6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 1/81Law 2121/1993
Copyright, Related Rights and Cultur al Matters
Ocial Journal A 25 1993 - Entr y into for ce: 04.03.1993
Law 2121/1993 is updated t o entail all the latest amendments and addendums. The latest ones had been
introduced b y the means of the Law 5043/2023 (Ocial Go vernment Gaz ette (FEK) Α ' 91/13.04.2023).
Download/Print Law 2121/1993 in pdf format 
CHAPTER 1 - OBJEC T AND CON TEN T OF COPYRIGH T
Article 1: Cop yright
Article 2: Object of the right
Article 3: E conomic Rights
Article 3A: Transmission of pr ogramme-carr ying signals b y means of dir ect injection
Article 3B: Ancillar y online ser vices – Principle of countr y of origin
Article 4: Mor al Rights
Article 5: Resale Right - Dr oit de Suite
Article 5A: Public Lending – Enabling pr ovisions
CHAPTER   2 - THE INI TIAL SUBJEC T OF COPYRIGH T
Article 6: The initial rightholder
Article 7: W orks of Joint A uthorship, Collectiv e and Composite W orks
Article 8: Emplo yee - Cr eated W orks
Article 9: A udio visual W orks
Article 10: Pr esumptions
Article 11: Fictitious Initial Right Holder
CHAPTER   3 - TRANSFER, EXPL OITATION AND EXERCISE OF RIGH TS
Article 12: Transf er
Article 13: Exploitation Contr acts and Licenses
Article 14: F orm of Legal Acts
Article 15: Extent of Transf er and of Exploitation Contr acts and Licenses
Article 15A: Transpar ency obligation
Article 15B: Right of r evocation
Ελ ληνικά6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 2/81Article 16: Consent of the A uthor as Ex ercise of the Mor al Right
Article 17: Transf er of the Physical Carrier
CHAPTER   4 - LIMI TATIONS ON THE ECONOMIC RIGH T
Article 18: Repr oduction for Priv ate Use
Article 19: Quotation of Extr acts
Article 20: School Textbooks and Anthologies
Article 21: Use for Teaching Purposes
Article 21A: Denitio ns of text and data mining, of the resear ch organisation and of the cultur al heritage institution
– Exceptio n concerning the reproduction of works for the purpose of mining texts and data for scientic resear ch
purposes and ex clusion of contr adicted contr actual pr ovisions
Article 21B: Exception for text and data mining from reproduction and extraction of lawfully accessible works and
other material
Article 22: Repr oduction of an additional cop y by non-pr ot libr aries or ar chives
Article 22A: Pr eser vation of cultur al heritage
Article 23: Repr oduction of Cinemat ographic W orks
Article 24: Repr oduction for Judicial or Administr ative Purposes
Article 25: Repr oduction for Information Purposes
Article 26: Use of Images of W orks Sited in Public Places
Article 27: Public P erformance or Pr esentation on Special Occasions
Article 27A: Cer tain permitted uses of orphan works
Article 27B: Use of out – of – commer ce works and other subject – matters of protection, cross – border uses by
cultur al heritage institutions, publicity measur es and dialogue with inter ested par ties
Article 28: Exhibition and Repr oduction of Fine Ar t Works
Article 28A: P ermitted uses for the benet of persons who ar e print disabled and persons with other disabilities
Article 28B: Ex ception fr om the Repr oduction Right
Article 28C: Clause of Gener al Application concerning the Limitations
CHAPTER   5 - DURA TION OF PRO TECTION
Article 29: Dur ation in Gener al
Article 30: W orks of Joint A uthorship
Article 31: Special Commencement of the Duration Article 31A: Works of visual arts which have fallen into public
domain
CHAPTER   6 - RULES REL ATING TO EXPL OITATION CON TRA CTS AND LICENSES
Article 32: A uthor ’s remuner ation
Article 32A: Claim for additional r emuner ation
Article 33: Arr angements concerning the contr act of printed publication and tr anslat or’s rights
Article 34: Rules Relating t o Audio visual Pr oduction Contr acts6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 3/81Article 34A: Negotiation mechanism concerning access to and availability of audio visual works on video – on –
demand platforms
Article 35: Regulations for r adio and tele vision br oadcasting and r ebroadcasting
Article 36: Theatrical P erformance F ee
Article 37: Musical Accompaniment of Films
Article 38: Phot ographers’ Rights
Article 39: Nullity of Contr ary Agr eement
Article 39A: Alternativ e dispute r esolution pr ocedur es
CHAPTER   7 - SPEC IAL PRO VISIONS CONCERNING COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND THE SUI GENERIS RIGH T OF
THE D ATABASE M AKER
Article 40: Pr ograms Cr eated b y Emplo yees
Article 41: Exhaustion of a Right
Article 42: Restrictions
Article 43: Decompilation
Article 44
Article 45: V alidity of Other Pr ovisions and Agr eement
Article 45A: Sui Generis Right of the Mak er of the Database
CHAPTER   8 - REL ATED RIGH TS
Article 46: License b y Performers
Article 47: License b y Producers of Sound and Visual Recor dings
Article 48: License fr om Radio or Television Or ganizations
Article 49: Right t o Equitable Remuner ation
Article 50: Mor al Right
Article 51: Rights of Publishers
Article 51A: Pr otection of Pr eviously Unpublished W orks
Article 51B: Pr otection of pr ess publications concerning online uses – Enabling pr ovision
Article 52: Type of license, limitations and dur ation of rights, as well as r egulation of other issues
Article 53: Pr otection of Cop yright
CHAPTER   9 - ADMINISTRA TION B Y COLLEC TING SOCIE TIES
Article 54: Assignation of Administr ation
Article 55: The Competence of Collecting Societies
Article 56: Relations with Users
Article 57: Relations with A uthors
Article 58: Application t o Related Rights6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 4/81CHAPTER   10 - MEASURES TO PREVEN T INFRINGEMEN TS
Article 59: Imposition of and Adher ence t o Specications
Article 60: Use of Contr ol Systems
Article 61: Contr ol Labelling
Article 62: Pr ohibition of Decoding
Article 63: St opping an Infringement or its Continuation
CHAPTER   11 - LEGAL PRO TECTION
Article 63A: E vidence
Article 63B: Legal Costs
Article 64: Injunction measur es and Pr ecautionar y Evidence
Article 64A: Injunction
Article 65: Civil Sanctions
Article 65A: Administr ative Sanctions
Article 66: Criminal Sanctions
Article 66A: Technological Measur es
Article 66B: Rights - Management Information
Article 66C: Publication of Decisions
Article 66D: Codes of Ethics and Information Ex change
Article 66E: Enfor cement of the Rights on the Internet
Article 66F: Denition of online content-sharing service provider and use of works of other subject – matters of
protection b y online content-sharing ser vice pr oviders
CHAPTER   12 - FIN AL AND TRANSI TION AL PRO VISIONS
Article 67: Applicable Legislation
Article 68: Law not Retr oactiv e
Article 68A: Diachr onic Law
Article 69: Establishment of the Cop yright Or ganization
Article 70: Collecting Societies Alr eady F unctioning
Article 71: Implementation of Dir ectiv es of the E uropean Community
Article 72: Repeal of Pr ovisions and Regulation of other Matters
CHAPTER   13 - CUL TURAL M ATTERS AND O THER ARRANGEMEN TS
Articles 73 t o 76 ar e not r eproduced her e because the y do not concern cop yright or neighbouring rights
CHAPTER   14 - EN TRY INTO FORCE
Article 776/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 5/81 
CHAPTER ONE: OBJEC T AND CON TEN T OF COPYRIGH T
Article 1: Cop yright
1. Authors shall have, with the creation of the work, the right of copyright in that work, which includes, as exclusiv e
and absolute rights, the right to exploit the work (economic right) and the right to protect their personal
connection with the work (mor al right).
2. The above-mentioned rights shall include the powers to authoriz e that are provided for in Articles 3 and 4 of
this Law .
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Article 2: Object of the right
1. The term work shall designate any original intellectual literary, artistic or scientic creation, expr essed in any
form, notably written or oral texts, musical compositions with or without words, theatrical works accompanied or
unaccompanied by music, chor eogr aphies and pant omimes, audio visual works, works of ne art, including
drawings, works of painting and sculp ture, engr avings and lithogr aphs, works of architectur e and phot ographs,
works of applied art, illustr ations, maps and three-dimensional works relativ e to geogr aphy , topogr aphy ,
architectur e or science.
2. The term  work shall, in addition, designate translations, adaptations, arrangements and other alter ations of
works or of expr essions of folklor e, as well as collections of works or collect ions of expr essions of folklor e or of
simple facts and data, such as ency clopaedias and anthologies, provided the selection or the arrangement of their
contents is original. Protection affor ded to the works listed in this paragraph shall in no way prejudice rights in the
pre existing works, which wer e used as the object of the alter ations or the collections.
2a. Data bases which, by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents, constitute the author ’s
intellectual creation, shall be protected as such by copyright. The copyright protection shall not extend to the
contents of databases and shall be without prejudice any rights subsisting in those contents themselv es.
Database is a collection of independent works, data or other , materials arranged in a systematic or methodical
way and individually accessible b y electr onic or other means.
3. Without prejudice to the provisions of Section VII of this Law, computer programs and their prepar atory design
material shall be deemed to be literary works within the meaning of the provisions on copyright protection.
Protection in accor dance with this Law shall apply to the expr ession in any form of a computer program. Ideas
and principles which underlie any element of a computer program, including those which underlie its inter faces,
are not protected under this Law. A computer program shall be protected if it is original in the sense that it is the
author ’s personal intellectual cr eation.
4. The protection affor ded under this Law shall apply regar dless of the value of the work and its destination and
regar dless of the fact that the work is possibly pr otected under other pr ovisions.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 6/815. The protection affor ded under this Law shall not apply to ocial texts expr essive of the authority of the State,
notably to legislativ e, administr ative or judicial texts, nor shall it apply to expr essions of folklor e, news information
or simple facts and data.
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Article 3: E conomic Rights
1. The economic rights shall conf er upon the authors notably the right t o authoriz e or pr ohibit:
a) the xation and direct or indir ect, tempor ary or permanent reproduction of their works by any means and in any
form, in whole or in par t
b) the tr anslation of their works
c) the arr angement, adaptation of other alter ation of their works
d) concerning the original or copies of their works, the distribution to the public in any form by sale or other wise.
The distribution right shall be exhaus ted within the Community only wher e the rst sale or other transf er of
ownership in the Community of the original or copies is made b y the rightholder or with his consent
e) the rental in respect of the original or copies of their works. This right shall not be exhausted by the means of
any other sale or any other act of distribution of the original or of the copie s of the works. This right shall not
apply to architectu ral works and to works of applied arts. Rental means the disposal for use for a limited
timefr ame and for direct or indir ect nancial or commer cial benet. In addition, authors of audio visual works have
the right to allow or prohibit public lending, as it is dened by par. 1 of Article 5A, of the original or the copies of
works (as amended b y par agraph 1 of Ar ticle 67 of the Law 5043/2023).
f) the public per formance of their works
g) the broadcasting or rebroadcasting of their works to the public by radio and television, by wireless means or by
cable or b y any kind of wir e or b y any other means, in par allel t o the sur face of the ear th or b y satellite
h) the communicati on to the public of their works, by wire or wireless means or by any other means, including the
making available to the public of their works in such a way that members of the public may access these works
from a place and at a time individually chosen by them. These rights shall not be exhausted by any act of
communication t o the public as set out in this pr ovision
i) the impor t of copies of their works produced abroad without the creator's consent or the impor t of copies from
a country outside the European Community , when the right over such impor t in Greece had been retained by the
author thr ough contr act.
2. The use, performance or presentatio n of the work shall be deemed to be public when the work thereby
becomes accessibl e to a circle of persons wider than the narrow circle of the family and the immediate social
circle of the author , regar dless of whether the persons of this wider cir cle ar e at the same or at diff erent locations.
3. The author of a database shall have the exclusiv e right to carry out or to authoriz e: a) tempor ary or permanent
reproduction by any means and in any form, in whole or in part, b) translation, adaptation, arrangement and any
other alter ation, c) any form of distribu tion to the public of the database or of copies thereof. The rst sale in the
Community of a copy of the database  by the rightholder or with his conse nt shall exhaust the right to contr ol
resale of that copy within the Community , d) any communication, displa y or performance to the public, e) any
reproduction, distrib ution, communicat ion, displa y or performance to the public of the results of the acts referred
to in (b). The performance by the lawful user of a database or of a copy thereof of any of the acts listed above6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 7/81which is necessar y for the purposes of access to the contents of the databases and normal use of the contents
by the lawful user shall not requir e the authorization of the author of the database. Wher e the lawful user is
authoriz ed to use only part of the database, this provision shall apply only to that part. Any agreement contr ary to
the pr ovisions of the pr evious two sentences shall be null and v oid.
4. Repr oduction of electr onic database for priv ate use is not permitted.
5. The exceptions and limitations to the economic rights of copyright as provided under Articles 21A, 21B and 22A
shall apply to the reproduction right of the author of a database under secti on a) of paragraph 3. The limitation
provided under paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 21 is applicable to the rights of the author of a database under the
sections a), b), d) and e) of paragraph 3 (as added with Article 28 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 3 paragraph 1,
Article 4 par agraph 1, Ar ticle 5 par agraph 1 and Ar ticle 6 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 3A: Transmission of pr ogramme-carr ying signals b y means of dir ect injection.
1. ‘Direct injection ’ means a technical process by which a broadcasting organisation transmits its programme-
carrying signals to an organisation other than a broadcasting organisation, in such a way that the programme-
carrying signals ar e not accessible t o the public during that tr ansmission.
2. When a broadcasting organisation transmits its programme-carr ying signals by direct injection to signal
distribut ors, withou t the broadcasting organisation itself directly transmitting their programmes simultaneously to
the public, and the signal distribut or transmits those signals to the public, it is consider ed that the broadcasting
organisation and the signal distribut or participate in only one single act of communication to the public for which
they shall obtain a license fr om rightholders.
3. If the signal distribut or provides to the broadcasting organisations solely technical means’, to ensur e or to
impr ove the reception of the broadcast, he shall not be consid-er ed to be participating in an act of communication
to the public under par agraph 2.
4. The participation of a broadcasting organisation and a signal distribut or in that single act of communication to
the public in accor dance with paragraph 2 should not give rise to joint liability for that act of communication to the
public (as added with Article 4 of the Law. 4996/2022 (Article 2 paragraph 4 and Article 8 paragraph 1 of the Di-
rectiv e (EU) 2019/789)).
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Article 3B: Ancillar y online ser vices – Principle of countr y of origin
1. ‘Ancillar y online service’ means an online service consisting in the provision to the public, by a broadcasting
organisation or under its contr ol and responsibility , of radio and television programmes simultaneously with or for
a dened period of time after their broadcast by the broadcasting organisation, as well as of any material which is
ancillar y to this broadcast. The concept of “ancillar y online service” includes also such a service which,
notwithstanding the fact that it has a clear subor dinated relationship with the broadcasting, is available to users
separ ately from the broadcasting service without there being a precondition for the user to have to obtain access
to that br oadcasting ser vice, for example via a subscription.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 8/812. The acts of commu nicating to the publ ic and making available to the public works or other subject – matters of
protection, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place
and at a time individually chosen by them, which are taking place when: a) radio programmes and b) television
programmes are provided to the public, which consist to: i) news and current affairs programmes, or ii) fully
funded, by own resour ces productio ns of a broadcasting organization, to an ancillar y online service by a
broadcasting organization or by its own contr ol and responsibility , as well as acts of reproductions of such works
or other subject – matters of protection which are necessar y for the provision of this online service, for the
access to it or of its use for the same programmes, are consider ed, for the purposes of exercising copyright and
related rights over this acts, that they are taking place exclusiv ely to the Mem ber – State wher e the broadcasting
organization has its principal oces. The broadcaster 's fully self-nanced productions include the cases wher e
the funds  for nancing which are used by the broadcasting organization for productions come from public
sour ces, with the exception of the productions which are assigned by the broadcasting organization to producers
who are inter depend ent from the said organization and from the co-pr oducers . The section b) of the rst sentence
shall not apply to broadcasts of spor t events, as well as to the works and other subject – matters of protection
which ar e included ther einto.
3. In determining the amount of the remuner ation which is payable for the rights over which the principle of
countr y of origin is applicable, as determined in paragraph 2, the parties shall take into account all aspects of the
ancillar y online service, such as the featur es of the service, including the duration of the online availability of
programmes included in this service, the audience and the number of subscribers, as well as the language
versions to which the service is provided. The rst sentence shall not preclude the calculation of the amount of
payments on the basis of the r evenue of the br oadcasting or ganisation.
4. The princi ple of countr y of origin, which is provided in paragraph 2, shall not prejudice the contr actual freedom
of rightholders, as well as of broadcasting organisations, to agree to the limit ation of the exploitation of the rights
provided under paragraph 2 of this Article and of Article 81 of the Law 3057/2 002 ( Α΄  239). (as added with Article
5 of the Law 4996 /2022 ((Article 2 paragraph 1 and Article 3 paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the Directiv e (EU)
2019/789)).
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Article 4: Mor al Rights
1. The mor al rights shall conf er upon the author notably the following rights:
a) to decide on the time, place and manner in which the work shall be made accessible t o the public (publication)
b) to dem and that his status as the author of the work be acknowledged and, in particular , to the extent that it is
possible, that his name be indicated on the copies of his work and noted whene ver his work is used publicly , or, on
the contr ary, if he so wishes, that his work be pr esented anonymously or under a pseudonym
c) to prohibit any distortion, mutilation  or other modication of his work and any offence to the author due to the
circumstances of the pr esentation of the work in public
d) to have access to his work, even when the economic right in the work or the physical embodiment of the work
belongs to another person; in those latter cases, the access shall be effected with minimum possible nuisance to
the right holder
e) in the case of a literary or scien tic work, to rescind a contr act transf erring the economic right or an6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 9/81exploitation contr act or license of which his work is the object, subject to payment of material damages to the
other contr acting party, for the pecun iary loss he has sustained, when the author considers such action to be
necessar y for the pr otection of his personality because of changes in his beliefs or in the cir cumstances.
2. With reference to the last case of the preceding paragraph, the rescission takes effect after the payment of the
damages. If, after the rescission, the author again decides to transf er the economic right, or to permit exploitation
of the work or of a like work, he must give, in priority , the former other contr acting party the oppor tunity to
reconstitute the old contr act with the same terms or with terms similar to those which were in force at the time of
the r escission.
3. The moral rights shall be independent from the economic rights and shall remain with the author even after the
transf er of the economic rights.
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Article 5: Resale Right - Dr oit de Suite
1. The author of an original work of art shall have a resale right, to be dened as an inalienable right inter vivos,
which cannot be waived, even in advance, to receiv e a royalty based on the sale price obtained for any resale of
the work, subsequent to the rst transfer of the work by the author . This right shall apply to all acts of resale
involving as sellers, buyers or intermediaries art mark et professionals, such as salesr ooms, art galleries and, in
gener al, any dealers  in works of art. The royalty shall be payable by the seller . When an intermediar y art mark et
professional is involved, he shall shar e liability with the seller for payment of the royalty (article 1, par. 1, 2 and 4 of
Directiv e 2001/84).
2. Original work of art means works of graphic or plastic art such as pictures, collages, paintings, drawings,
engr avings, prints, lithogr aphs, sculptur es, tapestries, ceramics, glasswar e and phot ographs, provided they are
made by the artist himself or are copie s consider ed to be original works of art. Copies of works of art, which have
been mad e in limited numbers by the artist himself or under his authority , shall be consider ed to be original works
of art for the purposes of the resale right. Such copies will normally have been number ed, signed or other wise
duly authorised b y the ar tist (ar ticle 2 of Dir ectiv e 2001/84).
3. The r oyalty pr ovided for in par agraph 1 shall be set at the following r ates:
a) 5% for the por tion of the sale price up t o EUR 50,000.00;
b) 3% for the por tion of the sale price fr om EUR 50,000.01 t o EUR 200,000.00;
c) 1% for the por tion of the sale price fr om EUR 200,000.01 t o EUR 350,000.01;
d) 0,5% for the por tion of the sale price fr om EUR 350,000.01 t o EUR 500,000.00;
e) 0,25% for the por tion of the sale price ex ceeding EUR 500,000.00.
Howe ver, the t otal amount of the r oyalty ma y not ex ceed EUR 12,500.00 (ar ticles 3 and 4 of Dir ectiv e 2001/84).
4. The sale prices r eferred to in the pr evious par agraph ar e net of tax (ar ticle 5 of Dir ectiv e 2001/84).
5. The royalty provided above shall be payable to the author of the work and, after his death, to those entitled
under him/her .6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 10/816. The management and protection of the resale right may be entrusted to collectiv e management organizations
oper ating by resolution of the Ministr y of Cultur e, for the categor y of works referred to in paragraph 2 (article 6 of
Directiv e 2001/84).
7. For a period of three years after the resale, beneciaries and collectiv e management organizations may requir e
from any art mark et professional men tioned in paragraph 1 to furnish any information that may be necessar y in
order to secur e payment of royalties in respect of the resale. The Greek Chamber of Visual Arts shall also be
entitled t o collect information (ar ticle 9 of Dir ectiv e 2001/84).
8. The term of protection of the resale right shall correspond to that laid down in articles 29, 30, 31, par. 1 and 2, of
this law (ar ticle 8, par . 1, of Dir ectiv e 2001/84).
9. Authors who are nationals of third countries and their successors in title shall enjo y the resale right in
accor dance with national law only if legislation in the countr y of which the author or his/her successor in title is a
national permits resale right protection in that countr y for Greek authors or authors from other EU Member States
and their successo rs in title. Authors who are not nationals of a Member State but who have their habitual
residence in Gr eece shall also enjo y the r esale right.
