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No. 50/2019 Coll.
The Act
of February the 1st, 2019
amending the Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright and on
Amendment to Certain Acts (the Copyright Act), as amended by subsequent provisions
The Parliament has adopted the following Act of the Czech Republic:
Section I.
The Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright and on amendment to
Certain Acts (the Copyright Act), as amended by Act. No. 81/2005 Coll., Act No. 61/2006 Coll., Act
No. 186/2006 Coll., Act No. 216/2006 Coll., Act No. 168/2008 Coll., Act No. 41/2009 Coll., Act No.
227/2009 Coll., Act No. 153/2010 Coll., Act No. 424/2010 Coll., Act No. 375/2011 Coll., Act No.
420/2011 Coll., Act No. 18/2012 Coll., Act No. 496/2012 Coll., Act No. 156/2013 Coll., Act No.
303/2013 Coll., Act No. 64/2014 Coll., Act No. 228/2014 Coll., Act No. 355/2014 Coll., Act No.
356/2014 Coll., Act No. 250/2016 Coll., Act No. 298/2016 Coll., Act No. 102/2017 Coll., and Act No.
183/2017 Coll., shall be amended as follows:
1. At the bottom of the footnote no. 1 shall be to the separate line added sentence “Directive
(EU) 2017/1564 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2017
on certain permitted uses of certain works and other subject matter protected by
copyright and related rights for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired
or otherwise print- disabled and amending Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation
of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society.”
2. In the introductory part of Article 1 shall be after the word “union1)” inserted sentence
“follows at the same time the directly applicable European Union legislation28) “.
The footnote no. 28 shall sound:
„28) Regulation (EU) 2017/1563 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2017 on the cross-border exchange between the Union and third countries
of accessible format copies of certain works and other subject matter protected by
copyright and related rights for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired
or otherwise print-disabled.”
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3. Article 38 including its title shall sound:
“Article 38
Use of the Original Work or Reproduction of a Work of Fine Arts, Photography
or a Work Expressed in Manner analogous to Photography by its Exhibition
Copyright is not infringed by the owner or by a person who borrows from him/her, the original
or reproduction of a work of fine arts or of a photographic work or of a work produced by a
process similar to photography, who exhibits such work or provides such work for exhibition
free of charge, unless such use was banned by the author during the transfer of ownership to
such an original or reproduction of the work, and the owner or borrower were aware of or must
have been aware of the ban particularly because of the inscription of the ban in the list
maintained for that purpose by the collective management organization.”
The footnote no. 15 shall be revoked.
4. Article 39 including its title and the footnote no. 29 shall sound:
„Article 39
Licence for Persons with Disabilities
(1) Copyright is not infringed by anybody, who:
a) exclusively for the benefit of persons with disabilities, to the extend required by the
specific disability and not for the purpose of direct or indirect economic or commercial
advantage, makes or has a reproduction made; a reproduction so made may also be
distributed and communicated by him/her, unless this is done for the purpose of direct or
indirect economic or commercial advantage, or
b) exclusively for the benefit of persons with visual or hearing impairment and not for the
purpose of direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage, provides a reproduction
of an audiovisual fixation of an audiovisual work adding a verbal expression of the visual
component or visual or textual aids necessary to make the work accessible to those
persons; so supplemented audiovisual work may also be reproduced, distributed and
communicated by him/her, unless this is done for the purpose of direct or indirect
economic or commercial advantage.
(2) Paragraph 1 above shall apply to an audiovisual work only in the case, that it has been
published.
(3) Copyright is not infringed by anybody, who operates a television broadcasting service and, in
compliance with the law, broadcasts a programme 29) supplemented by an audio description, that
make the programme accessible to the persons with visual impairment, if such service is free of
charge, or unless this is done for the purpose of direct or indirect economic or commercial
advantage.
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(4) Copyright is neither infringed by the person referred to in Article 37 (1), if it lends originals
or reproductions of published works to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in relation to
their disability.
(5) Provisions of Article 30 (5) shall apply accordingly.
29) Article 2 (1) point (l) of the Act No. 231/2001 Coll., on Radio and Television
Broadcasting and on Amendment to certain acts, as amended by subsequent provisions.”
