Turkish state to support law on copyright
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency
The copyright regulatory body of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced soon-to-be actualized legal modifications which are expected to eradicate notoriously unfair practices in the television and broadcasting business.According to Abdurrahman Çelik, the head of the Copyright Management Department, the modifications foresee the copyright bearers to be able to enforce their “fair payment rights” in cases of “repeating broadcasting” and “lending.”
Currently, screenwriters, actors and directors are not granted full rights to ensure they receive copyrights payments when TV dramas or films they worked on are broadcasted repeatedly by TV channels.
Çelik said the regulatory body had long been working on fixing the copyrights issues with the academic aid of Istanbul Bilgi University. In the meantime, a delegation formed by governmental and academic representatives participated in conferences on copyright issues in France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The body has prepared a report that will affect the culture ministry’s studies on ameliorating the Turkish Copyright Law No. 5846. The final draft of the law is scheduled to be finished and announced in the following week by Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay.
Çelik said the preparation process was difficult as there were no universally acknowledged standards in ensuring artists’ payment in cases of repeated broadcasting and screening.