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Article 5A: Public Lending – Enabling pr ovisions
1. Subject to paragraphs 2 to 6, the publi c lending of lawfully published works is permitted to open to the public
lawful owners of their material carriers , in particular libraries, disk and lm libraries, with the exception of sound
and image carriers which incorpor ate audio visual works and radio and television broadcasts. ‘Public lending’
means the disposal of works for use for a limited time – period and not for direct or indir ect nancial or
commer cial benet, when it takes place from institutions which are open to the public (as amended by paragraph
2 of Ar ticle 67 of the Law 5043/2023).
2. The entities of paragraph 1 are owed reasonable remuner ation for public lending, which is mandat orily payable
to collecti ve manag ement organisations of the rightholders provided under paragraph 4. The public lending from
libraries of public educational institutio ns of primar y and secondar y educatio n (school libraries), as well as from
academic libraries which are members of the Hellenic Academic Libraries Link, is exempted from the obligation of
paying r emuner ation.
3. The obligation of reasonable remuner ation which is owed by bodies owned, super vised or subsidiz ed by the
State or by local authorities (Organismo i Topikis Autodioikisis (OTA), is dene d as a total for all rightholders to the
amount of three hundr ed and fty thousand (350,000.00) Euros per year, it is therefore by seventy-v e percent
(75%) by the Ministr y of Interior for OTA and by twenty-v e percent (25%) from the Ministr y of Education and
Religious Affairs. The reasonable remuner ation of the rst sentence is excluded from Value Added Tax and from
any other retention. The procedur e requir ed, the documentation and the relevant payment titles for the recovery of
reasonable remune ration are determined by the means of Joint Decision of the Ministers of Finance, Education
and Cultur al Affairs, Cultur e and Spor ts, and Interior . By a similar decision, the level of the reasonable
remuner ation shall be updated every three (3) years. The person liable for payment, the documentation and the6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 11/81payment procedur e, as well as any other relevant issue may be dened by the means of the decision of the fourth
sentence. The criteria for determining  the amount of the reasonable fee, as well as for its adjustment, are the
objectiv es of cultur al promotion, the turno ver of the publishing sect or, the total number of libraries, their annual
funding, the total number of volumes in their collections, the total number of loans, as well as the international
trading pr actices, adapted t o the conditions of Gr eece in view of its population and its Gr oss Domestic Pr oduct.
4. The remuner ation for the public lending of literary works is distributed by seventy percent (70%) to authors and
in particular to writers, translat ors, phot ographers and authors of visual works and by thirty percent (30%) to
publishers. For the public lending of sound recor dings, the above remuner ation is distributed by fty – ve per
cent (55% ) to authors, by thirty per cent (30%) to singers – performers and by fteen per cent (15%) to producers
of sound recor dings. For the rst three (3) years, the remuner ation is solely distributed to rightholders - intellectual
creators and to publishers of publications. The payment of the remuner ation and its level for the public lending of
sound recor dings may be determined by the means of the decision provided under the fourth sentence of
paragraph 3 (as amended b y par agraph 3 of Ar ticle 67 of the Law 5043/2023).
5. The remun eration is mandat orily paid to the competent collectiv e manageme nt organizations and its payment
exempts from any other obligation regarding public lending. The distribution of the remuner ation among the
organisations of rightholders is dened by the means of an agreement between them. In the case wher e an
agreement has not been achie ved until April 30, 2023, and so on, within ninet y (90) days from the publishment of
the decisi on of the third sentence of paragraph 3, the decision for the distribution is made by the Hellenic
Copyright Organizat ion (H.C.O .). The decision of the H.C.O . shall be drawn up in accor dance with the views of the
collectiv e managem ent organisations concerned, good faith, fair practices and practices followed at international
and Union level. The collectiv e manage ment organizations which do not agree with the decision of the H.C.O . may
request from the Single – Member Cour t of First Instance of Athens, to dete rmine, by way of interim measur es,
another distribution.
6. Remuner ation shall  be owed also in the case wher e public lending is taking place by open to the public libraries
of public benet institutions, organisa tions and educational institutions which are not regularly funded by the
State or local authorities (OTA), the amount of which shall be agreed between the institutions and their entities
and collectiv e management organization. If an agreement is not concluded between them until April 30, 2023, any
of the parts may ask from the Single – Member Cour t of First Instance of Athens, to determine, by way of interim
measur es, the amount of the remuner ation. Paragraph 3 applies in relation to criteria for the determination of the
remuner ation and paragraphs 4 and 5 for the distribution of the remuner ation  (as added with Article 34 of the Law
4996/2022 (Ar ticle 2 par agraph 1 section b), Ar ticles 5 and 6 of the Dir ectiv e (EC ) 2006/115)).
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CHAPTER TWO - THE INI TIAL SUBJEC T OF COPYRIGH
Article 6: The initial rightholder
1. The initial holder of the economic right and the mor al right in a work shall be the author of that work.
2. The abo ve-mentioned rights shall be v ested in the author of a work without r esor t to any formality .6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 12/81 
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Article 7: W orks of Joint A uthorship, Collectiv e and Composite W orks
1. The term work of joint authorship shall designate any work which is the result of the direct collabor ation of two
or more authors. The initial right holders in respect of the economic and moral rights in a joint work shall be the co
authors of that work. Unless other wise agr eed, the rights shall be shar ed equally b y the co authors.
2. The term collectiv e work shall desig nate any work created through the independent contribution of several
authors acting under the intellectual direction and coor dination of one natur al person. That natur al person shall be
the initial right holder of the economic right and the moral right in the collectiv e work. Each author of a
contribution shall be the initial right holder of the economic right and the moral right in his own contribution,
provided that that contribution is capable of separ ate exploitation.
3. The term composite work shall design ate a work which is composed of parts created separ ately . The authors
of all of the parts shall be the initial co-right holders of the rights in the comp osite work, and each author shall be
the exclusive initial holder of the rights of the part of the composite work that he has created, provided that that
part is capable of separ ate exploitation.
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Article 8: Emplo yee - Cr eated W orks
Wher e a work is created by an emplo yee in the execution of an emplo yment contr act the initial holder of the
economic and moral rights in the work shall be the author of the work. Unless  provided other wise by contr act, only
such economic rights as are necessar y for the fullment of the purpose of the contr act shall be transf erred
exclusiv ely to the emplo yer.
The economic right on works created by emplo yees under any work relation of the public sect or or a legal entity of
public law in execution of their duties is ipso jure transf erred to the emplo yer, unless provided other wise by
contr act.
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Article 9: A udio visual works
The principal dir ector of an audio visual work shall be consider ed as its author .
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Article 10: Pr esumptions
1. The person whose  name appears on a copy of a work in the manner usually emplo yed to indicate authorship,
shall be presumed to be the author of that work. The same shall apply when the name that appears is a6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 13/81pseudonym, pr ovided that the pseudonym lea ves no doubt as t o the person ’s identity .
2. In the case of collectiv e works, comp uter programs or audio visual works, the natur al or legal person whose
name or title appea rs on a copy of the work in the manner usually emplo yed to indicate the right holder shall be
presumed t o be the right holder of the cop yright in the par ticular work.
3. Paragraph 1 of this article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the holders of rights related to copyright with regar d
to their protected subject matter , as well as to database creators for the special right. (article 5, item b', of
Directiv e 2004/48).
4. The pr esumption r eferred to in par agraphs (1) and (2), abo ve, ma y be r ebutted b y evidence t o the contr ary.
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Article 11: Fictitious Initial Right Holder
1. Any person who lawfully mak es available to the public anonymous or pseud onymous works is deemed as the
initial hold er of the economic and moral right towar ds third parties. When the true author of the work reveals his
identity , he acquir es the above-mentio ned rights in the condition they are in as a result of the actions of the
ctitious right holder .
2. In the case of the previous paragraph, the moral right shall belong to the ctitious right holder as that is
compatible with his status.
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CHAPTER THREE: TRANSFER, EXPL OITATION AND EXERCISE OF RIGH TS
Article 12: Transf er
1. The economic right ma y be tr ansf erred between living persons or mor tis causa.
2. The moral rights shall not be transf erable between living persons. After the death of an author , the moral rights
shall pass to his heirs, who shall exercise the rights in compliance with the author ’s wishes, provided that such
wishes ha ve been explicitly expr essed.
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Article 13: Exploitation Contr acts and Licenses
1. The autho r of the work may conclude contr acts, by which he entrusts economic rights to the other contr acting
party (exploitation contr acts). The other party to the contr act under takes the obligation to exercise the rights thus
entrusted.
2. The author of the work ma y authoriz e another person t o exercise economic rights (exploitation licenses).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 14/813. Expl oitation contr acts and licenses may be exclusiv e or non-ex clusiv e. Exclusiv e exploitation contr acts and
licenses shall empower the other contr acting party to exercise the rights conf erred by the contr act or license
excluding any third person. Non-ex clusive exploitation contr acts and licenses shall give the right to the other
contr acting party to exercise the right s conf erred by the contr act or license in parallel to the author and other
contr acting parties. In the absence of an agreement to the contr ary, the other contr acting party shall be entitled in
his own name t o seek legal pr otection against illegal infringements b y thir d par ties of the rights he ex ercises.
4. Whe re doubt exists  about the exclusiv ity of an exploitation contr act or license the contr act or license shall be
deemed t o be non-ex clusiv e.
5. The contr act or license may in no circumstance conf er any total right over the futur e works of the author , and
shall ne ver be deemed t o refer also t o forms of exploitation which wer e unknown on the date of the contr act.
6. The rights of a person who under takes to carry out the exploitation of a work or who acquir es the possibility of
exploitation ma y not be tr ansf erred between living persons without the consent of the author .
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Article 14: F orm of Legal Acts
Acts deali ng with the transf er of economic rights, with the assignment or licensing of the right of exploitation and
with the exercise of the moral right shall be null and void, unless they are concluded in writing. Nullity may be
invoked only b y the author .
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Article 15: Extent of Transf er and of Exploitation Contr acts and Licenses
1. The transfer of the economic right and exploitation contr acts or contr acts licensing the exploitation of that right
may restrict the rights they conf er, their scope and duration, the geogr aphical application and the extent or the
means of exploitation.
2. If the duration of the transf er or of the exploitation contr act or license is unspecied, its duration shall be
deemed t o be limited t o ve years, pr ovided conv entional mor es do not indicate other wise.
3. If the geogr aphical  application of the transf er or of the exploitation contr act or license is unspecied, the said
legal acts shall be deemed t o apply t o the countr y in which the y wer e concluded.
4. If the extent and the means of exploitation which the transf er concerns or for which the exploitation or the
exploitation license  is agreed are unspecied, it shall be deemed that the said acts refer to the extent and the
means that ar e necessar y for the fullment of the purpose of the contr act or license.
5. In all cases involving the transf er of the economic right or the granting of an exclusiv e exploitation license, the
person who acquir es the right or the license shall ensur e that within a reasonable period of time, the work is
accessible t o the public via an appr opriate form of exploitation.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 15/81Top
Article 15A: Transpar ency obligation
1. The natur al or legal person to whom the author had licenses or transf erred his rights or the lawful successors
of this person are obliged to provide to the author on a regular basis, and anywa y at least once a year, up to date,
relevant and sucient information, taking into account the specicities of each sect or, in relation to the
exploitation and promotion of its work, in particular as regar ds the modes of exploitation, all revenues gener ated
and the r emuner ation due.
2. Wher e the rights referred to in paragraph 1 have been subsequently licensed, the author or his special
representativ e shall, at his request, receive from sub-licensees and other succ essors additional information, if the
rst contractual counterpar t of the author does not hold or does not provide all the information that would be
necessar y for the purposes of paragraph 1. Wher e that additional information is requested, the rst contr actual
counterpar t of the author shall provide information on the identity of those sub-licensees. The author may
addr ess any r equest t o the sub – licensees dir ectly or indir ectly thr ough his contr actual counterpar t.
3. The oblig ation set out in paragraph 1 shall be propor tionate and effective in ensuring a high level of
transpar ency in every sect or. In duly justied cases wher e the administr ative burden resulting from the obligation
set out in paragraph 1 would become dispr opor tionate in the light of the revenues gener ated by the exploitation of
the work, the transparency obligation  is limited to the types and level of information that can reasonably be
expected in similar cases.
4. The obligation set out in paragraph 1 does not apply when: a) the contribution of the author is not signicant
having regard to the overall work or performance, unless the author demon strates that he or she requir es the
information for the exercise of his or her rights under Article 32A and requests the information for that purpose
and b) Article 25 of the Law 4481/2017 ( Α΄  100) is applicable as regar ds as the provision of information to
rightholders in relation to the managem ent of their rights, in relation to the provision of information to authors and
other rightholders from collectiv e management organizations and independe nt management entiti3es, as well as
by all entities which fall within the scope of the Law 4481/2017.
5. For licenses or exploitation contr acts or contr acts under which economic rights are transf erred for the purpose
of exploiting works which are subject to agreements resulting from collectiv e bargaining, the transpar ency rules
of the relevant agreement which results from collectiv e bargaining shall be applicable provided that such rules
meet the meet the criteria pr ovided for in par agraphs 1 t o 4.
6. Any agreement preventing compliance herewith is void. Invalidity can only be invoked by the author (as
amended by Article 22 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 19 and Article 23 paragraph 1 of the Directiv e (EU)
2019/790)).
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Article 15B: Right of r evocation6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 16/811. Wher e an author had licensed or transf erred his or her economic rights over a work or other protected subject -
matter of protection on an exclusiv e basis for the purpose of exploitation, he or she has the right to revoke either
in whole or in part the license or the transf er of rights, or to terminate the exclusiv e char acter of the contr act,
wher e the exploitation of this work or other subject – matter of pr otection is not taking place.
2. The right of revocation or of terminatio n of the exclusiv e char acter of the contract under paragraph 1 may only
be exercised after a reasonable time following the conclusion of the exclusiv e licence or the transf er of the rights.
The author shall notify his or her counterpar ty and set an appr opriate dead line by which the exploitation of the
rights which consist of the subject – matter of the ex clusiv e license or the tr ansf er contr act shall tak e place.
3. If the work includes the contribution of more than one authors, the exercise of the right provided under
paragraph 1 from an individual author is excluded, in the case wher e his or her contribution is not impor tant,
taking int o account the t otal work.
4. The right of r evocation shall not apply t o lm and in gener al audio visual works.
5. Paragraph 1 shall not apply if the lack of exploitation is mostly due to circumstances that the author can
reasonably be expected t o remedy .
6. Any contr actual provision derogating from the revocation mechanism provided under paragraph 1 is valid, only
if it is based on an agreement resulting  from collectiv e bargaining (as added with Article 25 of the Law 4996/2022
(Article 22 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 16: Consent of the A uthor as Ex ercise of the Mor al Right
The granting of consent by an author for an action or an omission which would other wise constitute an
infringement of his moral right shall be deemed to be a form of exercise of his moral right, and shall be binding
upon him.
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Article 17: Transf er of the Physical Carrier
Unless there exists prior agreement to the contr ary, in writing, with the initial right holder of the economic right, the
transf er of the ownership of the physical carrier into which the work has been  incorpor ated, whether in the original
form or in any form of copy, shall not constitute a transf er of the copyright or conf er on the new owner any rights
to exploit the work.
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CHAPTER FOUR: LIMI TATIONS OF THE ECONOMIC RIGH T
Article 18: Repr oduction for Priv ate Use6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 17/811. Without prejudice to the following paragraphs, the reproduction of a lawfully published work shall be
permissible without  the author ’s consent and without remuner ation, provided that this reproduction is intended for
the user’s own private use. The term ‘private use’ shall not include a use made by an enterprise, a service or an
organization.
2. The right  to mak e a reproduction for private use shall not apply in cases where such an act conicts with the
normal exploitation of the work, or wher e the authors’ legitimate inter ests ar e prejudiced, and notably:
a) in the case wher e an ar chitectur al work in the form of a building or any similar construction is r eproduced, and,
b) when technical means are used for the reproduction of a work of ne arts which circulates in a restricted
number of copies, or when the r eproduction is a gr aphical r epresentation of a musical work.
3. (a) If, for the free reproduction of the work for private use, technical means  are used, such as audio or video
recor ders or audio and video recor ders, magnetic tapes or other material suitable for the reproduction of sound or
images or sound and images, including digital reproduction devices and media, in particular , CD-RW , CD-R, DVD
and other  storage media with a capacity ofmor e than 4 GB, computers, portable electr onic devices (tablets),
smar tphones, devices or components, irrespectiv e of whether their oper ation falls within the context of
computers and are used for the digital copying, transcription or reproduction  by any other means, phot ocop ying
machines and paper suitable for phot ocopies, scanners and printers, including the three - dimensional ones, a
reasonable remuner ation is due to the creator of the work and to the holders of related rights under this provision,
with the exception of the items to be exported (as amended by Article 52 par. 2 subpar . a) of the Law 4961/2022).
The r easonable r emuner ation shall be determined as follows:
(a) The remuner ation due for computers, portable electr onic devices (tablets) and smar tphones is set at 2% of
their value. Such a remuner ation shall be distributed between authors, performers or performing artists, producers
of recorded magnetic tapes or other sound or image or sound and image recording medium, and publishers of
printed material. The distribution of the reasonable remuner ation rates in respect of the technical means referred
to in the previous  sub-par agraph to collectiv e management organisations representing each categor y or
subcategor y of rightholders, as well as the collection and methods of payment shall be determined in accor dance
with par agraph 9.
b) The remuner ation due for sound or image or sound and image recor ding appar atus, magnetic tapes or any
other media suitable for sound or image or sound and image reproduction, for digital reproduction devices and
media, and other storage media with a capacity of more than 4 GB, as well as the remuner ation due for devices or
components irrespe ctive of whether their oper ation takes place in the context of computers or not and are used
for the purposes of digital copying, transcription or reproduction by any means, is set at 6% of their value. The
remuner ation due for digital reproduct ion devices and media, and other storage media, as well as for devices or
components irrespe ctive of whether their oper ation takes place in the context of computers or not and are used
for the purposes of digital copying, transcription or reproduction by any means, shall be distributed among the
collectiv e managem ent organisations representing copyright and related rights holders in accor dance with the
procedur e set out in paragraph 9. The remuner ation due for sound or image or sound and image recor ding
appar atus shall be shall be allocated to the respectiv e rightholders as follows : 55% to authors, 25% to performers
or performing artists, and 20% to producers of recor ded magnetic tapes or any other sound or image or sound
and image r ecor ding medium.
c) The remuner ation due for phot ocop ying machines, scanners, including the three - dimensional ones, printers,
including the three - dimensional ones,  and for the paper suitable for phot ocop ying, is set at 4% of their value (as6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 18/81amended by Art. 53 par. 2 subpar . B Law 4961/2022). Such a remuner ation shall be shar ed equally between
authors and publisher of printed material. Any multifunctional machine capab le of copying shall be also included
within the meaning of ‘ phot ocop ying machines’.
In any of the aforementioned cases, the value shall be calculated upon impo rt or disposal from the factory. The
remuner ation shall be paid by the impor ters or the producers of those items, it shall be enter ed on the invoice and
shall be collected by the collectiv e management organisations oper ating on the basis of an authorization issued
by the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts and covering, either in whole or in part, the categor y of rightholders
concerned.
4. a) Any person impo rting or obtaining through intra-Community acquisition or producing and providing technical
equipment and/or paper suitable for phot ocopies which, in accor dance with paragraph 3, are subject to the
payment of a reasonable remuner ation, shall, within thirty (30) days from the end of each calendar quar ter, refer,
by the means of a solemn declar ation in writing pursuant t o Law 1599/1986, t o HCO:
(aa) the quantity and total value of the technical means and/or the paper suitable for phot ocop ying that he/she
impor ted or acquir ed within the Comm unity or produced and provided within  the immediately preceding calendar
quar ter per categor y and type of technical means, and;
(bb) that this is the actual quantity and t otal v alue without any concealment.
(b)Any collectiv e management organisation shall have the right to request at any time from any debt or, by the
means of a written notication, t o solemnly declar e in writing in accor dance with Law . 1599/1986, t o HCO:
(aa) the quantity and total value of the technical means and/or the paper suitable for phot ocop ying per categor y
and type of technical means in detail, which, in accor dance with paragraph 3, are subject to the payment of a
reasonable remuner ation and which, on a case-b y-case basis, he/she impor ted or acquir ed within the Community
or pr oduced and pr ovided, and;
(bb) that this is the actual quantity and t otal v alue without any concealment.
Within one (1) month from the communication of such a request, the person liable to such a declar ation shall
submit to HCO the above mentioned solemn declar ation, signed by itself in the case of sole propriet orship, or, if it
is a company , by its statut ory representativ e.
5. If the person liable to submit the solemn declar ation referred to in paragraph4 fails to comply with that
obligation, the Single-Member Cour t of First Instance shall, in accor dance with the procedur e of interim measur es,
sentence the person called on to proceed to the immediate submission of the solemn declar ation, in any case of
non – compliance, to a penalty payment ranging from three thousand (3,000)  to thirty thousand (30,000) euros to
the requesting collectiv e managemen t organisation, in accor dance with paragraph 2C of Article 54 of Law
4481/2017.
6. Any colle ctive management organisation is entitled, at its own cost, to request the investigation of the accur acy
of the content of any solemn declar ation carried out by a sworn audit or appo inted by HCO . In the case wher e the
person requir ed to submit such a declar ation refuses to accept the aforementioned audit, its performance shall be
ordered by the Single – Member Cour t of First Instance, in accor dance with the above specied. Each audit
statement issued shall be submitted to HCO , and any collectiv e management organisation is entitled to receiv e a
copy of such a statement. A new insp ection requested by other collectiv e management organisations in respect
of the same solemn declar ation shall be ex cluded.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 19/817. The rights of collectiv e management organisations referred to in the previous paragraphs are also affor ded and
may be exercised against anyone to all enterprises impor ting, producing, making available or selling technical
means and media that are subject to the payment provided for under this Article. In the event that a verication is
carried out b y a sworn audit or, the r elevant costs shall be borne be the enterprise that r equested it.
