Serbian Public Broadcaster to Pay EUR 1.3M to Copyright Protection Organization

On July 27, 2010, the Commercial Court in Belgrade issued a first instance verdict ordering the public broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) to pay the Serbian copyright organization SOKOJ EUR 1,293,739 (USD 1,653,614) for broadcasting music without paying the royalties to the music composers.

SOKOJ has been involved in a long legal battle with RTS over the nonpayment of royalties. RTS is planning to appeal the court’s decision.

SOKOJ representative Milos Pejovic told the news agency BETA that this was the most important decision ever made in the field of copyright protection and that it makes it clear that the legislation in this area must be respected. Pejovic added that if the decision becomes final, RTS will have to pay SOKOJ nearly EUR 2,000,000 (USD 2,556,334) after the interest rates are added to the amount determined by the court.

For more information, please contact Jelena Jankovic at our Balkan Regional Office.

Source: Blic, BETA