Collective rights management and the Maltese position against a European Union law backdrop

Abstract

It is necessary to distinguish between collective rights, which pertain to collective rights of society and collective rights management (CRM) which pertains to collecting societies, copyright and related rights. This thesis explores the latter, legislatively as well as through case law focusing on the Maltese position which in the author's view is still relatively green. There is a focus on the legislative evolution of Maltese copyright law in terms of CRM where great attention to detail is paid in an on-going assessment to determine the efficacy or otherwise of legal provisions. There features the transition from the 1967 Copyright Act to the Copyright Act 2000 and subsequent relevant amendments and Regulations as contrasted with EU law equivalents where applicable, noting that local amendments did not always reflect progress. The Copyright Board is discussed together with the three collecting society applications to date (PRS, A.M.A.K and AGICOA). The Competition aspect is discussed in an internal market context citing the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU in landmark EU judgments and the only abuse of dominance case locally (OFC). While this thesis establishes that European case law has been applied by the Maltese Courts and regulators long before Malta became a Member State, EU membership is looked at with a view of establishing whether transposed EU law provisions contributed to Malta's emancipation in the field, concluding that while developments have been identified, these are (i) not necessarily tied with EU membership (such as having a PRS representative for Malta and the launching of the 'finger-print' system) and (ii) there is a lot lacking in terms of enforceability. The EU's regulation of CRM is secondarily considered, finding it filled with promise but in effect inconclusive.