8. In the case wher e the impor ter is liable for the payment of the reasonable remuner ation, related either to the
impor t or the intra-Community acquisi tion of the sound or image or sound and image media or technical means
referred to in paragraph 3, the remun eration due shall be calculated on the basis of the value enter ed on the
foreign company 's s invoice, while the note to the invoice provided for by this Article shall be made to the invoice
related to the disposition of such media and technical means, mentioning that the remuner ation calculated on the
basis of the aforementioned value as referred to in paragraph 3, is included in the discounted issue amount. The
remuner ation becomes char geable thr ee (3) months following the impor t.
9. In the case wher e in the same categ ory or sub- categor y of rightholders exist more collectiv e management
organizations and the agreement for the determination among them of the percentage of equitable remuner ation
is not succeeded until April 1st of each year, the allocation of percentages of this equitable remuner ation to the
collectiv e management organizations of each categor y or sub – categor y of rightholders, the method of collection
and payment, as well as any other relevant detail are determined by the means of a decision of the H.C.O ., which
shall be issued within a term of eight (8) months from the commencement or following an application submitted
by any collectiv e management organization or following a respectiv e request of the H.C.O ., of the procedur e of
adoption of a decision befor e the H.C.O . and in any case until November 30rd of each year. The decision of the
H.C.O . is formulate d in accor dance with the views of the inter ested collectiv e management organisations, good
faith, business ethics and the practices followed at international and community level. The collectiv e
management organisations which do not agree with the decision of the H.C.O. may request from the Single –
Member Cour t of First Instance, judging within the proceedings of interim measur es, to determine another
allocation, the debt ors, though, are obliged to pay to the collectiv e management organisations the equitable
remuner ation based on the decision of the H.C.O .. This pa yment r esults t o repayment and t o their r elease.
*In accor dance with paragraph 2(a) of Article 117 of the Law 5039/2023, paragraph 1 is in force since Januar y
1st, 2022.
**In accor dance with paragraph 2(a) of Article 117 of the Law 5039/2023, for the rst implementation of the rst
sentence of paragraph 9 of Article 18 of the Law 2121/1993, as amended with paragraph 1 hereinto, in relation to
the cases pending befor e the H.C.O . until the entry into force of this Law, a deadline is granted for the issuance of
the decision of the H.C.O . until July 31st, 2023.
10. Foreign companies which are not esta blished in Greece and which have not obtained an oper ating license in
accor dance with paragraph 4a of Art. 29 of the Cust om Code (Law 2960/2001, Α ' 265), as introduced by Law
4132/2013 ( Α ' 59) and the Ministerial Decision 1126/12.6.2013 ( Β ' 1420),shall not be liable for the payment of a
reasonable remune ration for the products impor tedunder the defermen t of VATregime. The reasonable
remuner ation due to rightholders shall be paid by the rst buyer established within the Greek territ ory who obtains
the products from foreign companies which have been authoriz ed in accor dance with paragraph 4a of the
Cust oms Code, with the purpose of making them available within the territ ory of the state, and it is mentioned as
a percentage rate and as an amount on the tax document issued by the aforementioned companies upon the
deliv ery of the aforementioned product s, and collected by collectiv e managem ent organisations as dened in this6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 20/81Article. The aforementioned companies shall notify the beneciar y collectin g societies the data related to the
deliv eries made within the territ ory of the state, providing, in particular , full repor ter on the buyer, the quantity , the
value, the species code, the date of purchase, as well as any other element deemed necessar y for the collection
of the remuner ation, by the means of quarterly statements, in accor dance with paragraph 8. Any details related to
the implementation of this par agraph ma y be specied b y a decision issued b y the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts.
11. Collectiv e management organisations shall provide and post on their websites a swift and effectiv e procedur e
for the return of the reasonable remuner ation collected in respect of the technical means referred to in paragraph
3, provided that a relevant application has been submitted by an enterprise or a professional, and the applicant
succeeds in proving that these means are profoundly intended for uses other than the reproduction for private
use. Such an application forreimbursement shall be submitted exclusiv ely by an enterprise or a professional and
not by third impor ters or traders. The refund procedur e for reasonable remuner ationshall provide, among others,
for the collectiv e management organisation to which such an application related to each of the cases referred to
in subpar agraphs (a) t o (c) of par agraph 3will be submitted (as amended with a.37 par .1 Law 4540/2018).
Note: (Ar t. 37 par . 2 Law 4540/2018)
Without prejudice to the second subpar agraph, the provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply retroactiv ely from the
date of entry into force of Law 4481/2017 ( Α΄  100).  With regar d to the existing, at the entry into force of this Law,
proceedings concerning Art. 18 of Law 2121/1993 and until they are concluded in the form of a nal judgement,
Art. 18 of Law 2121/1993 continues to apply in the version applicable befor e its amendment by paragraph 1 (as
amended with ar ticle 104 Law 4605/2019).
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Article 19: Quotation of Extr acts
Quotation of shor t extracts of a lawfully published work by an author for the purpose of providing suppor t for a
case advanced by the person making the quotation or a critique of the position of the author shall be permissible
without the consent of the author and without payment, provided that the quotation is compatible with fair
practice and that the extent of the extracts does not exceed that justied by the purpose. The quotation of the
extract must be accompanied by an indication of the sour ce of the extract and of the names of the author and of
the publisher , provided that the said names appear in the sour ce.
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Article 20: School Textbooks and Anthologies
1. The reproduction of lawfully published literary works of one or more writers in educational textbooks appr oved
for use in primar y and secondar y education by the Ministr y of National Education and Religions or another
competent ministr y, accor ding to the ocial detailed syllabus, shall be permissible without the consent of the
authors and without payment. The reproduction shall encompass only a small part of the total output of each of
the writers. The pr ovision is applicable only as it concerns the r eproduction b y means of printing.
2. After the death of the author it shall be permissible to reproduce his works in a lawfully published anthology of
literary works of more than one writer, without the consent of the right holders and without payment. The
reproduction shall encompass only a small par t of the t otal output of each of the writers.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 21/813. The reproduction, as specied in paragraphs (1) and (2), above, shall not con ict with the normal exploitation of
the work from whic h the texts are taken and must be accompanied by an indication of the sour ce and of the
names of the author and the publisher , provided that the said names appear in the sour ce.
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Article 21: Use for Teaching Purposes
1. It is allowed without the author ’s authorization and without paying a remuner ation the printed reproduction of
articles which have been lawfully publi shed to a journal or a periodical of shor t excerpts of a work or of parts of a
shor t work or of a work of applied art, lawfully published, provided that it takes place exclusiv ely for teaching
activities or exams in an educational institution, to the extent that it is justied by the intended non-commer cial
purpose, it is in line with good morals and it does not prevent the normal exploitation. The reproduction shall be
accompanied by the indication of the sour ce and of the names of the author and of the publisher , unless this is
impossible.
2. Without the author ’s authorization, the reproduction, the communication to the public and the making available
to the public, for the digital use of works for the sole purpose of illustr ation during teaching or exam, are allowed
to the extent justie d by the intended non – commer cial purpose, provided that this use: a) is taking place under
the responsibility of the educational institution, within its premises or in other places or through secur e electr onic
envir onment to whom only the pupils or the students or the teaching staff of the educational institution have
access, b) it does not exceed the ve per cent (5%) of the total extent of the work or does not exceed an article
lawfully published to a newspaper or a periodical or a poem or a work of visual arts, including phot ographic works,
and c) it is accomp anied by a reference to the sour ce, including the name of the author and of the publisher ,
unless it is determined that this is not possible.
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply to the extent that appr opriate licenses are easily available to the mark et, which
allow the acts of paragraph 2 and respond to the needs and specicities of educational institutions, In this case
collectiv e managem ent organizations take the necessar y measur es in order to ensur e the availability , the
information and the easy access of educational institutions to appr opriate  licenses by posting them to their
website and notifying them t o the Hellenic Cop yright Or ganization t o respectiv ely inform its own website.
4. The use of works or other subject – matters of protection for the sole purpose of illustr ation for teaching
through secur e electr onic envir onmen t is consider ed to take place exclusiv ely to the Member State wher e the
education institution has its r egister ed oces, pr ovided that it tak es place in accor dance with par agraph 2.
5. For the use of works within the framew ork of paragraph 2 users owe the payment of a reasonable remuner ation
to authors and publishers of the work s, which is propor tional to the extent of the use taking place within the
framework of the exception and the value of the works which are reproduced. The remuner ation is mandat orily
receiv ed b y the Collectiv e Management Or ganization which r epresents the inter ested categor y of rightholders.
6. Any contractual provision contr ary to paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 is void (as the title of the Article and the Article
had been amended  by Article 10 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 5 and Article 7 paragraph 1 of the Directiv e (EU)
2019/790)).
Top6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 22/81Article 21A: Denitio ns of text and data mining, of the resear ch organisation and of the cultur al heritage institution
– Exceptio n concerning the reproduction of works for the purpose of mining texts and data for scientic resear ch
purposes and ex clusion of contr adicted contr actual pr ovisions
1. For the application of this Article the following denitions apply: a) ‘text and data mining’ means any automated
analytical technique aimed at analysing text and data in digital form in order to gener ate information which
includes but is not limited to patterns, trends and correlations. b) ‘resear ch organisation ’ means a university ,
including its libraries, a resear ch institute or any other entity , the primar y goal of which is to conduct scientic
resear ch or to carry out educational activities involving also the conduct of scientic resear ch: (ba) on a not-for-
prot basi s or by reinvesting all the prots in its scientic resear ch; or (b) pursuant to a public inter est mission in
such a way that the access to the results gener ated by such scientic resear ch cannot be enjo yed on a
preferential basis by an under taking that exercises a decisiv e inuence upon such organisation. c) ‘cultur al
heritage institution ’ means a publicly accessible library or museum, an archive or a lm or audio heritage
institution.
2. The reproduction of works or other subject – matters of protection for the purpose of conducting text and data
mining for the purpose of scientic resear ch which takes place from resear ch organisations and cultur al heritage
institutions, is allowed. The text and data mining, is permissible to the material to which resear ch organisations
and cultur al heritage institutions ha ve lawful access.
3. Copies of works or other subject – matters of protection which are created in accor dance with paragraph 2
shall be stored under the responsibility  of the resear ch organisation and of the cultur al heritage institution with an
appr opriate level of security and they may be secur ed for scientic resear ch purposes, including the verication of
the r esults of the r esear ch.
4. Rightholders shall be allowed to apply measur es to ensur e the security and integrity of the networks and
databases wher e the works or other subject – matters of protection are hosted. Such measur es shall be
propor tionate and the y shall not go be yond what is necessar y to achie ve that objectiv e.
5. Rightholders, resear ch organisations and cultur al heritage institutions dene commonly agreed best practices
concerning the application of the obligation and of the measur es referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 respectiv ely.
The practices of the rst sentence are notied without dela y to the Hellenic Copyright Organisation and posted on
its website.
6. Any contr actual provision contr ary to the exception provided herein is void (as added with Article 8 of the Law
4996/2022 (Ar ticle 2 par agraph 1, 2 and 3, Ar ticle 3 and Ar ticle 7 par agraph 1 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 21B: Exception for text and data mining from reproduction and extraction of lawfully accessible works and
other material
1. The reproduction and extraction of works and other material to whom acce ss is lawful with the purpose of
conducting text and data mining is lawful on the condition that such use has not been expr essly restricted by the
author or other rightholder in an appr opriate manner , such as machine-r eadable means in the case of content
made publicly a vailable online.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 23/812. Repr oductions and extractions which are taking place in accor dance with paragraph 1 may be retained for as
long as is necessa ry for the purposes of text and data mining (as added with Article 9 of the Law 4996/2022
(Article 4 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 22: Repr oduction of an additional cop y by non-pr ot libr aries or ar chives
1. It is allowed, without the author ’s authorization and without a remuner ation, the reproduction of an additional
copy of non -–commer cial libraries or archives, which have a copy of the work in their permanent collection, in
order to retain such  a copy or to transfer it to other , non – commer cial, library or archive. The reproduction s
permitted only if it is impossible t o procur e such a cop y from the mark et in a shor t time and on r easonable terms.
2. Abolished (as abolished with Ar ticle 43 and Ar ticle 54 of the Law 4996/2022).
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Article 22A: Pr eser vation of cultur al heritage
1. The creation of copies of works or other subject - matters of protection which are permanently in their
collections, in any form or medium is allowed to cultur al heritage institutions referred to in point c) of paragraph 2
of Article 21A, as well as third parties which are acting on their behalf and under their responsibility , exclusiv ely for
purposes of preser ving such works or other subject – matters of protection and to the degr ee requir ed for such a
preser vation.
2. Any contractual provision contr ary to the exception provided under paragraph 1 is void (as added with Article 11
of Law 4996/2022 (Ar ticle 6 and Ar ticle 7 par agraph 1 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 23: Repr oduction of Cinemat ographic W orks
In cases wher e the holder of the economic right abusiv ely withholds consent for the reproduction of a
cinemat ographic work of special artistic value, for the purpose of preser ving it in the National Cinemat ographic
Archive, the reproduction shall be permissible without his consent and without payment, subject to a decision by
the Minister of Cultur e, tak en in conformity with the prior opinion of the Cinemat ography Advisor y Council.
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Article 24: Repr oduction for Judicial or Administr ative Purposes
To the extent justied for a particular purpose, the reproduction of a work for use in judicial or administr ative
procedur es shall be permitted without the consent of the author and without pa yment.
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Article 25: Repr oduction for Information Purposes6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 24/811. To the extent justi ed for the particula r purpose, the following acts of reproduction shall be permissible without
the consent of the author and without pa yment:
a) For the purpose of repor ting current events by the mass media, the reproduction and communication to the
public of works seen or hear d in the course of the e vent
b) For the purpose of giving information on current events, the reproduction and communication to the public by
the mass media of political speeches, addr esses, sermons, legal speeches or other works of the same natur e, as
well as of summaries or extr acts of lectur es, pr ovided the said works ar e deliv ered in public
2. Wher ever possible, the reproduction and communication to the public shall be accompanied by an indication of
the sour ce and of the name of the author .
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Article 26: Use of Images of W orks Sited in Public Places
The occasional reproduction and communication by the mass media of images of architectur al works, ne art
works, photographs or works of applie d art, which are sited permanently in a public place, shall be permissible,
without the consent of the author and without pa yment.
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Article 27: Public P erformance or Pr esentation on Special Occasions
The public performance or presentatio n of a work shall be permissible, without the consent of the author and
without pa yment on the following occasions:
a) at ocial cer emonies, t o the extent compatible with the natur e of the cer emonies
b) within the framework of staff and pupil or student activities at an educational establishment, provided that the
audience is composed exclusiv ely of the aforementioned persons, the parents of the pupils or students, persons
responsible for the care of the pupils or students, or persons directly  involved in the activities of the
establishment.
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Article 27A: Cer tain permitted uses of orphan works
1. It is perm itted to be made accessible to the public within the meaning of article 3 (1) (h) and to be reproduced
for the purposes of digitization, makin g available to the public, indexing, cataloging, preser vation or restoration
(permitted uses) by publicly accessible libraries, educational establishments or museums, archives or lm or
audio heritage institutions, as well as from public-ser vice broadcasting organisations established in a Member
State of the European Union (beneciaries of orphan works), works in their collections, for which no right holder
has been identied or even if is identied, none has been located despite a diligent sear ch carried out by the
beneciaries of orphan works, accor ding t o the terms of this ar ticle (orphan works).
2.  This regulation shall apply only to:< br/> a. works published in the form  of books, journals, newspapers,
magazines or other writings conta ined in the collections of publicly  accessible libraries, educational
establishments or museums as well as in the collections of ar chives or of lm or audio heritage institutions;
b. cinemat ographic or audio visual works and phonogr ams contained in the collections of publicly accessible6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 25/81libraries, educational establishments or museums as well as in the collections of archives or of lm or audio
heritage institutions;
c. cinemat ographic or audio visual work s and phonogr ams produced by public -service broadcasting organisations
up to 31 December 2002 and contained in their ar chives;
d. works and other protected subject-matter that are embedded or incorpor ated in, or constitute an integr al part
of, the above mentio ned works or phonogr ams,t o the extent that those works (of cases a, b, c, d) are protected by
copyright or related rights and are rst published in a Member State of the European Union or, if not published, are
rst broadcast in a Member State of the European Union. If these works are not published or broadcast, they can
be used by the beneciaries of orphan works only if: a) they have been made publicly accessible by anyone of the
beneciaries of orphan works(e ven in the form of a lending) with the consent of the rightholders, and b) it is
reasonable t o assume that the rightholders would not oppose the permitted uses r eferred to in this ar ticle.
3.  Where there is more than one rightholder in a work or phonogr am, and not all of them have been identied or,
even if identied, located after a diligent sear ch has been carried out and recor ded in accor dance with paragraphs
6 and 7, the work or phonogr am may be used in accor dance with the paragraphs hereinabo ve provided that the
rightholders that have been identied and located have, in relation to the rights they hold, authorised the
beneciaries of orphan works t o carr y out the permitted uses in r elation t o their rights.
4.  The use of orphan  works is permitted  to the beneciaries of orphan works only in order to achie ve aims related
to their public-inter est missions, in particular the preser vation of, the restoration of, and the provision of cultur al
and educa tional access to, works and phonogr ams contained in their collections. The beneciaries of orphan
works may gener ate revenues in the course of such uses, for the exclusiv e purpose of covering their costs of
digitising orphan works and making them a vailable t o the public.
5.  The bene ciaries of orphan works indicate the name of identied authors and other rightholders in any use of
an orphan work with the following labelling: “Orphan work: […] [no of entry in the Single Online Database of the
Oce for Harmonization in the Internal Mark et]”.
6.  By issuing a decision, the Hellenic Copyright Organization Boar d of Directors will determine the appr opriate
sour ces for a diligent and in good faith sear ch to be carried out by the beneciaries of orphan works to identify
and locate the rightholders accor ding to paragraph 1 in a work or phonogr am, including works and protected
subject matter contained in them prior to their use. The diligent sear ch shall be carried out by the beneciaries of
orphan works or by third parties on behalf of the beneciaries of orphan works, in the European Union Member
State of the rst publication, or in the absence of publication, of the rst broadcast. In respect of cinemat ographic
or audio visual works the producer of which has his headquar ters or habitual residence in a Member State of the
European Union the diligent sear ch should be carried out in the Member State of his headquar ters or habitual
residence. If the works have neither been published nor broadcast pursuant to the last sentence of paragraph 2,
the diligent sear ch shall be carried out in the Member State of the European Union wher e the beneciar y of orphan
works use that made the work publicly accessible is established. If there is evidence to suggest that a sear ch in
sour ces of information of other countries is to be carried out, the sear ch in those other countries should be
carried out also.
7.  Beneciaries of orphan works that carry out a diligent sear ch shall keep a sear ch recor d on le throughout the
term of use of the orphan work and seven (7) years after the termination of such use and provide concr ete6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 26/81information to the Hellenic Copyright Organization, that shall immediately forward this information to the Single
Online Database of the Oce for Harmonization in the Internal Mark et. Such information shall contain:
a) a full description of the orphan work and the names of the identied authors or rightholders,
b) the results of the diligent sear ch carried out by the beneciaries of orphan works, which led to the conclusion
that a work or a phonogr am is consider ed an orphan work,
c) a statement fr om the beneciaries of orphan works for the permitted uses the y intend t o mak e,
d) a possi ble chang e to the orphan work status of a work (notication of new data that they have been informed
of),
e) contact information of the beneciaries of orphan works,
f) any other information as specied by decision of the Hellenic Copyright Organization Boar d of Directors and
posted on the Hellenic Copyright Organization ’s website, accor ding to the procedur e determined by the Oce for
Harmonization in the Internal Mark et regar ding the Database.
8.  A diligen t sear ch is not requir ed for works that have already been recor ded in the Single Online Database of the
Oce for Harmonization in the Internal Mark et as orphans. A work or phonogr am shall be consider ed an orphan
work if it has been char acteriz ed as such in any Member State of the E uropean Union.
9.  If the rightholder of a work or phon ogram or other protected subject-matter that has been recor ded as an
orphan comes forward, then he has the right to put an end to the orphan work status of the work in so far as his
rights are concerne d and ask for the end of use of the work by the beneciar y of orphan works, as well as for the
payment of compensation for the use of the work that has been made by the beneciar y of orphan works. The
beneciar y of orphan works that mak es use of the work is liable for the end of orphan work status of a work. The
beneciar y of orphan works will have to decide within twenty (20) working days, calculated from the day following
the date the application is lled by the person appearing as the rightholder , if the application and the submitted
evidence by the appearing as rightholder is sucient to establish a right on the specic orphan work, and it either
char acterises the work as “non-orphan ” or rejects the application. If the beneciar y of orphan works does not
decide on the application within the above mentioned period or if, despit e having appr oved the application,
continues to mak e use of the work, then the provisions of articles 63A to 66D shall apply . If a work is render ed
“non-orphan ” accor ding to the Single Online Database of the Oce for Harmonization in the Internal Mark et the
beneciar y of orphan works is oblige d to end its use within ten (10) working days from the reception of the
relevant notice from the above mentioned Oce. The compensation shall amount to half of the remuner ation that
is, usually or accor ding to law, paid for the kind of use that has been made by the beneciar y of orphan works and
the payme nt of such compensation shall be made within two (2) months from the end of orphan work status of a
work. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the terms, the period, and the level of compensation shall be
determined b y the Cour t of First Instance of A thens b y interim measur es.
10.  In any case, if it is proven that a work has been wrongly found to be an orphan work due to a sear ch which
was not diligent and in good faith, then pr ovisions of ar ticles 63A t o 66D shall apply .
11.  The Hellenic Copyright Organization shall not be liable for the diligent sear ch carried out by a beneciar y of
orphan works, nor liable whether an orphan work status of a work is established or is ended.
