According to the 2001 EU directive on copyright, creators of films and music should receive remuneration for the personal use of their works. In 2003, the Polish Ministry of Culture issued a regulation according to which the amount was increased by the so-called reprographic fee, i.e. a tax on devices that enable copying and recording.
The act has not been amended for over two decades. This became the cause of a dispute
More than 20 years have passed since the reprography fee was introduced. At that time, new media appeared on the market which will not be included in the list of devices subject to the fee because the regulations have not been updated. This causes many difficulties for creators in obtaining fair compensation.
The result of this is a situation in which revenues from fees for media and devices are absurdly low and grossly different from the amounts obtained in other European countries, and the entire system does not fulfill its basic function.
– Polish Filmmakers Association in an official statement. The dispute also concerns the lack of royalties from productions made available on popular . Although the act was prepared in 2022, it has not yet been accepted by the government. The problematic issue has been repeatedly presented to the Ministry of Culture, but so far the talks have not brought satisfactory results. This forced the artistic community to take decisive steps.
SFP sues the State Treasury. The president of the organization calculated a colossal amount of compensation
, creator of, among others, hit series or “Career of Nikosia Dyzma”, who is also the president of SFP, explains that the reason for such a situation is the lobbying of large streaming companies. At the same time, he explains that although the reprographic fee applies throughout the European Union, Polish artists are not provided with favorable conditions and suffer much more losses than artists from other countries. – Despite our many speeches and proposals, work on changing the current model ended only in the design phase – he explained.
The director informed that in view of this situation, it was necessary to sue the State Treasury for proper compensation. – However, the time has come to break this deadlock. Due to so many years of inaction, going to court has become necessary to ensure that our creators receive their due remuneration. Technology corporations are getting rich at the expense of Polish creators, with whom they do not want to share their huge profits, he said. Taking into account the data on the sale of media and devices that are subject to a fee in other countries (including smartphones, tablets and laptops), it is estimated that the State Treasury owes filmmakers as much as PLN 416,234,112.00.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
