Subject matter of protection and ownership
Copyright protects the work as an immaterial good, having a unique character and not the physical object in which the work is embodied. Art. 2 of L. 2121/1993 contains the basic rules on the subject matter of copyright protection. In the context of Greek copyright legislation, any original intellectual creation that is expressed in any form is protected. The prevailing criteria are the protection of the form and the originality. Computer programs and databases are also protected according to the “acquis communautaire”.
The initial owner of the economic right and the moral right in a work is the author, i.e. the person who has actually created the work. Greece follows the principle of many civil law countries that only the natural person who creates the work is the author. The legal person cannot be considered as author with the exception of specific cases of anonymous or pseudonymous works.
Moral and economic rights
Greek legislation always recognized the moral right which safeguards the personal connection between the author and his work. Greek Law 2121/1993 in art. 4 contains an indicative list of moral rights: the right of divulgation (publication), the right of paternity of the work, the right of integrity, the right of access to work and the right of rescission. The moral right is independent from the economic right and shall remain with the author even after the transfer of the economic rights
The list of rights conferred on the author by the economic right according to art. 3 of L. 2121/1993 has also an indicative character. In particular, the author has among other rights, “notably” the exclusive and absolute right to permit or prohibit : (a) the fixation and direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction of his work by any means, and in any form, in whole or in part (b) the translation (c) the arrangement, adaptation and alteration of his work (d) the distribution of the original or copies of his work (e) the rental or public lending (f) the public performance (g) the broadcasting or rebroadcasting of his work to the public by radio or television, by wireless means or by cable or by any kind of wire or by any other means or by satellite (h) the communication to the public of his work by any means, including the making available to the public of his work in such a way that members of the public may access this work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them and (i) the import of copies of the work produced without the creator’s consent or the import of copies from a country outside the European Union when the right over such imports had been retained by the author through contract.
Resale right
The resale right is provided for the benefit of the author of an original work. This right is an inalienable right inter vivos and cannot be waived, even in advance. The author has the right to receive a royalty based on the sale price obtained for any resale of the work subsequent to the first transfer of the work by the author.
Transfer
The economic right may be transferred between living persons or mortis causa. The moral right is not transferable between living persons. After the death of the author, the moral right passes to his heirs, who should exercise this right in compliance with the author’s wishes, provided that such wishes have been explicitly expressed.
Limitations to the scope of economic rights
Greek legislation contains specific limitations on the economic right with regard to its content and extent ( art. 18-28, 28A, 28B, 28C of Law 2121/1993). These limitations are justified on grounds of social policy, research or education and have as their purpose the protection of society as a whole. A reflection of these considerations can be seen in the provisions concerning the following cases: use of the work for the purpose of informing the public , reproduction for teaching purposes and other educational needs, reproduction for judicial or administrative purposes, quotation of extracts with a view to the advancement of science and public performance on special occasions. Specific provisions concern the reproduction for the benefit of blinds and deaf-mute, the temporary acts of reproduction and the “three-step test”. Reproduction for private use is dealt with in art. 18 of L. 2121/1993, as recently amended by art. 235 of L. 4281/2014. Specific uses of computer programs are laid down in art. 42-43 of L.2121/1993 in conformity with the Directive 2009/24.
Orphan works
Art. 27A implements the Directive on orphan works and contains provisions concerning the subject matter and scope of protection, the diligent search to identify the right holder, the end of orphan works status, as well as the permitted uses of orphan works.
Related rights
Greek Law 2121/1993 provides for the protection of related rights: performers, producers of sound or visual or audiovisual recordings, broadcasting organizations and publishers of printed matters. A specific provision recognized a related right in case of previously unpublished works.
Enforcement
Greek legislation contains provisions concerning enforcement of rights, such as measures to prevent infringement, injunctions, provisional measures and evidence, civil and penal sanctions. It is provided that the payment of damages shall not be less than twice the legally required or normally payable remuneration for the form of exploitation which the infringing party has effected without license.
The concept of “infringement” is not defined by law. It has been held that infringement of copyright or related rights arises from provisions relating to the scope, the subject matter and the content of such rights. The acts of infringement correspond to the subject matter of the right and the powers of the economic or moral right of the author or to the content of related rights recognized by law.
Special judicial system is created as it concerns civil procedures in order to enforce copyright and related rights. Copyright cases are introduced to special chambers for the first instance cases in Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki. As it concerns jurisdiction of three member courts, appeals against the decisions of these first instance courts are tried before the special chamber of the Court of Appeal in Athens.
Collective management
Greek Law 2121/1993, as amended, regulates in art.54-58 the collective management in Greece. These provisions are applicable to the administration and protection of the economic rights of authors and mutatis mutandis to the administration and protection of related rights. A new draft law implementing the Directive 2014/26 on collective management of copyright and related rights is under discussion.