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Zagreb - Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek said on Thursday the new copyright law would protect copyrights in the digital sphere and result in a stronger and more secure environment for cultural and creative industries.
"The goal is that those creating works protected by copyright be in a secure position to be able to exercise their rights on the digital market, to protect copyright works, and when they are monetised, to be equitably compensated," she said in Parliament, presenting the final Copyright and Related Rights Bill.
The minister said she was confident the bill acknowledged various interests, for example, those of discographers and artists, as well as journalists and media publishers.
She dismissed the claim by MP Katarina Peović of the opposition Workers Front that the bill privileged media owners and producers in relation to journalists.
"For the first time, journalistic works are defined as copyright works by law, which explicitly states the obligation of both publisher and journalist to list references, and creates the prerequisites for journalists to receive compensation for the digital use of their works for the first time," the minister said.
She agreed with MP Miroslav Škoro of the opposition Homeland Movement about a dispute between discographers and artists over their contracts but said the ministry could not make judgments because it was a matter of private legal relations.
She said the ministry set a three-year deadline to resolve such disputes.