Žurnalas „Teisės problemos“

Author: Rita MATULIONYTĖ
Topic category: Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law

Digitization of books and other works as well as making them available on the Internet have caused a number of problems across the EU. One of the problems, namely, the digitization of works which right holders cannot be identified or located (“orphan works”) has been addressed in the EU Directive on certain permitted uses of orphan works (2012/28/EU) (“Orphan Works Directive”). This research analyzes the issues that need to be addressed by Lithuanian law maker when transposing the Orphan Works Directive into the national law. In particular, after providing a general evaluation of the Directive, the research paper discusses the organizations that should be allowed to make use of the copyright exception for orphan works as implemented in the Directive, copyrighted subject matter which is covered by the Directive, requirements that apply to the search for right holders and documentation of such a search, how the works that are granted an orphan work status can be used by libraries and other organizations, what happens when the right holder of the orphan work appears and whether there is a need of supplementary national legal mechanisms in dealing with orphan works. The paper seeks to identify both the requirements and the flexibilities of the Directive and suggest the most suitable ways of implementation of the Directive in the national law.