12.  This article shall be without prejudice  to the provisions on anonymous or pseudonymous works, and to the
provisions on rights management accor ding t o the curr ent law” (as added with ar ticle 7 Law 4212/2013).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 27/81Top
Article 27B: Use of out – of – commer ce works and other subject – matters of protection, cross – border uses by
cultur al heritage institutions, publicity measur es and dialogue with inter ested par ties
1. A work or other subject - matter of protection shall be deemed to be out of commer ce when it can be presumed
in good faith that the work or other subject matter is not available to the public through cust omar y channels of
commer ce, after a r easonable effor t has been made t o determine whether it is a vailable t o the public and pr ovided
that ten (10) at least years had passed which shall be calculated from Januar y 1st of the year that follows their
publication.
2. Collectiv e managem ent organisations, in accor dance with their mandates from rightholders, may conclude non-
exclusiv e licenses for non-commer cial purposes with cultur al heritage institutions as dened under point c) of
paragraph 1 of Article 21A, for the reproduction, distribution, communication to the public or making available to
the public of out-of-commer ce works or other subject – matters of protection which are permanently in the
collection of such institutions, irrespectiv e of whether all rightholders covered by the license have respectiv ely
mandated collectiv e management organisations, provided that the following conditions are met: a) the collectiv e
management organisation concerned is, on the basis of its mandates, sucie ntly representativ e of rightholders in
the relevant type of works or other subject – matters of protection, as well as of the rights which are subject to the
license, and b) all rightholders are guar anteed equal treatment in relation to the terms of a given license. In any
case, the representativ eness of the organisation from whom a license is requir ed, within the meaning provided
herein, is determin ed on the basis of the state wher e the cultur al heritag e institution to which it pertains is
established.
3. Cultur al heritage institutions are allowed without a license and without a remuner ation to reproduce, distribute,
mak e available and provide to the public, exclusiv ely for non – commer cial purposes, out-of-commer ce works or
other subject – matters of protection that are permanently in their collection s, on condition that: a) the name of
the author or any other identiable rightholder is indicated, unless this turns out to be impossible, and b) such
works or other subject – matters of pr otection ar e made a vailable on non-commer cial websites.
4. The exception provided under paragraph 3 is solely applicable to types of works or other subject – matters of
protection for which no collectiv e management organisation, from those which are established and oper ate
lawfully within the Gr eek territ ory, fulls the conditions pr ovided under point a) of par agraph 2.
5. Authors may, at any time, declar e to the collectiv e management organisation or to the cultur al heritage
institution that they wish the exclusion of their works or other subject – matters of protection from the licensing
mechanism set out in paragraph 2 or from the application of the exception provided for in paragraph 3, either in
gener al or in specic cases, including the cases wher e their declar ation is submitted following the conclusion of
the respectiv e license or after the begin ning of the permitted use. For the cases of the rst sentence, paragraph 4
of Ar ticle 7 of the Law 4481/2017 (A ΄  248) applies.
6. This Article shall not apply to sets of out-of-commer ce works or other subject – matters of protection if, on the
basis of the reasonable effor t referred to in paragraph 1, there is evidence that such sets predominantly consist
of: a) works or other subject -matters of protection, except from cinemat ographic or audio visual works, which
were rst published or, in the absence of publication, their rst broadcast had taken place in a third countr y, or b)6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 28/81cinemat ographic or audio visual works, of which the producers have their headquar ters or habitual residence in a
third countr y, or c) works or other subject – matters of protection of third - countr y nationals, wher e after a
reasonable effor t no Member State or third countr y could be determined pursuant to points a) and b). By way of
derogation from point a), this Article shall apply wher e the collectiv e management organisation is suciently
representativ e, within the meaning of point a) of par agraph 2, of rightholders of the r elevant thir d countr y.
7. The license granted in accor dance with  paragraph 2, may allow the use of out – of – commer ce works or other
subject – matters of protection by cultur al heritage institutions in any Memb er State. The uses of works or other
subject – matters of protection which are permitted under the exceptio n provided under paragraph 3 are
consider ed to take place exclusiv ely to the Member State wher e the cultur al heritage institution that mak es such a
use, is established.
8. Information from cultur al heritage institutions, collectiv e management organisations or relevant public
authorities, for the purposes of the identication of the out-of-commer ce works or other subject – matters of
protection which are covered by a license granted in accor dance with paragraph 2, or used under the exception
provided for in paragraph 3, information concerning the options available to rightholders, in accor dance with
paragraph 5, as well as information concerning the contr actual parties of a license, the territ ories covered and the
uses, is made permanently , easily and effectiv ely accessible via the public single online portal of the European
Union Intellectual Proper ty Oce, for at least six (6) months befor e the reproduction, the distribution, the
communication or making available to the public of works or other subject – matters of protection, in accor dance
with the license under paragraph 2 or under the exception of paragraph 3. The register ed users of the above portal
who post the r elevant information ar e liable for its accur acy.
9. For the implementa tion of paragraphs 1 and 2, the Hellenic Copyright Organization conducts consultations with
authors or other rightholders, collectiv e management organisations and cultur al heritage institutions in each eld
and enco urages the regular dialogue between representativ e users' and rightholders' organisations, including
collectiv e management organisations, and any other relevant stak eholder organisations, on a sect or-specic
basis, to foster the relevance and usability of the licensing mechanisms set out in paragraph 2, as well as the
effectiv eness of the measur es taken to ensur e the protection of authors who se works or other subject – matters
of protect ion are out – of – commer ce (as added with Article 13 of the Law 4996/2022 (Articles 8 to 11 of the
Directiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 28: Exhibition and Repr oduction of Fine Ar t Works
1. Museums which own the physical carriers into which works of ne art have been incorpor ated shall be entitled,
without the consen t of the author and without payment, to exhibit those works to the public on the museum
premises, or during exhibitions or ganiz ed in museums.
2. The presentation of a ne art work to the public, and its reproduction in catalogues to the extent necessar y to
promote its sale, shall be permissible, without the consent of the author and without pa yment.
3. In the cases dealt  with in paragraphs (1) and (2), above, reproduction shall be permissible, provided such
reproduction does not conict with the normal exploitation of the work and does not unreasonably prejudice the6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 29/81legitimate inter est of the author .
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Article 28A: P ermitted uses for the benet of persons who ar e print disabled and persons with other disabilities
1. For the purposes of this Ar ticle the following denitions apply:
a) ‘work’ means a work in the form of a book, magazine, scientic or other , newspaper or other kind of writing,
notation, including sheet music, and related illustr ations, in any media, including in digital format and in audio
form, such as audiobooks, which is protected by copyright and which is published or other wise lawfully made
publicly a vailable;
b) ‘beneciar y person ’ means, r egar dless of any other disability , a person who:
(aa) is blind;
(bb) has a visual impairment which cannot be impr oved so as to give the person visual function substantially
equiv alent to that of a person who has no such impairment, and who is, as a result, unable to read printed works
to substantially the same degr ee as a person without such an impairment;
(cc) has a perceptual or reading disability and is, as a result, unable to read printed works to substantially the
same degr ee as a person without such disability;
(dd) is unable, due to a physical disability , to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move their eyes to the
extent that would be normally acceptable for r eading.
c) ‘accessible format copy’ means any copy of a work that gives a beneciar y person access to the work in an
alternativ e manner or an alternativ e form, allowing, among others, such person to have access as feasibly and
comfor tably as a person without any of the impairments or disabilities r eferred to in point b);
d) ‘authori sed entity ’ means any organi sation, association, union or other entity , that had been authorised or that is
recognised to provide beneciar y pers ons with instructional training, education, adaptiv e reading and access to
information on a non-pr ot basis. An ‘authorised entity ’ also means a public or a non-pr ot organisation that
provides the same services to beneciar y persons as one of its primar y activities, as an institutional obligation or
as par t of its public-inter est mission (as amended with Ar t. 3 Law 4672/2020) (Ar t. 2 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
2. It shall be permissible, with no authorization of the author and without remuner ation, to carry out any act that is
necessar y to enable:
a) a beneciar y person, or a person acting on their behalf, to mak e an accessible format copy of a work, to which
the beneciar y person has lawful access, and which is intended for their own ex clusiv e use;
b) an authorised entity to mak e an accessible format copy of a work, to which it has lawful access, or to
communicate, mak e available, distribute or lend this copy to a beneciar y person or another authorised entity on a
non-pr ot basis for the purpose of exclusive use by a beneciar y person (as amended with Art. 4 Law. 4672/2020)
(Art. 3 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
3. Any agreement contr ary to par. 2 shall not be allowed (as amended with Art. 4 Law 4672/2020) (Art. 3 Directiv e
( ΕΕ) 2017/1564).
4. Each accessible format copy shall respect the integrity of the work, with due consider ation given to the
changes requir ed to mak e the work accessible in the alternativ e format (as amended with Art. 4 Law 4672/2020)
(Art. 3 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 30/815. It shall be permissible, with no authori zation of the author and without remuner ation, to an authorised entity to
carry out the acts provided under par. 2 point b) on behalf of a beneciar y person or other authorised entity
established in another EU Member State. It is also permissible to a beneciar y person or an authorised entity
established in Greece to obtain and have access to an accessible format copy from an authorised entity
established in an EU Member State (as amended with Ar t. 5 Law 4672/2020) (Ar t. 4 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
6. In the case wher e an authorised entity which is established in Greece carries out the acts provided under
paragraphs 2 and 5:
a) It establishes and follows its own pr actices t o ensur e that it:
aa) distributes, communicates and mak es available accessible format copies of works only to beneciar y
persons or other authorised entities;
bb) takes appr opria te steps to disco urage the unauthorised reproduction, distribution, communication to the
public or making a vailable t o the public of accessible format copies of works;
cc) demonstr ates due care in, and maintains recor ds of, its handling of works and of accessible format copies
thereof;
dd) publishes and updates, possibly on its website or through other online or oine channels, information on how
it complie s with the obligations laid down in points (aa) to (cc). It shall be presumed that authorised entities meet
the prerequisites described above if complying with the standar ds and guidelines that the National Library of
Greece dr aws up in accor dance with point ia) par . 4. Ar t. 1 Law 3149/2003 ( Α  ́ 141).
b) Pr ovides, on r equest, in an accessible wa y, to beneciar y persons, other authorised entities or rightholders:
aa) the list of works for which it has accessible format copies and the a vailable formats;
bb) the name and contact details of the authorised entities with which it has engaged in the exchange of
accessible format copies in accor dance with paragraphs 2 and 5 (as amended with Art. 6 Law 4672/2020) (Art. 5
Directiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
7. Publisher s shall provide competent entities, in digital format, les of works provided that they keep them in a
digital format. In the case of non – compliance with this obligation, Art. 946 Code of Civil Procedur e is, in
particular , to be applied. Disputes arising under this paragraph are to be dealt within the procedur e of interim
measur es hear d by the Single – Memb er Cour t of First Instance having local jurisdiction (as amended with Art. 6
Law 4672/2020) (Ar t. 5 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
8. A list of accessible formats copies of works is kept in the National Library, of the type of accessible formats to
which works had been reproduced, as well as of the competent authorities which keep them. Competent
authorities shall provide, within a reasonable period following the making of accessible formats, National Library
with the necessar y information for the updating of the list (as amended with Art. 6 Law 4672/2020) (Art. 5
Directiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
9. Compensation to rightholders for uses of primar y, secondar y and higher education textbooks shall take the
same form as that applicable to those intended for non - beneciaries (as amended with by Art. 7 Law
4672/2020) (Ar t. 6 and 7 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
10. Competent authorities carrying out the acts provided under par. 5, may communicate their name and contact
details to the Hellen ic Copyright Organization (HCO) which provides this information to the European Commission
(as amended with Ar t. 7 Law 4672/2020) (Ar t. 6 and 7 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 31/8111. The processing of personal data carried out within the framework of this Article is subject to the law
governing personal data protection (as amended with Art. 7 Law 4672/2020) (Art. 6 and 7 Directiv e (EU)
2017/1564).
12. Reproduc tion, com munication to the public and making available to the public of works, for the benet of deaf
people, shall be permissible, with no authorization of the author and without remuner ation, in the case wher e such
uses are directly related to their disabi lity, and they are not commer cial in nature to the extent requir ed by reason
of a certain disability , in accor dance with this Article except for paragraph 5. The conditions of those uses may be
further specied by means of a joint decision issued by the Minister of Culture and Spor ts and the Minister of
Education and Religious Affairs. (as amended with Art. 8 Law 4672/2020) (Art. 5 par. 3 point b) Directiv e 2001/29,
as amended with Ar t. 8 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
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Article 28B: Ex ception fr om the Repr oduction Right
Tempor ary acts of reproduction which are transient or incidental, which are an integr al and essential part of a
technological process and whose sole purpose is to enable: a) a transmission in a network between third parties
by an intermediar y or b) a lawful use of a work or other protected subject-matter , and which have no independent
economic signicance, shall be ex empted fr om the r eproduction right.
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Article 28C: Clause of Gener al Application concerning the Limitations
The limitations provided for in Section IV of Law 2121/1993, as exists, shall only be applied in certain special
cases which do not conict with a normal exploitation of the work or other protected subject-matter and do not
unreasonably pr ejudice the legitimate inter ests of the rightholder .
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CHAPTER FIVE: DURA TION OF PRO TECTION
 
Article 29: Dur ation in Gener al
1. Copyright  shall last for the whole of the author ’s life and for seventy (70) years after his death, calculated from
1st Januar y of the y ear after the author ’s death.
2. After the expir y of the period of copyright protection, the State, represente d by the Minister of Cultur e, may
exercise the rights relating to the acknowledgment of the author ’s paternity and the rights relating to the
protection of the integrity of the work deriving from the moral rights pursuan t to Article 4(1)(b) and (1)(c) of this
Law.
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Article 30: W orks of joint-authorship and musical compositions with lyrics6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 32/811. With respe ct to collabor ative works, copyright lasts as long as the life of the last surviving author and seventy
(70) years  following his death, calcula ted from the 1st of Januar y of the year following the death of the last
surviving author .
2. The term of protection of musical com positions with lyrics is the same as the one mentioned in paragraph 1,
provided that both contributions, by the composer and the lyricist, have been created specically for the particular
musical composition with lyrics (as amended with ar ticle 54 Law 4481/2017).
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Article 31: Special Commencement of the Dur ation
1. In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the term of copyrigh t shall last for seventy (70) years
computed from 1st Januar y of the year after that in which the work is lawfully made available to the public.
Howe ver if, during the above period, the author discloses his identity or when the pseudonym adopted by the
author lea ves no doubt as t o his identity , then the gener al rules apply .
2. Whe re a work is published in volumes , parts, instalments, issues or episode s and the term of protection runs
from the time when  the work was lawfully made available to the public, the term of protection shall run for each
such item separ ately .
3. The term of protection of audio visual works shall expir e seventy years after the death of the last of the
following persons to survive: the princi pal director, the author of the screenpla y, the author of the dialogue and the
composer of the music specically cr eated for use in the audio visual work.
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Article 31 Α : Works of visual ar ts which ha ve fallen int o public domain
1. When the term of protection of a work of visual art has expir ed, any material resulting from an act of
reproduction of that work shall not be protected by copyright or related right s, unless the material resulting from
that act of r eproduction is original in the sense that it is the author 's own intellectual cr eation.
2. When the term of protection of a work of visual art has expir ed, any material resulting from an act of
reproduction of that work shall not be protected by copyright or related right s, unless the material resulting from
that act of r eproduction is original in the sense that it is the author 's own intellectual cr eation.
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CHAPTER SI X: RULES REL ATING TO EXPL OITATION CON TRA CTS AND LICENSES
Article 32: A uthor ’s remuner ation
1.When the author enters into an exploita tion contr act or grants a license or transfers his economic rights for the
purpose of exploiting his work, he shall receiv e an appr opriate and propor tionate remuner ation which is
determined into a specic percentage. The basis for the calculation of the percentage is all, without exception, the
gross income or expenses, or the combined gross income and expenses, realiz ed by the activity of the6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 33/81counterpar ty and deriv ed from the exploitation of the work. Exceptionally , the remuner ation may be calculated at a
certain amount, the amount of which must be appr opriate and propor tionate, in the following cases: a) the basis
for calculating the percentage of the remuner ation is practically impossible to be determined or there is a lack of
the means for the monit oring the implementation of the percentage, b) the costs requir ed for the calculation and
monit oring are dispr opor tionate to the remuner ation to be receiv ed, c) the natur e or conditions of the exploitation
mak e the application of the percentage impossible, in particular when the author 's contribution is not an essential
element of the whole of the intellectual creation or when the use of the work has a secondar y char acter in relation
to the object of exploitation. The waiv er or the contr actual limitation of the author 's rights provided for in this
Article, is v oid. Inv alidity ma y be only inv oked b y the author .
2. This  shall apply without prejudice to art. 4858/2021 (A' 220) (as added by art. 17 of Law 4996/2022 (article 14
of Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 32A: Claim for additional r emuner ation
1. In the absence of an agreement, deriving from collectiv e bargaining, in force and that provides for a mechanism
granting the additional remuner ation provided for herein, the author in person or through his special attorne y, is
entitled to claim additional, appr opriat e and fair remuner ation from the party with whom he had enter ed into an
contr act or to whom he had granted a license or to whom he had transf erred his economic rights for the purpose
of exploitation, or from the successors  in title of such a party, when the remuner ation originally agreed turns out
to be dispr opor tionately low compar ed to all the subsequent relevant revenues deriv ed from the exploitation of
the work. For the determination of the remuner ation, the special circumstances of each case at issue, the author ’s
contribution, as well as the particularities and the remuner ation practices of different elds of content, shall be
taken int o account.
2. Paragraph 1 does not apply to agreements concluded by collectiv e management organisations and
independent management entities, as well as by other entities for which Article 2 of the Law 4481/2017 (A ΄  100)
is applicable.
3. Any waiv er or contr actual limitation of the rights of the author which are provided for in paragraph 2 is void.
Invalidity may only be invoked by the author (as added with Article 23 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 20 and
Article 23 par agraph 1 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 33: Arr angements concerning the contr act of printed publication and tr anslat or’s rights
1.The remuner ation that the publisher of a printed publication owes to the author for the reproduction and the
distribution of the work or of its copie s, shall be agreed to a certain percentage on the retail selling price of all
copies sold. When the printed publication contr act concerns a literary work such as a shor t story, novella, novel,
poem, essa y, critical essa y, theatrical work, travel work, biogr aphy , which is published in its original language in
book form , excludin g pock et books, the remuner ation that the publisher owes to the author after the sale of one
thousand (1,000) copies cannot be less than 10% of the r etail price of all copies sold.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 34/812. By way of derogation from the previous paragraph, the author ’s remuner ation may be agreed to a certain
amount in the following cases: a) collectiv e works, b) ency clopedias, dictionaries, anthologies of third - party
works, c) school books and handboo ks, d) scrapbooks, diaries, agendas, practical guides, printed games and
educational materials such as maps, atlases, e) prefaces, commentaries, introductions, presentations, f)
illustr ations and phot ographic material  of printed publications, g) non-liter ary illustr ated childr en's books, h) luxur y
editions of a limited number of publications, i) magazines, newspapers.
3. If there are more authors, and the relationship between them has not been regulated other wise, the
remuner ation in percentage is distributed among them accor ding to the extent of each one's contribution. In the
case wher e one or more authors are not protected under the provisions of copyright laws, the protected authors
shall take the percentage of the remuner ation agreed or that they would take in accor dance with paragraph 1 of
this Ar ticle, if all authors wer e protected.
4. In the case of rental of copies by third parties, the remuner ation for the provision of the necessar y license shall
be equally distributed between the author and the publisher .
5. In cases where the author ’s remuner ation is determined as a percentage of the retail sale, all copies of the work
must be signed b y the author , unless another monit oring contr ol is agr eed upon.
6. The remuner ation that the publisher of a printed publication owes to the translator of a work for the translation,
the reproduction and distribution of the work, is agreed to a certain percentage of the of the retail price of all
copies sold. The pr ovisions of par agraphs 2, 4 and 5 of this Ar ticle apply mutatis mutandis.
7. The nam e of the translat or must be mentioned prominently on the main title page of the book. Following an
agreement with the publisher , the name of the translat or may also be mentioned on the cover of the book (as
amended by Article 35 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 1 paragraph 1 point a) and Article 6 paragraph 1 of the
Directiv e (EC ) 2006/115)).
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Article 34: Rules Relating t o Audio visual Pr oduction Contr acts
1. A contract dealing with the creation of an audio visual work between a produc er and an author shall specify the
economic rights which are to be transferred to the producer . If the aforementioned provision is not met, the
contr act shall be deemed to transf er to the producer all the economic rights which are necessar y for the
exploitation of the audio visual work, pursuant to the purpose of the contr act. When the master from which copies
for exploi tation are to be made, is appr oved by the author , the audio visual work shall be deemed to be
accomplished. No alter ation, abridgm ent or other modication shall be made to the denitiv e form of the
audio visual work, as the latter has been appr oved by the author , without his prior consent. Authors of individual
contributions to an audio visual work may exercise their moral right only in relation to the denitiv e form of the
work, as appr oved b y the author .
2. The contr act betw een the producer of an audio visual work and the creators of individual contributions
incorpor ated in the work shall specify the economic rights which are transf erred to the producer . If the
aforementioned provision is not met, the contr act between the produc er and the authors of individual
contributions, other  than the composer s of music and writers of lyrics, shall be deemed to transf er to the producer6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 35/81those powers under the economic right which are necessar y for the exploitation of the audio visual work, pursuant
to the purpose of the contr act. Wher e the contributions to an audio visual work are capable of separ ate use, the
economic right in r elation t o other uses shall r emain with their authors.
Authors of audio visual contributions are consider ed to be the author of the screenpla y, the author of the dialogue,
the composer of music, the director of phot ography , the stage designer , the costume designer , the sound engineer
and the nal pr osecut or (edit or).
