The Independent Media Commission (IMC), on October 10, 2022, under the leadership of the Chairman of the IMC, Mr. Xhevat Latifi, held its sixteenth regular meeting for this year.

After the approval of the agenda and minutes from the last meeting, according to the agenda, the Commission has reviewed several legal cases, legal cases for violation of Article 30 of the Law on Copyright by some distribution operators regarding the registration of agreements of distribution operators in VAPIK association.

Based on Article 30, paragraph 2, of Law No. 04/L-065 on Copyright and Related Rights, copyright agreements related to the rebroadcast of audio-visual programs will be valid only after they have been registered by the associations for collective management of rights. The reviewed cases are listed as follows:

Artmotion, Swiss plus 1, Tel communications, Telkos, Vision tv, Vista, Link production, Bb Herc, Astra net, Bledi, Komnet-A, Connect-3, Dot net, Emonet, Galaktika, Ipko, IPTV Tech, ISP Broadcast, Job Net, Kadria net, Kugo tv, Kujtesa net, Kumanova cable, Max Tv, MTS D.O.O, Speed ​​Tv, Eho TV.

After reviewing the cases, the Commission decided that all the distribution operators ranked higher should be sanctioned with a fine of €1,000 (one thousand euros), based on Article 30, paragraph 1.3, of the KPM Law on retransmission of channels without a valid agreement in the sense of Article 30, paragraph 2, of Law No. 04/L-065 on Copyright and Related Rights, as well as Article 21, paragraph 2.7 of Law No. 05/L-047 on Amendment and Supplement to Law No. 04/L-065 on Copyright and Related Rights, specifically Article 160, paragraph 2.

Likewise, the distribution operators are obliged to, within thirty (30) days, after the full force of this decision, to interrupt the retransmission channels, until the registration of agreements in the association for the collective management of rights, as defined by the article 30, paragraph 2, of Law No. 04/L-065 on Copyright and Related Rights, as well as Article 21, paragraph 2.7 of Law No. 05/L-047 on Amendment and Supplement to Law No. 04/L-065 on Copyright and Related Rights, specifically Article 160, paragraph 2.

In this meeting, the Commission also approved the Quarterly Work Report of the IMC, for the period July-September 2022, based on the legal obligation arising from Article 15 of Law No. 4/L-44 on the Independent Media Commission.