Albania

[AL] New Act on Copyrights Approved

IRIS 2005-6:1/10

Hamdi Jupe

Albanian Media Monitoring Center

The Parliament of the Republic of Albania approved on 28 April 2005 the new Act “on copyrights and related rights”. The prior Act on copyrights of 1992 had been amended many times, but it did not succeed in protecting intellectual property rights effectively, so there was a need for new legislation.

The whole field of intellectual property rights is the subject of the new law. It defines amongst others the relations between authors and radio and television broadcasting.

The establishment of independent associations for the protection of copyrights is envisaged. Nevertheless, the responsibility for the protection of copyrights and the prosecution of infringements is the duty of the state. A new Office of copyrights that will be established at the Ministry of Culture will monitor the implementation of the act in practice.

With the new act it will be easier for the courts to judge in cases of conflicts over copyright infringements.