3. 3. The intellectual creator reser ves the right to separ ate remuner ation for any way of exploitation of the
audio visual work. This remuner ation shall be determined in accor dance with Article 32. The producer of the
audio visual work is obliged to provide information to the intellectual creator in accor dance with Article 15A. Shor
advertising lms are excluded from the regulation of this paragraph (as amended by Article 21 paragraph 2 of the
Law 4996/2022 (Ar ticle 18 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
4. When visual or audio visual recor dings carrying a xation of an audio visua l work are the object of a rental
arrangement, the author shall in all cases retain the right to an equitable remuner ation. This provision shall apply
also in the case of a r ental arr angement r elating t o sound r ecor dings.
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Article 34A: Negotiation mechanism concerning access to and availability of audio visual works on video – on –
demand platforms
When the parties are facing diculties in concluding contr acts or granting licenses for the purpose of making
available audio visual works on video-on-demand services may rely, they can, if they wish, to request the
assistance of the Hellenic Copyright Organisation (H.C.O .) or the assistance of mediat ors, applied accor dingly in
the rest of paragraph 9 of Article 35. To draw – up the table of the H.C.O . the opinion of rightholders and of the
businesses offering video – on – demand services, is requested. The H.C.O . and the mediat ors provide assistance
to the parties with their negotiations and help the parties reach agreemen ts, including, wher e appr opriate, by
submitting proposa ls to them (as added with Article 16 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 13 of the Directiv e (EU)
2019/790)).
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Article 35: Regulations for r adio and tele vision br oadcasting and r ebroadcasting
1.As long as there is not contr ary agreement in case of repetition of a work by radio or television no further
consent of the author is requir es beyond the original, but the broadcaster is obliged to pay additional
remuner ation to the author which is determined for the rst repetition to a percentage of at least fty per cent
(50%) of the amoun t which was initially  agreed and for any subsequent to aa percentage of twenty per cent (20%).
The provision of the previous sentence does not apply to the relations between collectiv e management
organisations and users which ar e regulated b y Article 56 of this Law .
2. The radio or television broadcasting contr act, if there is not a contr ary agreement, does not provide to the
counterpar ty the power to allow to third people the broadcast or rebroadcast of the work to the public by6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 36/81electr omagnetic waves or by material  conduct ors or by any other means, parallel to the earth's surface or via
satellites.
3. The communicatio n of a work to the public by satellite is consider ed to take place exclusiv ely to the Member
State of the European Union in the territ ory of which, under the contr ol and responsibility of the broadcasting
organization, signal s containing programs are introduced in an uninterrupted chain of transmission to the satellite
and thence to the ground. If the signals  containing programmes are in coded form, then there is a communication
to the public via satellite, insofar as the means for decoding the programme are made available to the public by
the broadcasting organization or with its consent. In the case wher e the com munication to the public by satellite
is taking place to a non – EU Member State, which does not provide for the level of protection, which is provided
under this Law, as amended with this Law, the following apply: i) if the signals containing programs are
transmitted by satellite from a transmitting station to a satellite located in a Member State, the act of
communication to the public by satellite is deemed to have taken place in that Member State and the rights may
be exercised against the person who puts into oper ation the transmitting station to satellite, ii) if a transmitting
station to satellite located in a Member State is not used, but the act of the communication to the public by
satellite had been assigned by a broadcasting organization which is establ ished in a Member State, the act is
consider ed to had taken place to the Member State wher e the broadcasting organisation has its main
establishment and the rights may be exercised against the broadcasting organisation. “Communication to the
public by satellite ” means the act of introducing, under the contr ol and responsibility of the broadcasting
organisation, the signals including programmes which are intended to be receiv ed by the public in an
uninterrupted chain of transmission to the satellite and from there to the ground. The authorization for the
communication t o the public of a work b y satellite shall be acquir ed only b y the means of an agr eement.
4. The cable retransmission of broadcasts by other Members States to Greece takes place, in respect to copyright,
in accordance with this Law and on the basis of individual or collectiv e contr acts between authors and cable
network oper ators. “Cable retransmiss ion” means the simultaneous, unalter ed and unabridged retransmission by
a cable or micr owa ve system for the purpose of reception by the public of an initial transmission from another
Member State, wired or wireless, including the transmission by satellite of television or radio programmes
intended for reception by the public, regar dless of how the oper ator of a cable retransmission service obtains the
programme-carr ying signals fr om the br oadcasting or ganisation for the purpose of r etransmission.
5. ‘Retr ansmission ’ means any simultaneous, unalter ed and unabridged retransmission, other than cable
retransmission as dened in the last sentence of paragraph 4, intended for reception by the public, of an initial
transmission from another Member State of television or radio programmes intended for reception by the public,
wher e such initial transmission is by wire or over the air including that by satellite, but is not by online
transmission, provided that: a) the retransmission is carried out by a party other than the broadcasting
organisation which made the initial transmission or under whose control and responsibility that initial
transmission was made, regar dless of how the party carrying out the retransmission obtains the programme -
carrying signals from the broadcasting organisation for the purpose of retransmission, and b) wher e the
retransmission is over an internet access service as dened in point (2) of the second paragraph of Article 2 of
Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 laying down
measur es concerning open internet access and amending Directiv e 2002/22/EC on universal service and users'
rights relating to electronic communica tions networks and services and Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 on roaming6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 37/81on public mobile communications networks within the Union, it is carried out in a managed envir onment.:
‘Managed envir onment’ means an envir onment in which an oper ator of a retransmission service provides a secur e
retransmission to authorised users, which provides for a level of content security which can be compar ed to the
level of security wher e only authoriz ed users may have access to retransmissions and the provided level of
security may be compar ed with the level of security for the content transmitted over managed networks, such as
cable or closed cir cuit IP-based networks, in which content that is r etransmitted is encr ypted.
6. The acts of retransm ission of radio and television programmes referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 are subject to
an author ization by the holders of the respectiv e exclusiv e rights of broadcasting and communication to the
public. The right of rightholders who are not broadcasting organisations, to provide for an authorization or to deny
the the pr ovision of a r etransmission license, ma y be ex ercised solely b y collectiv e management or ganisations.
7. When in the case of the second sentence of paragraph 6 the rightholder had not entrusted management of the
retransmission right to a collectiv e management organisation, the collectiv e management organisation which
manages rights of the same categor y shall be deemed to have the right to grant or refuse the authorisation for a
retransmission for that rightholder . In that case, wher e more than one collectiv e management organisation
manages rights of the same categor y, the rightholders is free to choose among them the collectiv e management
organisation, which  he authoriz es to manage the retransmission right. If he does not, then it is consider ed that
they have jointly the right to grant or deny the provision of authorization for retransmission. The above -
mentioned rightholder has the same rights and the same obligations which deriv e from an agreement between an
oper ator of a retransmission service and a collectiv e management organisation or organisations which act
pursuant to previous sentences, with the rightholders who had entrusted the management to the organisation or
to the organisations, and he may invoke these rights within a period of three (3) years from the date of the
retransmission that includes his work or other subject - matter of pr otection.
8. Paragraphs 6 and 7 shall not apply to retransmission rights which are exercised by a broadcasting organisation,
in respect of its own transmissions, irrespectiv e of whether the related rights are its own or they had been
transf erred to it by another righthdolders. Broadcasting organisations and oper ators of retransmission services
conduct negotiations r egar ding authorisation for r etransmission in good faith.
9. When no agreemen t has been conclud ed between the collectiv e management organisation and the oper ator of
retransmission services or between the oper ator of retransmission services and the broadcasting organisation,
regar ding authorization for the retransmission of a broadcasting in accor dance with paragraphs 4 and 5, any of
the interested parties has the right to request the assistance of one or more mediat ors chosen from a table of
independent and impar tial arbitr ators, which is drawn up by the Hellenic Copyright Organisation (HCO) every two
(2) years. The HCO  may ask for the opinion of collectiv e management organisations and of the cable – network
oper ators for the drawing – up of the above - mentioned table. Arbitr ators assist in negotiations and may mak e
proposals to the parties. It shall be deemed that all parties accept the proposal of the previous sentence, if none
of them raises obje ctions within a time – limit of three (3) months from the notication of the proposal (as
amended by Article 3 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 2 paragraphs 2 and 3 and Articles 4, 5, 6 and 9 of the
Directiv e (EU) 2019/789)).
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Article 36: Theatrical P erformance F ee6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 38/811. The rights of playwrights shall be dete rmined as a percentage of gross receipts after deduction of the public
enter tainment tax.
2. The fee shall be based on the gross receipts for the whole of the program of a performance of original works or
translations or adaptations of ancient or more recent classical works, the minimum fee shall be 22 percent for
performances in state theatr e and 10 percent for performances in private theatr es. For translations of modern
works of the contempor ary international reper tory, the minimum fee shall be 5 percent. Wher e a program contains
works by more than one playwright, the fee shall be shar ed among them in propor tion to the duration of each
playwright’ s work.
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Article 37: Musical Accompaniment of Films
The minimum fee payable to the composers of musical and song accompani ment of lms, shown to the public in
cinema halls or other spaces, shall be 1 per cent of gr oss r eceipts after deduction of the public enter tainment tax.
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Article 38: Phot ographers’ Rights
1. In the absence of an agreement to the contr ary, a transf er of the economic right or exploitation contr act or
license dealing with the publication of a phot ograph in a newspaper , period ical or other mass media shall refer
only to the publication of the phot ograph in the particular newspaper , period ical or mass media specied in the
transf er or exploitation contr act or license and to the archiving of the phot ograph. Every subsequent act of
publication shall be subject to payment of a fee equal to half the current fee. The publication of a transf erred
phot ograph from the archive of a newspaper , periodical or other mass media shall be permitted only when
accompanied by a reference to the title of the newspaper or of the periodical or to the name of the mass media,
into whose ar chive the phot ograph was initially and lawfully placed.
2. Whe re the publication of a phot ograph is facilitated by the surrender of the photographic negativ e, use shall be
made of the negativ e, in the absence of an agreement to the contr ary, only for the rst publication of the
phot ograph, after which the negativ e shall be r eturned t o the phot ographer .
3. The phot ographer shall retain the right to access and request the return to him of his phot ographs, which have
been the object of an exploitation contr act or license arrangement with a particular newspaper , periodical or other
mass media and which have remained unpublished three months after the date of the exploitation contr act or
license.
4. Each act of publication of a phot ograph shall be accompanied by a mentioning of the phot ographer ’s name.
This shall  apply likewise when the archive of a newspaper or of a perio dical or of another mass media is
transf erred.
5. The owner of a newspaper or of a periodical shall not be entitled to publish a phot ograph created by a
phot ographer , emplo yed by him, in a book or album publication without the emplo yee’s consent. This shall apply
likewise t o the lending of a phot ograph.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 39/81Top
Article 39: Nullity of Contr ary Agr eement
Except wher e provided for elsewher e in law, any agreement which lays down conditions contr ary to the provisions
of the articles of this Section, or which imposes a fee level lower than that prescribed in this Section, shall be null
and v oid in r espect of those of its clauses which ar e deleterious t o the authors.
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Article 39A:
1. Disputes concerning the transpar ency obligation under Article 15A and the claim for additional remuner ation
under Article 32A may be submitted to an alternativ e dispute resolution procedur e, insofar as the parties agree,
applicable to the rest accor dingly paragraph 9 of Article 35. Repr esentativ e organisations of authors may initiate
such pr ocedur es following a specic r equest of one or mor e authors.
2. Any contractual provision excluding recourse to mediation is void. Invalidity may only be invoked by the author
(as added with Ar ticle 24 of the Law 4996/2022 (Ar ticle 21 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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CHAPTER SEVEN: SPECI AL PRO VISIONS CONCERNING COMPUTER PROGR AMS AND THE SUI GENERIS RIGH T
OF D ATABASE M AKER
Article 40: Pr ograms Cr eated b y Emplo yees
The econo mic right in a computer program created by an emplo yee in the execution of the emplo yment contr act
or following instructions given by his emplo yer shall be transf erred ipso jure to the emplo yer, unless other wise
provided b y contr act.
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Article 41: Exhaustion of a Right
The rst sale in the European Community of a copy of a program by the auth or or with his consent shall exhaust
the distribution right within the Community of that copy, with the exception of the right to contr ol further rental of
the pr ogram or of a cop y ther eof.
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Article 42: Restrictions
1. In the absence of an agreement to the contr ary, the reproduction, translation, adaptation, arrangement or any
other alter ation of a computer program shall not requir e authorization by the author or necessitate payment of a6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 40/81fee, wher e the said acts are necessar y for the use of the program by the lawful acquir er in accor dance with its
intended purpose, including corr ection of err ors.
2. Repr oduction which is necessar y for the purposes of loading, displa ying, running, or storage of the computer
program shall not fall under the restriction of the previous paragraph and shall be subject to authorization by the
author .
3. The making of a backup copy by a person having a right to use the computer program may not be prevented by
contr act insofar as it is necessar y for the use of the program, and shall not necessitate an authorization by the
author or the pa yment of a f ee.
4. The person having a right to use a copy of a computer program shall be entitled, without the authorization of
the autho r and without payment of a fee, to obser ve, study or test the functioning of the program in order to
determine the ideas and principles which underlie any element of the program, if he does so while performing any
of the acts, which he is entitled t o do. Any agr eement t o the contr ary shall be pr ohibited.
5. Repr oduction of a computer program for private use other than in the circumstances specied in paragraphs
(3) and (4), abo ve, shall be pr ohibited.
6. The limitation provided under Art. 28 Α  paragraphs 1 to 11 is also applicable to the rights of the holder of rights
over a computer pr ogram (as added with Ar t. 9 par . 1 Law 4672/2020) (Ar t. 3 par . 1 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
7. Paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 21 apply also to the right of reproduction, to the right of translation, adaptation or
other modication, as well as to the right of distribution of the author or other holder of rights over a computer
programme.
8. Article 21B applies also to the right of reproduction to the right of translation , adaptation or other modication
of the author or other holder of rights o ver a computer pr ogramme.
9. Article 22 Α  applies also to the right of reproduction of the author or other holder of rights over a computer
programme (as added with Article 29 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 4 paragraph 1, Article 5 paragraph 1 and
Article 6 par agraph 1 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 43: Decompilation
1. The perso n having the right to use a copy of a computer program shall be entitled to carry out the acts referred
to in Article 42(1) and (2) without the authorization of the author and without the payment of a fee when such acts
are indisp ensable to obtain the information necessar y to achie ve the inter oper ability of an independently created
computer program with other programs, provided that the information nece ssar y to achie ve inter oper ability has
not previously been easily and readily available to the person having the right to use the computer program, and
provided that these acts are conned to the parts of the original program which are necessar y to achie ve the said
inter oper ability .
2. The pr ovisions of par agraph (1) shall not permit the information obtained thr ough its application:
a) to be used for goals other than t o achie ve the inter oper ability of the independently cr eated computer pr ogram6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 41/81b) to be given to others, except when necessar y for the inter oper ability of the independently created computer
program or
c) to be used for the development, production or mark eting of a computer program substantially similar in its
expr ession t o the initial pr ogram, or for any other act which infringes cop yright
3. The provisions of this Article may not be interpr eted in such a way as to allow its application to be used in a
manner which would conict with a normal exploitation of the compute r program or would unreasonably
prejudice the author ’s legitimate inter ests.
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Article 44
Art. 44 has been abolished b y article 8 par . 8 of Law 2557/1997.
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Article 45: V alidity of Other Pr ovisions and Agr eement
1. The provisions of this Section shall be without prejudice to other legal provisions, relating notably to patent
rights, trade marks, unfair competition, trade secr ets, protection of semi-conduct or products or the law of
contr act.
2. Agreements contr ary to the pr ovisions of Ar ticle 42(3) and (4) and Ar ticle 43 of this Law shall be null and v oid.
3. Articles 15A, 15B and 32A shall not apply to authors of computer programs within the meaning of par. 3 of
article 2 (as added b y article 26 of Law 4996/2022 (ar ticle 23 par . 2 of Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 45A: Sui Generis Right of the Mak er of the Database
1. The mak er of a database has the right, which shows that there has been qualitativ ely and/or quantitativ ely a
substantial investm ent in either the obtaining, verication or presentation of the contents, to prevent extraction
and/or re-utilization of the whole or of a substantial part, evaluated qualitativ ely and/or quantitativ ely, of the
contents of that database. The mak er of a database is the individual or legal entity who takes the initiativ e and
bears the risk of inv estment. The database contr actor is not consider ed as mak er.
2. For the purposes of this article: a) extraction shall mean the permanent or tempor ary transf er of all or a
substantial part of the contents of a database to another medium by any means or in any form, and b) re-
utilization shall mean any form of making available to the public all or a substantial part of the contents of a
database by the distribution of copies, by renting, by on-line or other forms of transmission. The rst sale of a
copy of a database within the Commu nity by the rightholder or with his cons ent shall exhaust the right to contr ol
resale of that cop y within the Community .
Public lending is not an act of extr action or r e-utilization.
3. The right  referred to in paragraph 1 is effectiv e regar dless of whether the said database or the content thereof
are protected by the provisions on copyright or other provisions. Protection on the basis of the right referred to in6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 42/81paragraph 1 does not prejudice potential rights on their content. The sui gene ris right of the mak er of a database
may be transf erred with or without consider ation and its exploitation may be assigned by license or contr act
(article 7 par .3 and 4 of Dir ectiv e 98/9).
4. The repeated and systematic extraction and/or re-utilization of immaterial parts of the content of the database
are not allowed, if they involve actions opposed to the normal exploitation of the database or unjustiably
prejudice the lawful rights of the mak er of the database (ar ticle 7, par .5 of Dir ectiv e 96/9).
5. The mak er of a database made available to the public by any means cannot prevent the lawful utilization of the
database from extracting and/or re-using immaterial parts of its content, being evaluated qualitativ ely or
quantitativ ely, for any purpose whatsoe ver. If the lawful user is entitled to extract and/or re-utiliz e part only of the
database, the present paragraph is applicable only to such part. The lawful user of a database made available to
the public by any means cannot: a) perform acts that are opposed to the normal exploitation of such database or
unjustiably prejudice the lawful inter ests of the mak er thereof, b) cause damage to the beneciaries of the
copyright or related rights for works or performances contained in the said database. Any agreements contr ary to
the arr angements pr ovided for in the pr esent par agraph ar e null and v oid (ar ticles 8 and 15 of Dir ectiv e 96/9).
6. The lawful user of a database which  had been made available to the public by any means may, without the
authorization of the mak er of the datab ase, to extract or/and to reuse essential part of its content: a) α ) when it is
about extraction, for educational or resear ch purposes, provided that the sour ce is mentioned and to the extent
that this is justied by intended non – commer cial purpose, b) when it is about extraction or/and reuse for public
– security reasons or for purposes of administr ative or procedur e. The sui – generis right applies to databases
whose makers or rightholders are nationals of a Member State or have their habitual residence in the territ ory of
the European Union. It also applies to companies and enterprises which had been established in accor dance with
the legislation of a Member State and which have their statut ory register ed oces, their centr al administr ation or
their principal establishment within the European Union. When the specic Company or enterprise has solely its
statut ory register ed oce in the territ ory of the European Union, its activities must be genuinely and continuously
linked to the econo my of a Member State (Articles 9 and 11 of the Directiv e 96/9). The limitation provided under
Article 28A paragraphs 1 to 11 applies  also to the sui – generis right of the mak er of a database. The limitations
to the author ’s econ omic right under paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 21 and of Articles 21 Α , 21 Β , and 22 Α  apply also
to the sui – generis right of the mak er of a database, in respect of the acts provided for in paragraph 1 (as
amended by Article 30 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 3 paragraph 1, Article 4 paragraph 1, Article 5 paragraph 1
and Ar ticle 6 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
7. The right provided for in this article shall run from the date of completion of the making of the database. It shall
expir e fteen (15) years from the 1st of Januar y of the year following the date of completion. In the case of a
database which is made available to the public in any manner whatsoe ver before expir y of the period provided for
above, the term of protection by that right shall expir e fteen years from the 1st of Januar y of the year following
the date when the database was rst made available to the public. Any substantial change, evaluated qualitativ ely
and/or quantitativ ely, to the content s of a database, including any substantial change resulting from the
accumulation of successiv e addition s, deletions or alter ations, which would result in the database being
consider ed to be a substantial new investment, evaluated qualitativ ely and/or quantitativ ely, shall qualify the
database r esulting fr om that inv estment for its own term of pr otection.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 43/81Top
CHAPTER EIGH T: REL ATED RIGH TS
Article 46: License b y Performers
1. The term  performers shall designate persons who in any way whatsoe ver act or perform works, such as actors,
musicians, singers,  chorus singers, dancers, puppeteers, shadow theatr e artists, variety performers or circus
artists.
2. Performers or performing artists have the right to authorise or prohibit: a) the xation of their performances, b)
the direct or indir ect, tempor ary or permanent reproduction by any means and form, either in whole or in part, in
respect of the xat ion of their performances, c) the distribution to the publi c of the recor ding medium with the
xation of their performances, by sale or other wise. The distribution right shall not be exhausted within the
European Union in relation to the recor ding medium with the xation of the performance, except from the case of
the rst sale within the European Union, that takes place by the rightholder or with his consent, d) the rental of the
recor ding medium with the xation of the performance. This right shall not be exhausted by any sale or other act
of distribution of the above - mentioned recor ding media, e) the broadcast, by any means, such as
electr omagnetic waves, satellites, cables, as well as the communication to the public of the recor ding medium
with the illegal recor ding of their live performance, f) the communication to the public of their live performance,
which takes place by any means, except from broadcasting, g) the making  available to the public, by wire or
wireless means, in such a way that anyone may have access to the recor ding to a recor ding medium of their
performance, from a place and at a time individually chosen by them. This right shall not be exhausted by any act
of making  available to the public within the meaning of this provision (Articles 4 paragraphs 2 and 3, 4 of the
Directiv e 2001/29) (as amended by Article 36 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 1, Article 3 paragraph 1 point b) and
Article 6 of the Dir ectiv e (EC ) 2006/115)).
