The Private Copying System is Legitimate and in Accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia

The Constitutional Court believes that the legal solution for monitoring the adoption and application of the price list ensures effective oversight and is not in conflict with the Constitution, which stipulates, among other things, that the inviolability of property and the rule of law are the highest values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia. This dismisses all claims regarding the illegitimacy and illegality of the Private Copying System, as well as violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens and entrepreneurs guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, as stated in the Constitutional Court’s statement.

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia dismissed in January as unfounded the proposal to initiate proceedings for assessing the compliance of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, particularly its provisions concerning the private copying system, with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia. This decision of the Constitutional Court also rejects claims related to private copying or the alleged illegality and illegitimacy of the so-called Private Copying System, as well as claims that it violates the rights and freedoms of citizens and entrepreneurs guaranteed by the Constitution, which the public has unfortunately been misinformed about due to their frequent presentation in the last month. Namely, the Constitutional Court confirmed that the Private Copying System defined by the Copyright and Related Rights Act is fully in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, the mentioned Act is fully aligned with the international obligations our country has undertaken.

It has been confirmed that this system limits the rights of holders of copyright and related rights in order to grant citizens the right to copy protected works for their private or other personal use, which the development of technology has actually enabled since the 1970s. In other words, without this system, citizens would not be able to use the benefits of technology for the purpose of copying copyrighted works on a daily basis. Therefore, the payers of copyright fees in the private copying system are precisely the importers of technical devices for reproduction and blank media for sound, image, or text, and the procedure for adopting the fee price list is prescribed by the same Act.

Additionally, the Constitutional Court believes that the legal solution for monitoring the adoption and application of the price list ensures effective oversight and is not in conflict with the Constitution, which stipulates, among other things, that the inviolability of property and the rule of law are the highest values of the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia. Finally, this system does not limit entrepreneurial freedom nor does it restrict the entrepreneurial rights of those engaged in the import and/or sale of technical devices and blank media for sound, image, or text. Namely, the Constitutional Court emphasizes that “entrepreneurial freedom is not absolute and does not exclude the undertaking and prescribing of certain measures and procedures by which the legislator indirectly regulates market relations. One such measure is the payment of fees in accordance with Article 32, paragraph 4 of the Copyright Act.”