On 14 September this year, the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) hosted a Workshop entitled “Collective Management of Reproduction Rights”. Organizers of the Event were AGEPI in cooperation with the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO), Belgium, represented by Ms. Anita Huss-Ekerhult, General Counsel.

The workshop was attended by experts of the collective management organizations from Romania: “COPYRO” and “Opera Scrisa.Ro”. The event was also attended by specialists of AGEPI and representatives of management organizations from the Republic of Moldova: National Association for the Protection of Intellectual Creation (ANPCI), Association “Copyright and Related Rights” (AsDAC), JSC “ReproMold” and the Rights Management and Licensing Center (CLAD), Association of Librarians (ABRM), Editorial-Printing Enterprise “Stiinta”, and “Maxiteh-ST” LLC.

Gathering together experts of the copyright management organizations from the Republic of Moldova and Romania, as well as international experts in the field of management of reproduction rights, the workshop aimed to familiarize right holders (authors, publishers), representatives of the users (importers, libraries), with the best tools for collective management of reproduction rights.

In opening the Workshop, a welcoming speech delivered the Deputy Director General of AGEPI, Mr. Ion Tiganas. “This seminar aims to develop the collective management system in order to make it more efficient, to make it fairer, more transparent, to be considered beneficial both by authors and private sector representatives”, said Mr. Ion Tiganas.

According to the agenda of the workshop, Ms. Anita Huss-Ekerhult presented the main provisions of the EU Directive on collective management of copyright and related rights and grant of multi-territorial licenses for the rights on musical works for online use on the internal market. About Moldova’s experience on collective management of copyright talked Mrs. Olga Belei, Head of Legislation Observance Division, AGEPI. At the same time, Mr. Alexandru Selari, Director General of OperaScrisa.ro, presented information about Romania’s experience on collective management of reproduction rights.

At the end of the workshop was held a round table. They discussed issues related to practices and tools for management of reproduction rights, negotiation of tariffs for reproduction rights, the criteria for establishment of tariffs, and collection and distribution of the remuneration for reproduction. They also talked about the relations between the organizations for collective management of reproduction rights with the right holders. The participants shared their own experiences and initiatives on collective management of reproduction rights.

The workshop was useful for the participants, who expressed their desire to deepen their knowledge in other meetings or workshops of this kind. They emphasized the importance of such events for the takeover of best practices in the field of collective management of reproduction rights.