Council of Copyright Experts

Function
The Expert Opinion
Members
Mediation Board
Correspondence
Persons Responsible

The Council of Copyright Experts (CCE) was founded in 1970. Its function, the framework rules of its structure and operation are laid down in Act No. LXXVI of 1999 (CA). According to Section 101 Subsection (1) the Council operates next to the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office and separately from the official judicial expert system.

Function

According to the CA and the Government Decree the Council proceeds in connection with specific issues arising in copyright-related legal disputes at the request of courts or authorities, or in extrajudicial procedures on issues concerning the exercise of the right of use. According to practical experiences the CCE primarily plays a role in disputes between parties already involved in court proceedings, however it is also often requested to give an expert opinion in out of court procedures or before litigation. The situation is more reassuring, if the parties in the dispute come together to the conclusion that they turn to the CCE in the disputed professional copyright matter and they regard the Council's decision binding on themselves as it was a quasi arbitration decision. It is naturally not excluded either that only one party turns to the CCE, however the danger in such cases is that the other party might not regard the expert opinion as authoritative. In this case court proceedings can still be commenced of course, where the already existing expert opinion of the CCE will most probably have some catalysing force.

Expert Opinion

The Board adopts the expert opinion based on the questions asked and the documents submitted; it does not conduct a separate procedure in order to determine the facts. However, if necessary it can ask the requesting court or authority or the commissioner to submit further data. The Board does not decide in purely professional issues, such as the estimation of seized pirate cassettes' value.

Fee of the Expert Opinion

On the basis of the fee the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (and not the Board) issues an invoice on the sum of the fee determined by the appendix of the decree (in case of a three member council HUF 180 000 + VAT and in case of a five member council HUF 285 000 + VAT) to the requesting body with an 8-day obligation to pay. From January 2012 even one expert may proceed for the fee of 110 000 HUF + VAT.

Members

The members of the Council are appointed for a five year period by the Minister of Justice in conjunction with the Minister of National Cultural Heritage. The Government Decree No. 156/1999 (XI. 3.) Korm. on the Organization and Functioning of the Council of Copyright Experts contains further regulations on the appointment of the Council of maximum two hundred members, its board of fifteen members and the President.

The Board of Experts consists of members with proficiency in the fields of copyright or creation and performance. If the adoption of the expert opinion necessitates special expert knowledge, an external expert's contribution can be resorted to. The external expert resorted so is eligible to payment.

Mediation Board

The institution of the Mediation Board operating within the CCE has been introduced by the CA in 1999. The origin of this legal institution was partly an obligation arising out of legal harmonization and partly from the fact that since the amendment of the CA by the Media Act the broadcasting televisions received the opportunity to individually authorize the simultaneous broadcasting of their programs farther (by cable television).The objective of the Mediation Board's procedure is to facilitate the conclusion of an agreement between the parties. In the case of a procedure initiated in a dispute concerning collective management of rights, the Mediation Board shall forthwith inform the Minister responsible for justice, the Minister responsible for culture and the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office.

The members of the Mediation Board have to be designated from among the members of the CCE. The number of the members has to be uneven, in lack of agreement the number of the members is: three. Its Rules of Procedure are worked out by the CCE and approved by the Ministry of Justice.

Correspondence

Hungarian Intellectual Property Office
1054 Budapest, Garibaldi u. 2.
Phone: +36 (1) 474-59-61,
Fax: +36 (1) 474-59-65

Persons Responsible