On 28 December 2015, in the premises of the State Agency on Intellectual Property was held the meeting of the Advisory Working Group on Collective Management, which includes specialists from AGEPI, as well as representatives of public authorities and courts.

The meeting was aimed at identifying effective solutions to unblock the situation in the field of collective management by providing functionality and avoiding litigation in court, so that authors and right holders may collect the remunerations for the use of their creations.

The meeting was moderated by the Director General of the State Agency on Intellectual Property, Octavian Apostol. In opening the meeting, the Director General stressed the priorities of the system for collective management of copyright and related rights, through the prism of transparent realization of the tasks of collection, distribution and payment of remuneration. Octavian Apostol said that AGEPI, as the public authority that monitors the management of rights, will undertake all measures to effectively ensure the legal competences of all CMOs to transform the system into a functional one and bring clarity for both authors and users.

At the same time, Andrei Popa, counselor of AGEPI Director General, announced that the meeting is part of an action plan to improve the situation in the field of collective management of copyright and related rights in order to ensure the proper exercise of holders’ rights and the optimum performance of the payment obligations of beneficiaries of various forms of exploitation of intellectual creations. Advisory Group’s recommendations will be considered in the decision making process of the Commission on approval of collective management organizations for economic copyright and related rights of the AGEPI, stressed Andrei Popa.

AGEPI initiated the creation of the Advisory Working Group on Collective Management in order to ensure decision-making transparency and fairness and improve law enforcement practice and create conditions for effective legal protection and defense of copyright and related rights.

The Advisory Working Group will also meet in other meetings during 2016, to discuss issues of copyright protection, especially those related to collective management.