3. Subject to contr actual clauses to the contrary, explicitly specifying which acts are authoriz ed, the acts listed in
paragraph (2), above, shall be presumed to have been authoriz ed when a performer has enter ed into an
emplo yment contact, having as its object the oper ation of those particular acts, with a party who is doing such
acts. The performe r shall at all times retain the right to remuner ation for each of the acts listed in paragraph (2),
above, regar dless of the form of exploitation of his performance. In particular , the performer shall retain an
unwaiv able right to equitable remune ration for rental, if he has authoriz ed a producer of sound or visual, or
audio visual r ecor dings, t o rent out r ecor dings carr ying xations of his per formance.
4. Where a performan ce is made by an ensemble, the performers making up the ensemble shall elect and appoint
in writing one representativ e to exercise the rights listed in paragraph (2) above. This representation shall not
encompass orchestr al conduct ors, choir conduct ors, soloists, main role actors and principal directors. If the
performers making up an ensemble fail to appoint a representativ e, the rights  listed in paragraph (2), above, shall
be ex ercised b y the dir ector of the ensemble.
5. The transf er inter vivos of the rights provided for in paragraph 2, as well as their waiving, are prohibited. It is
possible to entrust the management and protection of those rights to collectiv e management organisations as
dened in Ar ticle 12 of the Law 4481/2017 ( Α΄  100).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 44/816. Articles 15 Α , 15 Β , 32, 32 Α , 39 and 39 Α  shall apply mutatis mutandis also  to the licenses and exploitation
contacts concluded by performers or performing artists (as paragraph 5 was amended by Article 27 paragraph 1
and paragraph 6 was added with Article 27 paragraph 2 of the Law 4996/20 22 (Articles 18 – 23 of the Directiv e
(EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 47: License b y Producers of Sound and Visual Recor dings
1.Phonogr am producers (producers of sound recor dings) have the right to authorise or prohibit: a) the direct or
indir ect, tempor ary or permanent reproduction by any means and form, either in whole or in part, in respect of their
phonogr ams, b) the distribution to the public of the above - mentioned recor ding media which they had produced
by sale or other wise. The distribution right shall not be exhausted within the European Union in relation to the
recor ding medium with the xation of the performance, except from the case  of the rst sale within the European
Union, that takes place by the rightho lder or with his consent, c) the rental of the above - mentioned recor ding
media. This right shall not be exhausted by any sale or other act of distributio n of the above - mentioned recor ding
media, d) the maki ng available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that anyone may have
access to their phonogr ams, from a place and at a time individually chos en by them. This right shall not be
exhausted by any act of making available to the public within the meaning of this provision , e) the impor t of the
above-mentioned recor ding media that were produced abroad without their consent or, if it is an impor t from
countries outside the European Union,  if the right to impor t them into Greece had been contr actually retained by
the producer . (Articles 2, 3 paragraph 2 and 3, 4 of the Directiv e 2001/29) (as amended by Article 37 of the Law
4996/2022 (Ar ticle 1, Ar ticle 3 par agraph 1 point c) and Ar ticle 6 of the Dir ectiv e (EC ) 2006/115)).
2. Producers of audio visual works (producers of sound or sound and image recor ding media) have the right to
authoriz e or prohibit: a) the direct or indir ect, tempor ary or permanent reproduction by any means and for, either in
whole or in part, in respect of the original and replicas (copies) of their lms, b) the distribution of the above –
mentioned recor ding media which they had produced by sale or other wise. The distribution right shall not be
exhausted within the European Union in relation to the recor ding medium with the xation of the performance,
except from the case of the rst sale within the European Union, that takes place by the rightholder or with his
consent, c) the rental or the public lending of the above – mentioned recor ding media. This right shall not be
exhausted by any sale or other act of distribution of the above - mentioned recor ding media (as amended by
paragraph 4 of Article 67 of the Law 5043/2023), d) the making available to the public, by wire or wireless means,
in such a way that anyone may have access from a place and at a time individually chosen by them to the original
and copie s of their lms. This right shall not be exhausted by any act of making available to the public within the
meaning of this provision, e) the impor t of the above-mentioned recor ding media that were produced abroad
without their consent or, if it is an import from countries outside the European Union, if the right to impor t them
into Greece had been contr actually retained by the producer , f) the broadcasting or rebroadcasting by any means,
including the satellite transmission or the retransmission of the above – mentioned recor ding media in
accor dance with paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 35, as well as their communication to the public (as amended by
Article 38 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 1, Article 3 paragraph 1 point d) and Article 5 of the Directiv e (EC)
2006/115/ ΕΚ )).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 45/813. The term producer  of sound recor dings shall designate any natur al or legal person who initiates and bears the
responsibility for the realization of a rst xation of a series of sounds only. The term producer of visual or sound
and visual recor dings shall designate any natur al or legal person who initiates and bears responsibility for the
realization of a rst xation of a series of images with or without sound.
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Article 48: License fr om Radio or Television Or ganizations
1.Broadcasting organisations have the right to authorise or prohibit: a) the retransmission of their broadcasts by
any means, such as electr omagnetic  waves, satellites, cables, b) the communication to the public of their
broadcasts, c) the recor ding of their broadcasts to sound or sound and image recor ding media, either such
broadcasts are transmitted by wire or wireless means, including the cable or satellite transmission, d) the direct or
indir ect, tempor ary or permanent reproduction by any means and form, either in whole or in part, in respect of the
material integr ation of their broadcasts which are transmitted by wire or wireless means, including the cable or
satellite transmission, e) the distribution to the public of the recor ding media with the recor ding of their
broadcasts, by sale or other wise. The distribution right shall not be exhausted within the European Union, as
regar ds as the recor ding media with the xation of the broadcasts, except from the case of the rst sale within the
European Union that takes place by the rightholder or with his consent, f) the rental or the public lending of the
recor ding medium with the recor ding of their broadcasts. This right shall not be exhausted by any sale or other act
of distribu tion of the above - mentioned recor ding medium, g) the making available to the public (as amended by
paragraph 5 of Article 67 of the Law 5043/2023), g) the making available to the public, by wire or wireless means,
in such a way that anyone may have access to the material integr ation of their broadcasts, from a place and time
individually chosen by them. This right  shall not be exhausted by any act of making available to the public within
the meaning of this provision. (Articles 2, 3 paragraph 2 and 3, 4 of the Directiv e 2001/29) (as amended by Article
39 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 1, Article 6, Article 7 paragraphs 2 and 3 and Article 9 paragraph 1 point d) of the
Directiv e (EC ) 2006/115)).
2. Radio or television organizations shall not have the right provided for in paragraph (1) (c), above, when they
merely retransmit b y cable the br oadcasts of a r adio or tele vision or ganization.
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Article 49: Right t o Equitable Remuner ation
1. (1) When sound recordings are used for a radio or television broadcast by any means, such as wireless waves,
satellite or cable, or for communication  to the public, the user shall pay a sing le and equitable remuner ation to the
performers whose performances are carried on the recor dings and to the producers of the recor dings. This
remuner ation shall be payable only to collecting societies. The said collectin g societies shall be responsible for
negotiating and agreeing the remuner ation levels, raising the claims for the payment and collecting the
remuner ation from the users (as amended with article 54 p.6 a) Law 4481/2017 without prejudice to article 53.
par. 11 Law 4481/2 017 - Article 54 par. 1 b) Law 4481/2017 mistakenly reads “without prejudice to paragraph 12”
instead of “ paragraph 11).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 46/812. Without prejudice to the obligat ory assignment of the administr ation of rights and the collection of the
remuner ation by collecting societies oper ating accor ding to Articles 54 to 58 of the Law, the right of performers to
the r easonable r emuner ation pr escribed under par agraph (1), abo ve, shall not be assignable.
3. The collected remu neration shall be distributed in order of 50 percent to the performers and 50 percent to the
producers of the recor dings. The distribution of the collected remuner ation among the various performers and
among the various producers shall be effected pursuant to agreements among them that are contained in the
rules of each collecting society .
4. Performe rs shall have the right to an equitable remuner ation in respect of any radio or television rebroadcast of
their performance transmitted by radio or television. Without prejudice to the possibility of assigning the
administr ation of rights and the collection of remuner ation to collecting societies accor ding to the provisions of
Articles 54 t o 58 of this Law , an equitable r emuner ation pr escribed in this par agraph shall not be assignable.
5. (5) “Whe n visual or audio visual recor dings are used for radio or television broadcast by any means, such as
wireless waves, satellite or cable or communication to the public, the user shall pay equitable remuner ation to the
performers, whose performances are carried on the recor dings. The provisions of paragraph 1 item b and c as
well as paragraphs 2 and 4 of the present article shall be applicable mutatis  mutandis” (as amended with article
54 par. 6 b) Law 4481/2017 without prejudice to article 53. par. 11 Law 4481/2017 - Article 54 par. 1 b) Law
4481/2017 mistak enly r eads “ without pr ejudice t o par agraph 12” instead of “ paragraph 11 ).
6. (6) Repea led with article 54 p.6 c) Law 4481/2017 without prejudice to article 53. par. 11 Law 4481/2017 -
Article 54 par . 1 b) Law 4481/2017 mistak enly r eads “ without pr ejudice t o par agraph 12” instead of “ paragraph 11
7. Pending litigation during the time that the single collecting society is being established is pursued by the
original par ties until it is irr evocably r esolv ed (as added with ar ticle 46 Law 3905/2010).
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Article 50: Mor al Right
1. During their lifetime, performers shall have the right to full acknowledgment and credit of their status as such in
relation t o their per formances and t o the right t o prohibit any form of alter ation of their per formances.
2. After the death of a per former that person ’s mor al right shall pass t o his heirs.
3. The provisions of Article 12(2) and Article 16 of this Law shall be applicable mutatis mutandis to the moral right
of per formers.
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Article 51: Rights of Publishers
Publishers of printed matter shall have the right to authoriz e or prohibit  the reproduction by reprographic,
electr onic or any other means of the typesetting and pagination format of the works published by them, if the said
reproduction is made for exploitation purposes.
Top6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 47/81Article 51A: Pr otection of Pr eviously Unpublished W orks
Any person who, after the expir y of copyright protection, for the rst time lawfully publishes or lawfully
communicates to the public a previously unpublished work, shall benet from a protection equiv alent to the
economic rights of the author . The term of the protection of such rights shall be twenty ve (25) years from the
time when  the work was rst lawfully published or lawfully communicated to the public and is calculated from 1st
Januar y of the y ear after the rst lawful publication or communication t o the public.
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Article 51B: Pr otection of pr ess publications concerning online uses – Enabling pr ovision
1. For the purposes herein, ‘press publication ’ means a collection composed mainly of literary works of a
journalistic natur e, but which can also include other works or other subject – matters of protection and which: a)
constitutes an individual item within a periodical or regularly updated publication under a single title, such as a
newspaper or a general or special inter est magazine, b) has the purpose of providing the gener al public with
information related  to news or other topics, and c) is published in any media under the initiativ e, editorial
responsibility and contr ol of a service provider . Periodicals that are published for scientic or academic purposes,
such as scientic journals, ar e not pr ess publications for the purposes her ein.
2. Publishers of press publications established in a Member State have, in relation to the online use of their
publications by information society service providers, within the meaning of section b) of paragraph 1 of Article of
the Presidential Decr ee 81/2018 ( Α΄  151) the right to authorise or prohibit: a) the direct or indir ect, tempor ary or
permanent reproduction by any means and form, either in whole or in part and b) the making available to the
public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that anyone may have access to them from a time and place
individually chosen.  The above – mentioned rights shall not apply to private or non – commer cial uses of press
publications by individual users, uses of individual words or very shor ts extracts of publication and acts of posing
hyperlinks. Very shor t extracts shall be deemed as those, the use of which does not affect the effectiv eness of the
rights of publishers , which which is affected, in particular , when the use of the extracts replaces the publication
itself or pr events the inter ested par ty from r eading it.
3. The rights provided for under paragraph 2 shall not prejudice the rights provided in accor dance with national
law and the Union  law to authors and other rightholders in relation to works or other subject – matters of
protection which are incorpor ated into a press publication. The rights of paragraph 2 shall not be shall not be
invoked against those authors and other rightholders and, in particular , shall not depriv e them of their right to
exploit their works and other subjec t matter independently from the press publication in which they are
incorpor ated. When a work or other subject - matter of protection is incorpor ated in a press publication on the
basis of a non-ex clusive license, the rights provided for in paragraph 2 shall not be invoked to prohibit the use by
other auth orised users. Similarly , invocation of the rights of paragraph 2 shall not be made to prohibit the use of
works or other subject - When a work or other subject matter is incorpor ated in a press publication on the basis of
a non-ex clusiv e license, the rights provided for in paragraph 1 shall not be invoked to prohibit the use by other
authorised users. Similarly , invocation of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 shall not be made to prohibit the
use of works or others subject - matters of pr otection for which pr otection has expir ed.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 48/814. Authors of works which had been incorpor ated into a press publication shall receiv e a percentage of the annual
revenues receiv ed by press publishers from information society service providers. The percentage of the previous
sentence amounts to twenty-v e percent (25%) of the annual revenue of publishers whose businesses emplo y
less than sixty percent (60%) of the authors under a contr act of dependent labor and to fteen percent (15%) of
the revenue of publishers, whose businesses exceed the above percentage  of emplo yees in a dependent labor
relationship. The right of authors shall be inalienable, with the exception  of its management by collectiv e
management organisations, and contr ary contr actual clauses are void. Eligible authors include those who receiv e
an old-age or disability pension.
5. The remuner ation of publishers from information society service providers shall be determined, taking into
account the online trac of the subject – matters of protection, the years of activity and the mark et shar e of the
information society  service providers and of the publishers, the number of journalists emplo yed by each publisher ,
the nancial benets, as well as any other criterion deemed as appr opriate for its calculation. By the means of a
decision of the Plenar y Session by the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT) a Regulation is
issued, under which the criteria of the pr evious sentence ar e specied.
6. If within sixty (60) days from the subm ission of an invitation for the beginning of negotiations from one of the
inter ested parties, an agreement for the amount of the remuner ation is not achie ved, every part may submit a
request within the next thirty (30) days, in which its nancial proposal is specied, for the establishment of an
extraordinar y comm ittee by EETT in accor dance with Article 5 of the Ref. No. 1004/40/30.8.2021 decision of
ΕΕΤΤ  ( Β΄  4660), concerning the capability of establishing committees, hearin g committees and working groups.
The committee calls both parties to submit a memor andum on the request of the rst sentence of this paragraph
within thirty (30) days and, provided that both parties submit a memor andum , sets a deadline for the rebuttal of
both sides’ memor andums. Subsequently , the committee issues, within sixty (60) days from the day itself sets as
the time for completion of the submiss ion of opinions and data, and submits to the inter ested parties, even if both
did not take part in the procedur e before it, a condential opinion, acco rding to Article 3 of the Ref. No.
1004/40/30.8.2021 of the decision of EETT, in relation to the handling of condential documents, concerning the
reasonable amount  of the remuner ation in application of the criteria of the Regulation of par. 5, the judicial use of
which is permitted. The committee, for the purpose of effectiv ely exercising its advisor y competence, can by the
means of its decisio n ask from any of the inter ested parties to provide to it all the necessar y nancial data for the
determination of the above – mentioned remuner ation in accor dance with the criteria set – out into the Regulation
of paragraph 5 and to regulate the maintenance of the visibility of the publishers' content in the sear ch results of
providers until the issuance of its opinion. In the case of non – compliance with the decisions of the previous
sentence, the committee may impose to the to the non-compliant party an administr ative ne of fty thousand
(50.000,00) Euros up to ten million (10.000.000,00) Euros. If the parties during the proceeding of the rst until the
fth sentence of this paragraph end up to an agreement in relation to the amount of the remuner ation, they shall
inform the committee by the means of a joint declar ation, which refrains from further actions. By the means of a
joint decis ion of the Ministers of Fina nce, Cultur e and Spor ts and Digital Governance, the amount of the fee
requested, as condition of admissibility , for the examination by EETT of the request submitted for the issuance of
the condential opinion.
7. If none of the parties requests apply within the deadline the issuance of the opinion of the Committee under
paragraph 6 or at least one of them does not accept the opinion of this comm ittee, and in gener al, if the parties do6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 49/81not reach an agreement in relation to the amount of the remuner ation, this is provisionally determined by the
means of a request from any of the parties by the Single – Member Cour t of First Instance of Athens by way of
interim – measur es and denitely by the same Cour t by way of the procedur e of settling proper ty disputes of the
Code of Civil Procedur es. The compe tent for the provisional and denitiv e determination of the remuner ation
Cour t can, following a request from any litigant which may submitted also befor e the appointed hearing in
accor dance with the procedur e of Article 691 of the Code of Civil Procedur e: a) to order the submission from the
parties of the necessar y evidence for the determination of the remuner ation, b) to regulate on a tempor ary basis
the παράβαση  τω ν  δι ατ αγών  τ ου  main tenance of the visibility of the content of publishers to the sear ch results of
providers, and c) to impose for any violation of its orders a penalty of fty thousand (50.000,00) Euros to ten
million (10.000.000,00) Euros, which accrues to the State ’s exchequer (as added with Article 18 of the Law
4996/2022 (par agraph 4 of Ar ticle 3 and par agraphs 1 t o 3 and 5 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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Article 52: Type of license, limitations and dur ation of rights, as well as r egulation of other issues
The rights  provided for in Articles 46 to 51B are governed by the following rules: a) the legal acts concerning these
rights ar e valid only if the y had been made in writing,
b) the limitations, which ar e provided for the economic right of cop yright, apply accor dingly t o them as well,
c) the duration of the rights of perform ers or performing artists which are provided for in Articles 46 and 49 of the
Law are dened to fty (50) years following the date of performance, but it cannot be less than the lifetime of the
artist.
Howe ver,
− if a xation of a performance over other medium except from a phonogr am is published or lawfully
communicated to the public within this period, the rights last for fty (50) years from the date of this rst
publication or this rst communication t o the public, depending on which one had rst tak en place,
− if the incorpor ation of the performan ce into a phonogr am is published or lawfully communicated to the public
within this period, the rights last for seventy (70) years from the date of this rst publication or this rst
communication t o the public, depending on which one had rst tak en place.
d) The rights of phonogr am producers (producers of sound recor ding media) expir e fty (50) years after the
material incorpor ation had taken place. Howe ver, if the phonogr aph had been lawfully published within this period,
the rights expir e seventy (70) years from the date of the rst lawful publica tion. If a lawful publication had not
taken place during the period mentioned in the rst sentence and if the phonogr am had been lawfully
communicated to the public during this period, the rights expir e seventy years from the date of the rst lawful
communication to the public. Howe ver, if due to the expir ation of the period of protection which is provided under
this paragraph, in its wording befor e being amended by the Directiv e (EC) 2001/29 of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the
information society , the rights of phonogr am producers are no longer protected since December 22, 2002, this
paragraph shall not have the effect of protecting those rights anew . (Article 11 paragraph 2 of the Directiv e
2001/29).
aa) If fty πενήν τ α  (50) years from the lawful publication of the phonogr am or -in the absence of such publication-
fty (50) years from its lawful commu nication to the public, the phonogr am producer ceases to offer for sale
copies of the phonogr am in sucient quantity to meet the needs of the mark et or to mak e it available to the6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 50/81public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that the anyone may have access to it in a time and place
individual chosen, the performer or the performing artist may terminate the contr act by which he granted the
phonogr am produc er the exploitation of at least the rights of reproduction, distribution and making available to
the public of the material embodiment of his performances. The right of termination of this contr act may be
exercised if the producer does not perform both acts of exploitation which are referred into the previous sentence
within one (1) year from the written notice to him by the perform of the performing artist of his intention to
terminate the contr act in accor dance with the previous sentence. If these rights had been transf erred to a third
party, in accor dance with the subsection gg) the written termination shall be exercised against the producer , as
dened in the subsection gg).
bb) Where a contr act of the rst sentence of the subsection aa) provides to the performer or the performing artist
a right to claim a non – recurring remuner ation, the performer of the perform ing artist shall be entitled to receiv e
an annual  supplementar y remuner ation from the phonogr am producer for each full year following the ftieth year
from the lawful publication of the phonogr am or - in the absence of such a publication - the ftieth year from the
lawful communication of the phonogr am to the public. The payment shall take place within six (6) months from
the end of each nancial use. Waiver by the performer or the performing  artist from the right of the annual
supplementar y remuner ation shall be v oid.
cc) The total amount allocated by the phonogr am producer for the payment of the annual supplementar y
remuner ation which is referred into the subsection bb) corresponds to twenty percent (20%) of the gross revenue
obtained by the phonogr am producer , during the year preceding that for whom such a remuner ation is paid, from
the reproduction, distribution and mak ing available of the particular phonog ram, after the ftieth year from the
lawful publication of the phonogr am or - in the absence of such a publication - after the ftieth year from the legal
communication of the phonogr am t o the public.
dd) The right of supplementar y remuner ation of the subsection bb) shall be managed by the collectiv e
management or ganisations of per formers – per forming ar tists.
ee) Phonogr am producers are obliged upon request to provide annually and in total (for all performers –
performing artists who are entitled to the annual supplementar y remuner ation and for all phonogr ams) to
collectiv e management organisations which manage the annual supplementar y remuner ation provided under the
subsection bb) any information might be necessar y in or der t o ensur e the pa yment of this r emuner ation.
ff) In the case where a performer or a performing artist is entitled to recurring payments, they shall not be
deducted from such payments any advances or any contr actually determ ined retentions in respect of the
particular phonogr am paid to the performer or to performing artist after the ftieth year from the lawful
publication of the phonogr am or - in the absence of such a publication  - the ftieth year from the legal
communication of the phonogr am t o the public.
gg) For the purpose of the above -mentioned subsections aa) to ff) ‘phonogr am producer ’ means the primar y
rightholder or his successor or quasi – successor rightholder or any third person to whom the relevant rights had
been tr ansf erred.
h) The duration of the rights of produce rs of audio visual works (producers of sound or sound and image recor ding
medium) is dened to fty (50) years following the material incorpor ation. Howe ver, if within this period a lawful
publication or a lawful communication to the public of the recor ding medium had taken place, these rights last for
fty (50) from the date of this rst publication or this rst communication to the public, depending on which one
had rst tak en place.
i) The duration of the rights of the broadcasting organisations which is provided under Article 48 of this Law is6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 51/81dened to fty (50) years following the rst transmission of a broadcastin g, either it is transmitted by wire or
wireless means, including the cable or satellite tr ansmission or any other means of tr ansmission.
z) The duration of the right of publishers which is provided for in Article 51 of this Law is dened to fty (50) years
following the last publication of the work.
k) The duration dened in points c), d), e) and f) of this Article shall be calcula ted from Januar y 1st of the year that
follows the gener ative event.
l) For the purposes of communication to the public by satellite and cable retransmission, the rights of performers
or perform ing artists, of producers of sound recor dings or sound and image recor dings, as well as of the
broadcasting organisations, are protected in accor dance with the provisions of the eighth chapter of this Law,
applying accor dingly the pr ovisions of par agraphs 3 and 4 of Ar ticle 35 of this Law .
m) The rights provided for in Article 51 Β  shall expir e two (2) years follo wing the publication of the press
publication. This period shall be calculated from the year that follows the date of publication of the press
publication at issue (as amended by Article 19 of the Law 4996/2022 (Article 15 paragraph 4 of the Directiv e (EU)
2019/790)).
ma) Article 5 Α  applies mutatis mutandis also to related rights of this Law (as added with Article 40 of the Law
4996/2022 (Ar ticle 3 par agraph 1 sentence b) and Ar ticle 6 of the Dir ectiv e (EC ) 2006/115)).
