordance with this Law if
Rights of Performers
Art. 27.-(I) A performer shall enjoy the following moral rights and economic rights with respect to his performance:
(2) A performer shall enjoy the exclusive right to authorize or to prohibit the following acts:
representatives of the public, on their own choice, to access the performance from any place and at any time (the right to public communication in interactive regime, including by Internet).
Rights of Phonogram Producers
Art. 28 -(1) A phonogram producer shall enjoy the exclusive right to exploit his phonogram in any form, including the right to remuneration for each type of use of the phonogram.
(2) The exclusive right to exploit a phonogram shall mean the right to authorize or prohibit
(4) The right to distribute copies of a phonogram by rental shall belong to the phonogram producer irrespective of any right of ownership in the copies.
(5) A phonogram producer may transfer the exclusive rights afforded by paragraph (2) of this Article to other persons by contract.
Rights of Broadcasting and cable Distribution Organisations
Art. 29.-(1) A broadcasting or cable distribution organisation shall enjoy the exclusive right to exploit its broadcast in any form, including the right to remuneration for each type of use of the broadcast.
(2) The exclusive right to exploit a broadcast shall mean the right to authorize or to prohibit
Limitation of the Rights of Performers, Phonogram Producers and Broadcasting and Cable Distribution Organisations
Art. 30.-(l) Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 27 to 29 of this Law, it shall be permissible to use a performance, a phonogram or a program broadcast or transmitted by cable, or recordings thereof, without the consent of the performer, the phonogram producer or the broadcasting or cable distribution organisation and without payment of remuneration.
performer, the phonogram producer or the broadcasting or cable distribution organisation or those of the authors of the works involved.
Use of Phonograms Published for Commercial Purposes
Art. 31.-(1) The following acts shall be permitted without the consent of the producer of a phonogram published for commercial purposes and of the performer whose performance is recorded on such phonogram, subject to payment of remuneration:
(5) For didactic and scientific purposes, educational and scientific institutions, as well as libraries shall have the right, without the phonogram producer's consent, to select and to make use of. a limited volume (not more than 100 copies per institution) of collections of phonograms with musical, literary and scientific works out of the phonograms lawfully released into free civil circulation by their first sale, subject to the following conditions:
Ephemeral Recording of a Performance or of a Program Broadcast by a Broadcasting or
Cable Distribution Organisation
Art. 32. A broadcasting or cable distribution organisation may, without the consent of the performer, the phonogram producer or the broadcasting or cable distribution organisation concerned, make an ephemeral recording of a performance or a broadcast and reproduce such recording
Term of Neighbouring Rights
Art. 33.-(1) The rights of performers referred to in Article 27 shall have effect for 50 years as from the first performance. The performer's right to be named and his right for respect for his reputation shall be protected without limitation in time.
Chapter VI Collective Administration of Economic Rights
Functions of State Agencies in the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights
Art. 34.-(1) The National Copyright Agency shall be responsible for protecting the rights of authors and holders of neighbouring rights.
(2) The National Copyright Agency shall have the following main functions:
(a) draw up national policies in the field of copyright and neighbouring rights legislation and submit proposals to improve such legislation;
The National Copyright Agency
Art. 34/1 - (1) The National Copyright Agency has the status of a legal person and is answerable to the Government.
Establishment of Organisations for the Collective Administration of Economic Rights
Art. 35.-(l) Where the individual exercise of copyright and neighbouring rights encounters difficulties, there shall be established organisations for the collective administration of economic rights. Such organisations shall operate in accordance with this Law, on the basis of statutes and within the limits of the powers they receive from the holders of copyright and neighbouring rights (authors of literary, artistic or scientific works, performers, phonogram producers, etc.).
(4) If for collective administration of a category of economic copyright or neighbouring rights several organisations for collective administration of economic rights are created, the licenses for exploitation of copyright or neighbouring rights shall be issued to beneficiaries by one of these organisations, with the written consent of the others. In the lack of such
agreement, the State Agency on Copyright shall decide, in the manner established by the Government, which of these organisations shall issue licenses to beneficiaries, provided that this organisation:
Functions and Obligations of Organisations for the Collective Administration of Economic Rights
Art. 36.-(1) Organisations for the collective administration of economic rights shall assume, on behalf of the holders of copyright and neighbouring rights they represent and on the basis of the powers given to them, the following functions:
(a) to use the remuneration obtained exclusively for distribution and payment to the holders of copyright and neighbouring rights; however, an organisation shall be entitled to deduct from the amount of the remuneration obtained an amount intended to cover the actual expenditure incurred for the collection, distribution and payment of remuneration and an amount intended for a special fund set up by the organisation on a decision by its members;
(6) The organisation for collective administration of economic rights shall provide the State Agency on Copyright with the following documents in order to be checked:
Chapter VII Infringement of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights
Infringement of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights; Infringing Copies of Works and Phonograms
Art. 37.-(I) Any use of a literary, artistic or scientific work that infringes the copyright or neighbouring rights afforded by this Law shall be unlawful.
Circumvention of technical means of protection of copyright and neighbouring rights or modification of information on administration of copyright and neighbouring rights
Article 37/1.- (1) The following actions, whether or not infringing, in any way, the copyright or the neighbouring rights as a result of their performance, shall be deemed infringements of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova on copyright and neighbouring rights:
which are advertised or proposed for sale for the purpose of circumvention of technical means of protection of copyright and neighbouring rights;
any of the actions specified below, if the person carrying out such actions knew or
should have known that their performance stimulates, allows, contributes or hides the
infringement of copyright or neighbouring rights:
deletion or modification without the authorisation of the right holder of the
information on administration of copyright and neighbouring rights;
distribution, import for distribution purposes, public communication, communication
for general information in interactive regime of works and other objects protected by
the present law, from which information on administration of copyright and
neighbouring rights has been deleted without the right holder's authorisation.
Remedies in Copyright and Neighbouring Rights
Art. 38.-(1) A holder of exclusive rights, whether copyright or neighbouring rights, may require a person infringing his right
(5) Any person who knowingly or by negligence destroys the original of a work of fine art, a manuscript or a master copy of an audiovisual work (negative, original recording)
shall, if the author or holder of neighbouring rights so requires, make good the material and moral prejudice suffered, in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (1), (3) and (4) of this Article.
Chapter VIII
Welfare Law Protection of Authors and Holders of Neighbouring Rights
Guarantees in Respect of Economic Rights
Art. 39.-(I) This Law aims to strengthen the legal, economic and welfare guarantees afforded to authors and holders of neighbouring rights in the exercise and protection of their potential for intellectual creativeness and for the defence of their moral rights and their economic rights.
(2) The economic rights of authors and holders of neighbouring rights shall be protected in accordance with the laws on remuneration for work. The remuneration of authors shall not be subject to value-added tax. The natural or legal person who exploits the objects protected by copyright or neighbouring rights shall pay all compulsory deductions for social assurance related to payment of royalties.
Independent Creator
Art. 40.-(I) Independent creator (composer, writer, painter, director, cameraman) means a person who, having training and professional experience in the field of creation concerned, exercises an intellectual activity in an independent manner and does not maintain standing employment relationships with any legal person.