Armenia

[AM] New Law on Copyright

IRIS 2006-10:1/12

Andrei Richter

Comenius University (Bratislava)

On 15 June 2006 the National Assembly of Armenia adopted in the third and final reading the new Statute “On Copyright and Related Rights”. The Statute contains a number of provisions on media activities that are mostly similar to the stipulations of the previous law of 8 December 1999 and international covenants.

Article 51 of the Statute (“Rights of Broadcasting Organization”) stipulates that the broadcasting organization has a right to use its programme in any form and to receive remuneration for any form of use of a programme except in the cases provided for by this Statute. The broadcasting organization has an exclusive right to authorize or prohibit third parties the following actions: the fixation of the programme; the direct or indirect reproduction of the fixed programme; the distribution of copies of the fixed programme including their import; the rebroadcast of the programme; the communication of the programme in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee; making the programme available to the public.

The broadcasting organization may transfer its economic rights to a third party in whole or in part by a contract.

The economic rights of a broadcasting organization in respect of the programme emanate from the date of first broadcast and shall run for 50 years (Article 61. “Term of Protection of Related Rights”).