5. At the bottom of Article 39 are inserted new Articles 39a and 39b, which including the
titles shall sound:
„Article 39a
Licence for Certain Use of the Works for the Benefit of Persons who are Visually
Impaired or Otherwise Print- disabled
(1) The beneficiary person for the purpose of this Article and Article 39b means a person,
who
a) is blind or has other visual impairment which cannot be compensated or improved
by commonly available means so as to give the person visual function substantially
equivalent to that of a person without such an impairment,
b) has a perceptual or reading disability and is, as a result, unable to read printed works
to substantially the same degree as a person without such disability, or
c) is not, due to a physical disability, able to hold a book, journal, newspaper or other
kind of writing or manipulate it or to focus or move their eyes to the extent that would
be normally acceptable for reading.
(2) The accessible format reproduction for the purpose of this Article and Article 39b means
a reproduction of original or reproduced work in the form of book, journal, newspaper,
magazine or other kind of writing, including related illustrations, or sheet music, in any
media, made in an alternative manner or form which allows a beneficiary person to read
or otherwise perceive the work to the same or substantially same degree as a person
without disability or such an impairment under the paragraph 1.
(3) The authorised entity for the purpose of this Article and Article 39b means anybody that
provides as its primary activity or as a part of its public-interest mission, not for the
purpose of direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage, to the beneficiary
persons education, instructional training, adaptive reading or information access.
(4) Copyright law is not infringed by
a) a beneficiary person, or person acting in his/her interest, who makes an accessible
format reproduction for the exclusive use of this beneficiary person,
b) an authorised entity established or residing in the Czech Republic that makes, not for
the purpose of direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage, an accessible
format reproduction and to meet exclusively the needs of the beneficiary person,
distributes, lends or communicates this reproduction to the beneficiary person or to
the other authorised entity established or residing in the Czech Republic.
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c) an authorised entity established or residing in the Czech Republic that makes, not for
the purpose of direct or indirect economic or profit advantage, an accessible format
reproduction and to meet exclusively the needs of the beneficiary person distributes,
lends or communicates this reproduction to the beneficiary person or to the other
authorised entity established or residing in other member state of the European Union
or in the third country under the directly applicable European Union legislation28, or
d) a beneficiary person or an authorised entity established or residing in the Czech
Republic that, not for the purpose of direct or indirect economic or profit advantage,
imports or otherwise obtains or accepts an accessible format reproduction distributed
or communicated to beneficiary persons or authorised entities by authorised entity
established or residing in member state of the European Union or in the third country
under the directly applicable European Union legislation.28
(5) Application of the compulsory licence pursuant to paragraph 4 may not be contractually
excluded or limited.
Article 39b
Obligations of Authorised Entity
(1) An authorised entity established or residing in the Czech Republic that applies the
compulsory licence pursuant to Article 39a ( 4) point (c) or (d), is obliged to
a) distribute, lend or communicate the accessible format reproduction only to a
beneficiary person or the other authorised entity,
b) take appropriate steps to discourage the unauthorised reproduction, distribution,
lending or communicating of accessible format reproduction to the public,
c) demonstrate due care in, and maintain records of, its handling of a work and its
accessible format reproduction, and
d) publish and update, on its website, or through other online or offline channels
information on how it complies with the obligations laid down in points (a) to (c).
(2) An authorised entity established or residing in the Czech Republic, that applies the
compulsory licence pursuant Article 39a (4) point (c) or (d), shall provide, on request,
in an appropriate way, to a beneficiary person, other authorised entity or to the author
a) the list of the works for which it has accessible format reproductions including
the available formats and
b) the names and the contact details of the authorised entities with which it has
engaged in the exchange of accessible format reproductions.
6. In Article 43 (4) the text “Article 38” shall be revoked and words “and Article 38e” shall
be replaced by the words “, Article 38e, 39 and Article 39a (4)”.
7. In Article 74, 78 and in Article 82 the words “Article 37 to 38a” shall be replaced with
text “Article 37, 37a, 38a” and words “Article 40 to 44” shall be replaced with words
“Article 39 to 44”.
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8. In Article 86 the text “Article 38 (1) point (a)” shall be revoked and words “Article 40
to 44” shall be replaced with words “Article 39 (1) point (a), Article 39a to 44”.
9. In Article 94 the words “Article 40 to 44” shall be replaced with words “Article 39 to
44”.
Section II.
Efficiency
This Act shall enter into force on the day of its publication.
Vondáček m.p.
Zeman m.p.
pp Brabec m.p.