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The Constitution of the Republic of Estonia was adopted in a referendum on 28 June 1992 and last amended on 14 September 2003 in preparation for the country's accession to the European Union. Article 45 of the Estonian Constitution guarantees the right to free speech and expression of opinions. Everyone shall have the right to freely circulate ideas, opinions, persuasion and other information by word, print, picture or other means. This right may only be restricted by law if this is necessary for the protection of an overriding legal good, such as public order or morals, and the rights and liberties,...

When the Estonian Parliament first ratified the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (the 1961 Rome Convention) on 9 December 1999, a reservation was introduced as regards Article 12 of the Convention which concerns remuneration for the use or reproduction of phonograms for broadcasting or communication to the public. Under Article 16(1)(a)(i) of the Convention, Estonia declared that it would not apply the provisions of Art 12. On 6 November 2002, the Estonian Parliament made changes to this reservation. Estonia has now...

The addition of Article 4 (4) to the Broadcasting Act (see IRIS 1995-1: 8) on 19 April 2000 provided that a television broadcaster has to ensure that at least 51% of the transmission time in a calendar year, excluding the time appointed for news, sports events and games programmes and for advertising, teleshopping and teletext services, is reserved for the transmission of European works. This provision was subject to a transition period of two years. From 1 January 2001, at least 40% of the transmission time had to be filled with European works; from 1 January 2002, at least 45%. As of 1 January...

The Broadcasting Act of 1994 (see IRIS 1995-1: 8) is still in force, but has been amended several times to keep pace with developments in the field (see also article infra). During 2002 further amendments were made to the Act. Most of them were of minor importance, following changes in other legislation. Among those changes, it is worth highlighting the amendments regarding liability. Estonia enacted a new Penal Code in 2002. This called for changes to be made to the Broadcasting Act. Accordingly, the Broadcasting Act has a new chapter 7 on liability. The new chapter was introduced by a law of...

Copyright legislation in Estonia was changed during the course of 2002 by three different amending laws (law of 5June 2002, law of 19June 2002 and law of 16 October 2002). The main focus of the changes was the adjustment of copyright contract law to the new law of obligations, which was reformed in 2001. Moreover, in order to facilitate combating trade of illegal copies, the chapter on liability in breaches of copyright was changed. It contains provisions on the prosecution of trade in illegal copies as well as the possibility of directly confiscating them. In addition, minor changes were made...