National Workshop on Copyright and Collective Management in Yerevan

CISAC took part in last week's National Workshop on Copyright and Collective Management in Yerevan, organised by WIPO and the Intellectual Property Office of Armenia. Our participation was in collaboration with members ARTISJUS, represented by its CEO and CISAC Board member, Andras Szinger and ZAIKS'S Head of International. Anna Misiewicz

Mitko Chatalbashev, Regional Director at CISAC, contributed to the sessions on best practices in licensing, collection and distribution, and joined the roundtable discussions on the challenges and opportunities of collective management in the digital era. The workshop brought together some 50 participants from the Armenia's creative sector: CISAC local members ARMAUTHOR and ArmCinemaAuthor, governmental representatives, lawyers, CMOs and broadcasters.

Copyright and collective management situation in Armenia remains hostile, with vast majority of users avoiding payments and CMOs facing serious enforcement challenges. There is an advanced draft legalisation aimed at further aligning legislation with best EU and international norms, which hopefully will contribute to better copyright protection. CISAC has further committed to provide its views on the compliance of such levitation with best collective management practices.