The Parliament discussed in I reading and endorsed with 77 votes the amendments to the law on Copyright and Related Rights.

According to Baia Kvitsiani, one of the initiators of the bill, the package of changes was prepared with the support of IPCG Sakpatenti, the Commercial Law Development Program of the US Department of Commerce and the Economic Governance Program and the Economic Security Program of the USAID.

“The draft law has been drawn up according to the European directive, in order to harmonize it with the collective management system in the EU, which is of the utmost importance in the path of Georgia’s European integration and in terms of harmonizing it with the association agreement”, - said Baia Kvitsiani.

The speaker highlighted that the existing legislation pertaining to collective management falls short in addressing the challenges within the field adequately. Moreover, the ambiguity within the legislation has led to various interpretation issues, resulting in problems within the industry. Thus, there is a pressing need for implementing changes in this area.

“The objective of the proposed legislation is to establish a comprehensive framework for managing property rights pertaining to copyright and related rights in Georgia. The draft law aims to create an administrative and institutional mechanism that will facilitate the efficient operation of the system and ensure the appropriate protection of the rights held by copyright and related rights owners”, - added Baia Kvitsiani.