Art 5 DSM Directive in Hungary
In April 2020, Hungary became the first EU Member State to implement Art 5 of Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in Digital Single Market (DSM Directive), which regulates the use of works and other subject matter in digital and cross-border teaching activities.
After Hungarian schools and universities turned to remote teaching on 16 March 2020, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice decided to adapt to the new reality, joined forces with 150 civil organisations, and adopted the Decree 125/2020, which brought amendments to Arts. 33, 34, and 35 of the Hungarian Copyright Act.
This introduced the new Art 33A, which contains the definition of a “secure electronic environment” that is in line with Art 5(1)(a) DSM Directive. The new Art 34(3)(b) allows for the free use of copyright protected works, when such use is “in a digital form at the place of educational institution”, when the use constitutes “making available to the public through a safe electronic environment”, and when such use is of non-commercial nature. Lastly, Art 35(5) was amended so that it now allows for the distribution of parts of published books, as well as news articles in whole, to pupils and students, and it allows access to such works through the educational institutions’ safe electronic environment.
It seems that the Hungarian legislator managed to implement Art 5 DSM Directive in a way that enables unencumbered and effective education even in these trying times. Whether, and to what extent, the Slovenian legislator will follow, remains to be seen. At the moment, Slovenian Copyright Act (ZASP) does contain an educational exception, but the exception contains extraordinarily strict conditions that are not in line with Art 5 DSM Directive, nor with the current needs in education. With good Art 5 DSM Directive implementation, the Slovenian legislator would enable access to information and materials to students and educators, which would mean that Slovenia is keeping up with the times.
The importance of Art 5 DSM Directive and its implementation will be discussed at tomorrow’s Open Knowledge Day 2021 organised by IPI in cooperation with the Today is a new day institute, Aksioma, and Creative Commons. The event will take place through Facebook Live. Welcome!
The 4th Open Knowledge Day took place on Tuesday 17 October 2023, with an accompanying workshop on 18 October 2023. This year it was organised by the Open Data and Intellectual Property Institute (ODIPI) and supported by Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21).
We invite you to the fourth Open Knowledge Day and the workshop, which will take place this year within the framework of the programme and with the support of Knowledge Rights 21. The event will bring together experts from different European countries to discuss two topics: the first part will deal with the legal basis for data analytics, which is a key part of machine learning and related artificial intelligence, and the general exception for research. In the second part, open science in theory and practice will be presented both in Slovenia and in some Western Balkan countries. Representatives of research and educational institutions from Slovenia and the Western Balkan countries, as well as interested members of the public, are invited to attend.
Dr. Maja Bogataj Jančič, a renowned expert in copyright law, has joined the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where she will serve as an affiliate researcher for the next two years.
On Friday, October 6, 2023, the online seminar “Practical Experiences in Resolving Copyrights of Modern Book Works” took place. The seminar addressed relevant questions concerning user access to literary works in digital form.