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Article 53: Pr otection of Cop yright
The protection provided under Articles 46 to 52 of this Law shall leave intact and shall in no way affect the
protection of copyright. In no circumstance shall any of the provisions of the aforementioned Articles be
interpr eted in such a manner as to lessen that protection. Wher e performers, producers of sound or visual or
audio visual recor dings, radio or television organizations and publishers acquir e the copyright in a work in addition
to related rights, such rights shall apply in par allel with each other and shall conf er the rights deriving ther e from.
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CHAPTER NINE: ADMINISTRA TION B Y COLLEC TING SOCIE TIES
Article 54: Assignation of Administr ation
Par. 1-4 Not in force (repealed with article 54 par. 1 Law 4481/2017 without prejudice to article 53 par. 11 Law
4481/2017)
Par. 5-6 Not in force (repealed with article 54 par. 1 Law 4481/2017 without prejudice to article 54 par. 14 Law
4481/2017)
Par. 7-9 Not in force (repealed with article 54 par. 1 Law 4481/2017 without prejudice to article 53 par. 11 Law
4481/2017)
10.The Minis ter of Cultur e and Spor ts may, after consulting with the HCO , and provided that there is a strong
chance that the collectiv e management organisation is unable to full its obligations, and in particular to collect6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 52/81and attribute to rightholders the sums it receiv es on their behalf, due to, by way of example, the lack of own funds,
appoint, as a pre-em ptive administr ative measur e, a Tempor ary Commission er, whose term of oce shall be six
(6) months, and which term may be renewed twice (2) for up to six (6) months (as amended with article 127 Law
4514/2018).
The Tempor ary Commissioner shall ensur e that users receiv e payment and attribute it to rightholders. At the
same time, the tempor ary Commissioner shall, on behalf of the organisation, bring any legal actions and appeals
for defending the inter ests of rightholders which it represents, and shall represent the organisation in both judicial
and extrajudicial procedur es, in order to safeguar d the rights of rightholders, as well as in any dispute arising from
its own decision or action. In order to achie ve these objectiv es, the Tempo rary Commissioner supersedes the
administr ation as of the date of publication of his appointment in the Ocial Go vernment Gaz ette.
At the same time, the Tempor ary Com missioner shall inter vene, in a decisiv e manner , by immediately cancelling
any act or decision not taken by the Commissioner himself in order not to disrupt the oper ation of the
organisation and to avoid its bankru ptcy. The Boar d of Directors shall keep the Tempor ary Commissioner
informed of other management issues, and in the event that he disagr ees with the decision or action which may
affect the viability of the organisation or the inter ests of the rightholders, the Commissioner shall mak e the
decision himself.
The Tempor ary Commissioner is selec ted by the Minister for Cultur e and Sports among persons of recogniz ed
prestige and having adequate professional experience in business or organisation management or nancial or
legal matt ers. The appointment of a Tempor ary Commissioner may not be invoked as a reason for amending or
terminating any contr act or agr eement t o which the or ganisation is a par ty.
The management bodies and the emplo yees of the collectiv e management organisation shall be requir ed to
immediately provide the Tempor ary Commissioner with any information or data requested and to facilitate the
performance of his duties. The Tempor ary Commissioner 's liability , upon the exercise of his duties, shall be limited
to malicious intent and gr oss negligence.
To assist the Tempor ary Commissioner in his work, the HCO may, upon proposal by the Tempor ary Commissioner ,
conclude service agreements with legal, nancial or technical advisers, as well as with administr ative personnel,
subject t o the appr oval of those persons and their r emuner ation b y the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts.
Permanent emplo yees of Ministries, independent Authorities, as well as of legal entities governed by public and
private law within the Gener al Government, may be seconded to the HCO , in order to assist the Tempor ary
Commissioner in his work (as amende d with article 20 par.1 Law 4829/2021). Seconded emplo yees shall receiv e
the entir e salar y of their or ganisation. The abo ve remuner ation shall be char ged on HCO' s budget.
The duration of service agreements, as well as of any secondment, may not exceed the length of the Tempor ary
Commissioner 's term of oce.
The Tempor ary Commissioner 's remu neration shall be determined, upon recommendation by the HCO , in the
decision on his appointment, and shall be char ged, along with the management fees and the remuner ation of the
persons hir ed to assist in his work, as per abo ve, on the HCO ' s budget.
Concerning compensation for work exceeding the mandat ory working hours of persons assisting the tempor ary
Commissioner , the provisions of item a of subpar agraph 2 of paragraph C of Article 20 of Law 4354/2015 (A’ 176)
shall appl y. Compe nsation for the above – mentioned mandat ory overtime shall be attested by the Tempor ary
Commissioner and shall be char ged on HCO' s budget.
The Commissioner shall submit to the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts a summar y repor t of his activities at the end
of each month, as well as a schedule for the following month and a compr ehensiv e repor t at the end of his term6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 53/81of oce. The term of oce of the Tempor ary Commissioner shall expir e upon expir y of the term for which he was
appointed. Other wise, the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts may, by reasoned decision, revoke the appointment of
the Tempor ary Commissioner for reasons connected with the performance of his duties or the need to reorganiz e
the or ganisation (as amended with ar ticle 54 par . 15 a) Law 4481/2017).
Note: P aragraph 10 of Ar ticle 54 of Law 2121/1993, as amended b y this Law , shall no longer apply:
(a) if the appointment of the Tempor ary Commissioner is revoked or termina ted by a decision of the Minister of
Cultur e and Spor ts for any of the r easons set for th in the abo ve provision; or
(b) if a Commissioner is appointed in accor dance with paragraph 2 of article  52 hereof (article 54 par. 15 b) Law
4481/2017).
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Article 55: The Competence of Collecting Societies
1. Collecting societies shall ha ve the competence t o per form the following functions:
a) concluding contr acts with users specifying the terms of exploitation of works and the r emuner ation pa yable
b) securing for authors the per centage f ee referred to in Ar ticle 32(1) of this Law;
c) collecting r emuner ation and distributing it among authors as necessar y
d) collecting and allocating among authors the r emuner ation r eferred to in Ar ticle 18(3) of this Law
e) effecting all administr ative, judicial and extrajudicial tasks necessar y to secur e lawful protection of the rights of
authors and other right holders, notably taking legal steps and cour t actions, lodging of complaints and serving
writs, appearing as civil plaintiffs, seeking the prohibition of acts deemed to infringe rights whose protection is
assigned t o them and r equesting seizur e of unlawful copies pursuant t o Article 64 of this Law
f) obtaining fr om users all information needed for the computation, collection and allocation of r emuner ation
g) carrying out, in collabor ation with public authorities or pursuant to the procedur e referred to in Article 64 of this
Law, all necessar y checks at outlets for the sale, rental and lending of copies  of works under their protection, and
at public performances of works, in order to protect against infringements of the rights of authors. The
establishment act of the collecting society can limit its competence t o only par t of the abo ve-mentioned.
2. A collecting society shall be presumed to have the competence to administer and/or protect the rights in all of
the works or in respect of all of the authors concerning which or for whom a declar ation of transf er to the society
has been effected in writing, or for which it has been granted power of attorne y. Wher e a collecting society
oper ating with the appr oval of the Minister of Cultur e and Tourism exercises the right to a single equitable
remuner ation as described in paragraph 1 Article 49 of this Law it shall be presumed that such collecting society
represents without exception all beneciaries, both national and foreign, and all their works. In such a case, the
same shall be presumed wher e, for each categor y of beneciaries there are more collecting societies, given that
the rights are exercised by the com petent collecting societies altogeth er (as added with article 46 Law
3905/2010). Regar dless of whether its authorization rests on a transf er of rights or on power of attorne y, a6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 54/81collecting society shall in all circumsta nces be entitled to initiate judicial or extrajudicial action in its own name
and t o exercise in full legitimacy all the rights tr ansf erred to it, or for which it holds power of att orne y.
3. When seeking the protection of the cour ts for works or authors under its protection a collecting society shall
not be requir ed to provide an exhaust ive list of all of the works which have been the object of the unlicensed
exploitation, and it ma y lodge only a sample list.
4. If a right holder disputes a collecting society ’s competence over a work whic h is assumed to be included under
the declar ation referred to in paragraph (2), above, and which has, accor dingly , on the basis of that declar ation,
been included in a contr act concluded by the collecting society with a user , the collecting society shall defend the
case of the user and offer all possible assistance in any cour t action which may follow . If the collecting society is
adjudged not to have competence over the work, it shall, in addition to any penalty imposed upon it, be liable for
the payment of compensation to the user with which it signed the contr act, the amount of which shall be
determined pursuant to the special safeguar ding measur es. This provision does not apply in the case of
compulsor y collectiv e management as described in paragraph 1 Article 49 of this Law (as added with article 46
Law 3905/2010).
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Article 56: Relations with Users
1. When granting users the facility to mak e use of works assigned to it, a collec ting society shall demand from the
users payment of the percentage fee specied in Article 32(1) of this Law. The exceptions provided for in Article
32(2) of this Law with r espect t o the per centage f ee shall not apply in these cir cumstances.
2. A collecti ng society  may not refuse to conclude a contr act with a user , as referred to in Article 55(1) a), without
good reason. If an aspiring user is of the opinion that the remuner ation demanded by a collecting society is clearly
in excess of that usually payable in similar circumstances, the aspiring user shall pay to the collecting society , in
advance of any use, either the remuner ation demanded or an amount determi ned, upon request, by a cour t of rst
instance as being equal to the remuner ation usually payable in similar circumstances, pursuant to the
safeguar ding measur es. The nal judgment concerning the remuner ation shall be render ed by the competent
cour t.
3. Organizations representing users may, together with collecting societies, decide by written agreement to
appoint an arbiter , specically by name or position, to determine the amount of remuner ation to be paid by a user
befor e disagr eement arises. Befor e nally deciding on the remuner ation due the arbiter may order the user to
lodge a down payment. An arbiter thus appointed shall have exclusiv e competence for the settling of
disagr eements. The decisions of an arbiter shall be equitable. The Minister of Cultur e may himself decide to
appoint an arbiter . In such a case, recourse to that arbiter by the parties to a dispute shall be voluntar y and by
agreement. Collecti ng societies shall draw up lists of the remuner ation payable by users (remuner ation tariffs)
and shall promulgate the said lists in not less than three daily journals, one of which shall be a nancial journal.
When dr awing up and implementing their r emuner ation tariffs, collecting societies shall r efrain fr om inconsistency
and discrimination.  The collecting societies and organizations representing users may conclude agreements
regulating the remuner ation payable by the user in any categor y of benec iaries, as well as any other matter6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 55/81concerning the relations of the two sides in the framework of applicatio n of the present law, as has been
subsequently amended.
4. In order to facilitate  the actions referred to in circumstances a), b), c) and d) of Article 55(1), users shall without
dela y mak e available to collecting societies lists of the works of which they are producing, selling, renting or
lending copies, together with the exact numbers of copies produced or distributed, and likewise lists of the works
they are per forming publicly , together with a statement of the fr equency of such per formances.
5. Any dispute betwe en the collecting societies and the users regar ding the remuner ation payable by the user to
the collec ting society may be referred to arbitr ation. The arbitr ators are appointed from the list drafted every two
years by the Copyright Organization. It is compulsor y to take into account the opinion of the collecting societies
and the users when drafting the said list. For all other matters, articles 867 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedur e
are applied accor dingly .
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Article 57: Relations with A uthors
1. A collecting society may not without good reason refuse to under take for any particular author the
administr ation and/or protection of the rights deriving from the economic rights of that author and the subject of
the administr ation of the collecting society .
2. A collecting societ y shall consult annually with the authors whose rights are transf erred to it in order that the
authors may expr ess their views concerning the rules used to determine levels of remuner ation, the methods used
for the collection and distribution of remuner ation and any other matter pertinent to the administr ation and/or
protection of their rights. The collec ting societies have to take into consider ation these views during the
processing of administr ative procedur es.
3. Authors who transf er the administr ation and/or protection of their rights to a collecting society , together with
the societies which represent them, shall be entitled to all relevant information concerning the activities of the
collecting society .
4. Wher e the author transf ers all of his works to a collecting society for administr ation and/or protection, he shall
give the society full information in writing about the publication of those works and shall inform the society
whene ver he publishes a new work after the date of the tr ansf er of his rights.
5. Collecting societies shall draw up rules for the distribution of remuner ation to authors. Distribution shall be
effected at least once annually and shall to the highest possible extent be proportionate to the actual use made of
the works.
6. For each gener al categor y of authors and each form of exploitation, collecting societies shall x a percentage
of the remuner ation s collected to cover their expenditur es. Authors shall be informed of the relevant percentage
befor e they transf er or grant power of attorne y over their rights. The xed percentage may be increased only with
the consent of the author or after notice, ser ved one y ear in adv ance.
7. An author or a colle cting society shall be entitled to abrogate the agreement transf erring economic rights wher e
irrefutably good grounds exist for such  action. Provided not less than three months’ notice is given, the abrogation6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 56/81shall take effect from the end of the calendar year in which it is notied. If less than three months’ notice is given,
the abr ogation shall tak e eff ect fr om the end of the following calendar y ear.
8. The right of the author to grant or refuse authorisation to a cable oper ator for a cable retransmission may be
exercised only through a collecting society; for all other matters the provision of article 54, paragraph 2, hereof is
applicable. Wher e a rightholder has not transf erred the management of his cable retransmission right to a
collecting society , the collecting society which manages rights of the same categor y with the appr oval of the
Ministr y of Cultur e shall be mandated to manage his cable retransmission right. Wher e more than one collecting
society manages rights of that categor y, the rightholder may be free to choose which of those collecting societies
shall be mandated to manage his cable retransmission right. The author referred to in this paragraph shall have
the same rights and obligations as the rightholders who have mandated the collecting society and he shall be
able to claim those rights within a period of three (3) years from the date of cable retransmission of the
broadcast.
9. The provisions of the previous paragraph do not apply to the rights exercised  by a broadcasting organization in
respect of its own transmission, irrespe ctive of whether the rights concerned are its own or have been transf erred
to it b y other cop yright owners and/or other right holders.
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Article 58: Application t o Related Rights
The provisions of Articles 54 to 57 shall be applicable mutatis mutandis to the administr ation and/or protection of
the r elated rights r egulated b y the pr ovisions of Section VIII of this Law .
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CHAPTER TEN: MEASURES TO PREVEN T INFRINGEMEN TS
Article 59: Imposition of and Adher ence t o Specications
Presidential decr ees may be issued, on the recommendation of the Ministr y of Cultur e, laying down specications
for the equipment and other materials used in the making of reproductions of works with a view to preventing or
limiting the use of such equipment and materials for purposes which conict with the normal exploitation of
copyright and r elated rights.
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Article 60: Use of Contr ol Systems
Presidential decr ees may be issued on the recommendation of the Minister of Cultur e, making compulsor y the
use of equipment or systems which permit the designation of reproduced or used works and the extent and
frequency of the reproduction or use, subject to such methods not causing unjustiable harm to the lawful
inter ests of users.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 57/81Top
Article 61: Contr ol Labelling
Presidential decr ees may be issued, on the recommendation of the Minister of Cultur e, stipulating that visual or
sound or visual and sound recor dings may circulate only when they carry on their outer casing or in another
prominent position a special mark or contr ol label of any type supplied by the competent collecting society ,
indicating that their distribution on the mark et or their circulation in some other manner , does not constitute an
infringement of the rights of the author .
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Article 62: Pr ohibition of Decoding
The distribution, use, and the possession with intent to use or distribute, of decoding equipment shall be
prohibited without the permission of the broadcasting organizations which transmit encr ypted programs by wire
or over the air , including b y cable or satellite.
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Article 63: St opping an Infringement or its Continuation
1. Whe re a potential infringement of copyright is identied, such as wher e there is a clear intention to offer an
unlawful public performance of a thea trical or cinemat ographic or a musical work, the competent local police
authority shall prohibit the infringing act when requested to do so by the author or right holder . When requested,
the prosecuting authorities shall grant the police authority any necessar y mandate. The same shall apply when
the pubic presentation of a work has been in progress for more than two days without payment of due
remuner ation.
2. The granting of a city permit (as amended with article 46 Law 3905/2010) permitting the use of musical
instruments or certifying the suitability  of premises, or of any other license requir ed in law for the use of premises
for the performanc e of musical or other works, whose administr ation is entrusted to a collecting society
competent to authoriz e the public performance of works, shall be conditional on the deposition by the applicant of
a written authorization for the per formance, issued b y that collecting society .
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall also apply in case of infringement of the beneciaries of related rights
provided for in ar ticles 46, 47 and 48 of this law .
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CHAPTER ELEVEN: LEGAL PRO TECTION
Article 63A: E vidence
1. On application by a party which has presented reasonably available evidence sucient to suppor t its claims of
infringement or threat of infringement of the rights under this law and has, in substantiating those claims,6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 58/81specied evidence which lies in the contr ol of the opposing party, the cour t may order, on application by a party,
that such  evidence be presented by the opposing party. In the case of an infringement committed on a
commer cial scale, the cour t may also order, on application by a party, the communication of banking, nancial or
commer cial documents under the contr ol of the opposing party. The existence of a substantial number of copies
shall be consider ed to constitute reasonable evidence of an infringement committed on a commer cial scale. In
any e vent, the cour t shall ensur e the pr otection of condential information.
2. In the context of proceedings concerning an infringement of rights under this law and in response to a justied
and proportionate request of the claim ant, the chairman of a multi-member cour t or the judge of a one-member
cour t may order, even befor e the hearing date, that information on the origin and distribution networks of the
goods or services which infringe an intellectual proper ty right be provided by the infringer and/or any other person
who a) was found in possession of the infringing goods on a commer cial scale, b) was found to be using the
infringing services on a commer cial scale, c) was found to be providing on a commer cial scale services used in
infringing activities , or d) was indicated by the person referred to in points a), b) or c) as being involved in the
production, manufactur e or distribution of the goods or the pr ovision of the ser vices.
3. The infor mation referred to in paragraph 2 shall, as appr opriate, comprise: a) the names and addr esses of the
producers, manufactur ers, distribut ors, suppliers and other previous holders of the goods or services, as well as
the intended wholesalers and retaile rs, b) information on the quantities produced, manufactur ed, deliv ered,
receiv ed or or dered, as well as the price obtained for the goods or ser vices in question.
4. Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall apply without prejudice to other statut ory provisions which: a) grant the rightholder
rights to receiv e fuller information, b) govern the use in civil or criminal proceedings of the information
communicated purs uant to paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article, c) govern responsibility for misuse of the right of
information, or d) affor d an oppor tunity for refusing to provide information which would force the person referred
to in paragraph 2 to admit to his/her own participation or that of his/her close relativ es in an infringement of an
intellectual proper ty right, or e) govern the protection of condentiality of information sour ces or the processing of
personal data.
5. If a party is summoned to produce the evidence referred to in paragraph 1 and unjustiably fails to produce
such evidence, the claims of the party that sought the production or notication of evidence shall be consider ed
as confessed. Any party that unjustia bly violates an order of the cour t under paragraph 2 shall be sentenced to
pay, in addition to legal costs, a mone tary ne of EUR 50,000.00 to 100,000.00, which shall devolve to the tax
oce.
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Article 63B: Legal Costs
In the cases of this law , the gener al legal costs and f ees, obligat orily include any other
In cases covered by this law, legal costs and other expenses shall include any other pertinent expenditur e, such as
witness costs, attorne y fees, fees of exper ts and technical consultants of the parties and expenses made for the
disco very of the infringers, reasonably  incurr ed by the successful party. The provisions of articles 173 et seq. of
the Code of Civil Pr ocedur e are applied t o any other matters.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 59/81Top
Article 64: Injunction measur es and Pr ecautionar y Evidence
1. In case of alleged infringement of copyright or related right provided for by articles 46 to 48 and 51 or the
special right of database creators, the One-member First Instance Cour t shall order the precautionar y seizur e of
items in the posses sion of the alleged  infringer that constitute means of commission or product or evidence of
the infringement. Instead of precautio nary seizur e, the cour t may order the detailed description of such items,
including the taking of phot ographs. Article 687§1 of the Code of Civil Procedur e shall be applied in such cases
and a pr ovisional or der shall be issued accor ding t o article 691§2 of the Code of Civil Pr ocedur e.
2. The cour t shall order injunction measur es or precautionar y evidence without needing to specify the works
infringed or in thr eat of infringement.
