Izvorni znanstveni članak
The Right to Reuse Public Sector Information Versus Copyright and Related Rights – Conflict of Public Law and Private Law Principles
Romana Matanovac Vučković
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Ivana Kanceljak
orcid.org/0000-0002-0588-3573
; Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The right to reuse information is regulated at the European level by the PSI Directive, which is in principle implemented in the Member States' legislation by legislation that usually regulates the right of access to information. In Croatia, it is implemented in the Act on the Right of Access to Information. The PSI Directive, and consequently the relevant national legislation, encourage the reuse of public sector information, based on the understanding that public sector information is a valuable economic resource that could be successfully used in creating added value in the society. However, the right to reuse is limited by copyright and related rights belonging to public sector bodies or to third parties. While it is not disputed that third parties fully reserve their copyright and related rights, it may be questionable how public sector bodies can and may enforce their copyright and related rights when the issue of reuse of information is raised.
In the exercise of a civil or public service, certain types of copyright works are created, such as: maps, drawings, sketches, plans, photographs, tables, collections, surveys, written and spoken works, etc., including databases. In the Member States of the European Union there are different solutions regarding the belonging of these objects created in the state or public service. According to Croatian law, copyright on works created in the execution of a state or public service belongs to the author unless it is otherwise regulated by a labour contract, another contract or another act regulating employment. Since the relationship with the civil servants is still not regulated in this respect, it appears that the majority of copyright and related rights are in the hands of the civil servant and that the information on which civil servants have rights is practically unavailable for reuse. This will certainly not contribute to efficient application of the right to reuse public sector information in Croatia, so this problem needs to be approached systematically. Thereafter, it is also necessary to systematically approach the development of policies for dealing with public sector information suitable for reuse. It is not necessary to restrict the copyright and related rights belonging to public sector bodies through regulations, but it is necessary to harmonize how they act in relation to the information of which they are holders of copyright and related rights. The state is, through the public sector bodies, in the position of a private law holder of copyright and related rights, and it must assess when its interest of a private legal nature overrides its public law duties and obligations. In principle, this will happen when the realization of the interest of a private legal nature guarantees the sustainability of the work and activities of a particular public authority that would be undermined by providing information for free use. However, there are obvious trends for public sector bodies to voluntarily provide, under the best possible conditions, information regarding which they have copyright and related rights for reuse, since this benefits the society as a whole.
Ključne riječi
PSI directive; Act on the Right of Access to Information; reuse of public sector information; copyright; right of a database maker
Hrčak ID:
207488
URI
Datum izdavanja:
28.9.2018.
Posjeta: 2.551 *