3. The cour t may issue against the alleged infringer an injunction intended to prevent any imminent infringement
of the rights under this law or to forbid, on a provisional basis and subject, wher e appr opriate, to a penalty
payment under article 947 of the Code of Civil Procedur e for each infringement or continuation of the
infringements of that right. The procedur e of articles 686 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedur e shall be applicable
in order to ascer tain the infringement of the ordered injunction or the pertinent provision of article 691 paragraph
2 of the Code of Civil Procedur e. The cour t may mak e such continuation subject to the lodging of guar antees
intended to ensur e the compensation of the rightholder . The cour t may also order the precautionar y seizur e or
deliv ery up of the goods suspected of infringing rights under this law so as to prevent their entry into or
movement within the channels of commer ce.
4. In the case of an infringement commi tted on a commer cial scale, cour t may order the precautionar y seizur e of
the proper ty of the alleged infringer , including the blocking of his/her bank accounts. To that end, the cour t may
order the communication of bank, nancial or commer cial documents, or appr opriate access to the relevant
information.
5. The injunction measur es referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 may, in appr opriate cases, be taken without the
defendant having been hear d, under article 687 paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil Procedur e, in particular wher e any
dela y wou ld cause irrepar able harm to the rightholder . In that event, if the decision or the order of the cour t is not
notied to the defendant befor e or during its enfor cement, it shall be notied on the rst business day following
the enfor cement; other wise, any r elevant pr ocedur al acts shall be null and v oid.
6. The cour t may mak e the provisional measur es referred to in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 subject to the lodging by the
applicant of security determined in the decision or provisional order and/or without guar antee and shall specify a
time limit for the lodging of the actio n for the main case under article 693 paragraph 1 of the Code of Civil
Procedur e, which cannot be more than  thirty days. If no action is lodged within the said time limit, the injunction
shall be lifted ipso jur e.
7. Whe re the provisional measur es are revoked due to any act or omission by the applicant, or wher e it is
subsequently found that there has been no infringement or threat of infringement of the rights under this law, the
cour t may order the applicant, upon request of the defendant, to provide the defendant appr opriate compensation
for any injur y caused b y those measur es.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 60/81Top
Article 64A: Injunction
Rightholders may apply for an injunction against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to
infringe a cop yright or r elated right. It is the same for the sui generis right of data base mak er.
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Article 65: Civil Sanctions
1. In any case of infringement or threat of infringement of copyright or related rights, the author or the rightholder
may claim the recog nition of this right, the discontinuation of the infringemen t and its omission in the futur e. The
discontinuation of the infringement may include, at the request of the applicant: a) recall from the channels of
commer ce of goods that they have found to be infringing rights under this law and, in appr opriate cases, with
regar d to materials and implements principally used in the creation or manufactur e of those goods, b) denitiv e
remo val from the channels of commer ce, or c) destruction. The rights of the rst sentence of this paragraph shall
be exercised by right holders against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe rights
under this law (ar ticles 10, par . 1, and 11 of Dir ectiv e 2004/48).
2. A person  who by intent or negligence  infringes copyright or a related right of another person shall indemnify
that perso n for the moral damage caused, and be liable for the payment of damages of not less than twice the
legally requir ed or normally payable remuner ation for the form of exploita tion which the infringing party has
effected without license.
3. Instead of seekin g damages, and regar dless of whether the infringem ent was committed by intent or
negligence, the author or the right holder of the related right may demand either the payment of the sum accrued
by the infringing party from the unlicensed exploitation of a work, or of the object of a related right, pursuant to
Articles 46 t o 48 and 51 of this Law , or the pr ot gained b y the infringing par ty from such an exploitation.
4. (4) For each act of omission contributing to an infringement, the cour t may impose a ne of eight hundr ed and
eighty (880) to two thousand nine hundr ed (2,900) euros (as amended with article 54 par. 7 Law 4481/2017)
payable to the author or to the right holder of the related rights referred to Articles 46 to 48 and 51 of this Law and
imprisonment of up to one year. The same shall apply when the conviction is effected pursuant to the procedur e
under the safeguar ding measur es. All other matters shall be regulated pursuant to Article 947 of the Civil
Procedur e Code.
5. The civil sanctions of this article are applied accor dingly in the case that the debt or did not pay the
remuner ation pr ovided for b y par agraph (3) of Ar ticle 18 her eof t o a collecting society .
6. The civil penalties of this article are also applied in case of infringement of intellectual proper ty of the author of
a database and of the sui generis right of the mak er of a database.
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Article 65A: Administr ative Sanctions6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 61/811. Any perso n who, without being entitled to and in violation of the provisions of this law, reproduces, sells or
other wise distribute s to the public or possesses with the purpose of distributing a computer programme shall,
irrespectiv e of other sanctions, be subject to an administr ative ne of EUR 1,000.00 for each illegal copy of the
computer pr ogramme.
2. (2) A street vendor or a standing person (outside a shop) caught to distribute to the public by sale or by other
means, or to possess with the intention of distributing sound recor dings on which a work protected by copyright
or related rights law has been recor ded, is imposed an administr ative penalty  equal to the product of the items of
illegal recor dings by (20) euros for each sound recor ding accor ding to the seizur e repor t drafted during the arrest
of the infringer . The minimum of the administr ative penalty is dened to one thousand (1000) euros. The same
applies to the reproduction and distrib ution of physical carriers of sound in shops (as added with article 46 Law
3905/2010 and amended with ar ticle 54 par .8 a) Law 4481/2017).
2.A. Whoe ver, without any legitimate right and in violation of the provisions of this Law, reproduces phonogr ams
stored on any techn ical storage media, including hard disks, whether embedde d or not on a computer , shall pay an
administr ative ne of one thousand (1,000) eur os (as added with ar ticle 54 par . 8 b) Law 4481/2017).
3. A presidential decr ee issued after a proposition by the Ministr y of Finance  and the Ministr y of Cultur e may
amend the rates of the amounts and minimum rate mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 regar ding the administr ative
penalty .
4. The competent authorities for the contr ol of enfor cement of these stipulations and of the enfor cement of the
provided sanctions are the Unit of Special Contr ols (IPEE), the Police, the Port (as added with article 46 Law
3905/2010) and the Cust oms authorit ies, which inform the rightholders via the Hellenic Copyright Organization
after the nding of the violation.
5. A commo n decision issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministr y of Cultur e denes the procedur e of the
penalty enfor cemen t and collecting, the competent collecting services and any other detail necessar y for the
application of the pr esent ar ticle.
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Article 66: Criminal Sanctions
1. Any person who, in contr avention of the provisions of this law or of the provisions of lawfully ratied multilater al
international conv entions on the protection of copyright, unlawfully mak es a xation of a work or of copies,
reproduces them directly or indir ectly , tempor arily or permanently in any form, in whole or in part, translates,
adapts, alters or transforms them, or distributes them to the public by sale or other means, or possesses with the
intent of distributing them, rents, performs in public, broadcasts by radio or television or any other means,
communicates to the public works or copies by any means, impor ts copies of a work illegally produced abroad
without the consent of the author and, in gener al, exploits works, reproductions or copies being the object of
copyright or acts against the moral right of the author to decide freely on the publication and the presentation of
his work to the public without additions or deletions, shall be liable to imprisonment of no less than a year and to
a ne fr om 2.900-15.000 E uro.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 62/812. The sanctions listed above shall be applicable to any person who, in contr avention of the provisions of this law,
or of the provisions of lawfully ratied multilater al international conv entions on the protection of related rights,
mak es the following actions:
A) Without the permission of the performers: a) xes their performance, b) directly or indir ectly , tempor arily or
permanently reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, the xation of their performance c)
distributes to the public the xation of their performance or possesses them with the purpose of distribution, d)
rents the xation of their performance, e) broadcasts by radio and television by any means, the live performance,
unless such broadcasting is rebroadca sting of a legitimate broadcasting, f) communicates to the public the live
performance made by any means, except radio and television broadcasting, g) mak es available to the public, by
wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may acce ss them from a place and at a time
individually chosen b y them, the xation of their per formance.
B) Without the permission of phonogr am producers (producers of sound recor dings): a) directly or indir ectly ,
tempor arily or permanently reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, their phonogr ams, b)
distributes to the public the above recor dings, or possesses them with the purpose of distribution, c) rents the
said recor dings, d) mak es available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the
public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, their phonogr ams, e) impor ts the
said r ecor dings pr oduced abr oad without their consent.
C) Without the permission of producers of audio visual works (producers of visual or sound and visual recor dings)
a) directly or indir ectly, tempor arily or permanently reproduces by any mean s and form, in whole or in part, the
original and the copies of their lms, b) distributes to the public the above recor dings, including the copies thereof,
or possesses them with the purpose of distribution, c) rents the said recor dings, d) mak es available to the public,
by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time
individually chosen  by them, the original and the copies of their lms e) imports the said recor dings produced
abroad without their consent f) broadcasts by radio or television by any means including satellite transmission
and cable r etransmission, as well as the communication t o the public
D) Without the permission of radio and television organizations: a) rebroadc asts their broadcasts by any means,
b) present s their broadcasts to the public in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee, c)
xes their broadcasts on sound or sound and visual recor dings, regar dless of whether the broadcasts are
transmitted by wire or by the air, includ ing by cable or satellite d) directly or indir ectly , tempor arily or permanently
reproduces by any means and form, in whole or in part, the xation of their broadcasts, e) distributes to the public
the recor dings containing the xation or their broadcasts, f) rents the recor dings containing the xation of their
broadcasts, g) mak es available to the public, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public
may access them fr om a place and at a time individually chosen b y them, the xation of their br oadcasts.
3. If the nancial gain sought or the damage caused by the perpetr ation of an act listed in paragraphs (1) and (2),
above, is particularly great, the sancti on shall be not less than two years imprisonment and a ne of from six
thousand (6,000) to thirty thousand (30,000) euros. If the guilty party has perpetr ated any of the aforementioned
acts by profession " or at a commer cial scale " or if the circumstances in connection with the perpetr ation of the
act indicate that the guilty party poses a serious threat to the protection of copyright or related rights, the sanction
shall be imprisonme nt of up to 10 years and a ne of from 5 to 10 million drachmas, together with the withdr awal6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 63/81of the trading licen se of the under taking which has served as the vehicle for the act. The act shall be likewise
deemed to have been perpetr ated by way of standar d practice if the guilty party has on a previous occasion been
convicted of a cont ravention pursuant to the provisions of the Article or for a violation of the preceding copyright
legislation and sentenced to a non-r edeemable period of imprisonment. “ Any infringement of copyright and
related rights in the form of felony is tried by the competent Three-member Cour t of Appeal for Felonies” (as
amended with ar ticle 54 par . 9 a) Law 4481/2017).
4. Any pers on who did not pay the remuner ation provided for by Article 18, paragraph (3) hereof to a collecting
society is punished with the sanction of par agraph (1), (2) and (3).
The same  sentence is imposed on the debt or who, after the issuance of the decision of the one-member rst
instance cour t, does not submit the declar ation under the pr ovisions of ar ticle 18, par . 6, of this law .
5. The sanctions specied in par agraph (1), abo ve, shall be applicable lik ewise t o any person who:
a) uses or distributes, or possesses with the intent to distribute, any system or means whose sole purpose is to
facilitate the unpermitted r emo val or neutr alization of a technical system used t o protect a computer pr ogram;
b) manufa ctures or impor ts or distribu tes, or possesses with intent to distribute, equipment and other materials
utilizable for the reproduction of a work which do not conform to the specica tions determined pursuant to Article
59 of this Law;
c) manufactur es or impor ts or distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute, objects which can thwar t the
ecacy of the abo ve-mentioned specications, or engages in an act which can ha ve that r esult;
d) reproduces or uses a work without utilizing the equipment or without applying the systems specied pursuant
to Article 60 of this Law;
e) distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute, a phonogr am or lm with out the special mark or contr ol label
specied pursuant t o Article 61 of this Law .
6. By way of exceptio n from the provision  of Article 82 (10) (b) of the Penal Code, in the event of conv ersion of the
cust odial sentence, the conv ersion amount is set at ve times the limits of the conv ersion amount provided for
each case in the P enal Code (as amended with ar ticle 54 par . 9 b) Law 4481/2017).
7. Where mitigating circumstances exist, the ne imposed shall not be less than half of the minimum ne
imposable as per the case under this Law .
8. Any pers on who proceeds to authorised tempor ary or permanent reproduction of the database, translation,
adaptation, arrangement and any other alter ation of the database, distribution to the public of the database or of
copies thereof, communication, displa y or performance of the database to the public, is punished by
imprisonment of at least one (1) year and a ne of three thousand (3.000) to fteen thousand (15.000) euros (as
amended with ar ticle 54 par . 9 c) Law 4481/2017).
9. Any person who proceeds to extraction and/or re-utilisation of the whole or of a substantial part of the contents
of the database without the authorisation of the author thereof, is punished by imprisonment of at least one (1)6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 64/81year and a ne of three thousand (3.000) to fteen thousand (15.000) euros (article 12 of Directiv e 96/9) (as
amended with ar ticle 54 par . 9 c) Law 4481/2017).
10. Whe n the object of the infringement refers to computer softwar e, the culpable char acter of the action, as
described in paragraph 1 of article 65A and under the prerequisites provided  there, is raised under the condition
that the infringer proceeds in the unreser ved payment of the administr ative fee and the infringement concerns a
quantity of up t o 50 pr ograms.
11. Whe n the object of infringement concerns recor dings of sound in which a work protected by copyright law has
been recorded, the unreser ved paymen t of an administr ative fee accor ding to the stipulation of par.2 of article 65A
and under  the prerequisites provided there, shall result in non-pr osecution and any prosecution shall be dismissed
under the condition that the infringement concerns quantity up to ve hundr ed (500) illegal sound recor ding
carriers ) (as amended with ar ticle 54 par . 9 d) Law 4481/2017).
11.A. Wher e the offense concerns phonogr ams (musical compositions) stored on any technical storage media or
computer , the unconditional payment of the administr ative ne by the offender under paragraph 2 of Article 65A
and under the prescribed conditions shall result in non-pr osecution and the dismissal of any prosecution, provided
that the off ense r elates t o up t o 1,000 musical compositions (as added with ar ticle 54 par . e) Law 4481/2017).
12. The payment of the administr ative fee and the and the non-pr osecution or the dismissal of criminal
prosecution, do not relieve the infringe rs from the duty of buying off the copyright and related rights or from the
duty of compensati ng and paying the rest expenses to the holders of these rights, accor ding to the provisions of
the r elevant laws (as amended with ar ticle 9 d) Law 4481/2017 and r enumber ed with ar ticle 9 g) Law 4481/2017)
13. In case of r ecidivism during the same nancial y ear the administr ative fee pr ovided for b y article 65A doubles.
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Article 66A: Technological Measur es
1. The term technological measur es mea ns any technology , device or component that, in the normal course of its
oper ation, is designed to prevent or restrict acts, in respect of works or other subject-matter , which are not
authoriz ed by the rightholder of any copyright or any right related to copyright as well as the sui generis right of
the data base mak er. Technological measur es shall be deemed effectiv e where the use of a protected work or
other subject-matte r is contr olled by the rightholders through application of an access contr ol or protection
process, such as encr yption, scrambling or other transformation of the work or other subject-matter or a copy
contr ol mechanism, which achie ves the pr otection objectiv e.
2. It is prohibited to circumv ent, without  the permission of the rightholder , any effectiv e technological measur e
when such act is made in the knowledge or with r easonable gr ounds t o know that he is pursuing that objectiv e.
3. It is prohibited without the permission of the rightholder , to engage in the manufactur e, impor t, distribution,
sale, rental, advertisement for sale or rental, or possession for commer cial purposes of devices, products or
components or the provision of services which: a) are promoted, advertised or mark eted for the purpose of
circumv ention of, or b) have only a limited commer cially signicant purpose or use other than to circumv ent, or c)6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 65/81are prima rily designed, produced, adapted or performed for the purpo se of enabling or facilitating the
circumv ention of any eff ectiv e technological measur es.
4. The practice of activities in violation of the above provisions is punished by imprisonment of at least one year
and a ne of 2.900 to 15.000 Euro and entails the civil sanctions of article 65 Law 2121/1993. The One-Member
First Insta nce Cour t may order an injunction in accor dance with the Code of Civil Procedur e, the provision of
article 64 Law 2121/1993 also being applicable.
5.For the limitations (exceptions) provided for in fourth Chapter , and concern the phot ocop ying reproduction for
private use (Article 18), the reproduction for teaching activities (Article 21), the text and data mining for resear ch
purposes (Article 21A), the exception concerning text and data mining (Article 21B), the reproduction from
libraries and archives (Article 22), the preser vation of cultur al heritage (Article 22A), the reproduction for judicial
or administr ative purposes (Article 24), as well as the reproduction for the benet of people with disabilities
(Article 28A), the legal protection provided for in paragraph 2 herein does not prejudice the obligation of
rightholders to provide to the beneciaries of the above – mentioned except ions the means, in order for them to
benet from these exception to the necessar y degr ee, insofar as they have lawful access to the protected work or
other subject – matter . If righgholders do not take voluntar y measur es, including also agreements between
rightholders and third parties beneting from the exceptions, both beneciar ies and third parties beneting from
the above -mentioned exceptions request the assistance of one or more mediat ors selected from a table of
mediat ors drawn up by the Hellenic Copyright Organization. Mediat ors make recommendations to inter ested
parties. It is conside red that all parties accept this proposal, if none of them raises an objection within a deadline
of one month from the notication of the proposal. In the opposite case, the dispute is resolv ed by the Single -
Member Court of Appeal of Athens, which judges in rst and last instance. These provisions shall not apply to
works or other subject – matters of protection which are made available to the public on the basis of
contr actually agreed terms, so that the public can access them wher ever and whene ver they want on the basis of
contr actually agreed terms (Article 6 paragraph 4 of the Directiv e 2001/29) (as amended by Article 12 of the Law
4996/2022 (Ar ticle 7 par agraph 2 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) ( ΕΕ ) 2019/790)).
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Article 66B: Rights - Management Information
1. The expr ession rights management  information means any information provided by rightholders which
identies the work or other subject-matter protected by a related right or the sui generis right of data base mak er,
and which  identies the author or any other rightholder , or information abou t the terms and conditions of use of
the work or other subject-matter , and any numbers or codes that r epresent such information.
2. It is prohibited for any person to knowingly perform without the permission of the rightholder any of the
following acts: a) the remo val or alter ation of any electr onic rights-managem ent information, b) the distribution,
impor tation for distribution, broadcasting, communication or making available to the public of works or other
subject-matter protected by a related right or the sui generis right of data base mak er, from which electr onic rights
management inform ation has been remo ved or alter ed without authority , if such person knows, or has reasonable
grounds to know that by so doing he is inducing, enabling, facilitating or concealing an infringement of any
copyright or r elated right or the sui generis right of data base mak er.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 66/813. The viola tion of the above provisions is punished by imprisonment of at least one year and a ne of 2.900 to
15.000 Euro and entails the civil sanctions of article 65 Law 2121/1993. The One-member First Instance Cour t
may order an injunction in accor dance with the Code of Civil Procedur e, the provision of article 64 Law 2121/1993
also being applicable.
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Article 66C: Publication of Decisions
Decisions of civil or criminal cour ts concerning rights under this law may, at the request of the applicant and at
the cost of the infringer , order the appr opriate measur es to be taken for the propagation of information relating to
the decision, including the posting of the decision, as well as its publication, in summar y or in its entir ety, in the
mass media or the internet.
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Article 66D: Codes of Ethics and Information Ex change
1. The business or professional associations concerned, as well as collecting  societies or collectiv e protection
organizations, shall  prepar e codes of ethics with the purpose of contributing, at national, Community or global
level, to the enfor cement of the rights  under this law and shall recommend the use of codes in optical discs in
order to identify the origin of their manufactur e. The codes of ethics and any evaluation of their implementation
shall be for warded t o the E uropean Commission.
2. The national corr espondent for the rights under this law shall be the Hellenic Cop yright Or ganization.
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Article 66E: Enfor cement of the Rights on the Internet
1. In cases of copyright or related rights infringement on the internet, the rightholder may follow the procedur e
provided for in the paragraphs herein. The rightholder of copyright or related  rights that are infringed by the offer
of products or services on the internet, either through advertisement or through promotion may follow the same
procedur e. For the purposes of this article, by rightholder is meant the righth older whose right is infringed on the
internet as well as any collectiv e management organisation or collectiv e protection organisation to which has
been assigned the collectiv e managem ent or protection of copyright or related rights. Such procedur e shall not
apply to cases of infringement committed by end users. This procedur e shall be without prejudice to the
procedur e provided for in the Regulation on Management and Assignment of .gr Domain names of the Hellenic
Telecommunications and P ost Commission (EE TT), which is specied b y EE TT’s decision.
2. In order for the procedur e provided for in this article to have effect, a Committee is established by decision of
the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts for the notication of copyright and related rights infringement on the internet.
This Com mittee shall be assisted by the Hellenic Copyright Organisation (HCO) staff and shall use HCO’ s
premises. It shall be a three-member Committee consisting of HCO’ s Admini strative Boar d President substituted
with HCO ’s Administr ative Boar d Vice President, an EETT delegate and his substitute as designated by EETT’s
President, and a delegate of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDP A) and his substitute as designated by6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 67/81HDP A’s President. President of the Committee shall be HCO’ s President and the EETT’s delegate shall be its
secr etary. The Committee shall ha ve a thr ee (3) y ear term.
3. By decision of the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts shall be determined any matter relevant to the composition,
functions and competence of the Committee. The provisions of article 21 of law 4354/2015 ( Α΄ 176) as amended
by those of article 52 of law 4369/2016 ( Α΄ 33) shall apply to determine the compensation fee payable to the
members of the Committee. The decision of sentence 1 herein shall also dete rmine the fee payable to HCO by the
applicant in conjunction with his applic ation to the Committee, as a review fee. Such fee shall be paid in advance
and shall be a pr erequisite for the commencement of the pr ocedur e.
4. The rightholder shall submit his application for termination of infringement either in person or electr onically . He
shall ll in the pro-forma application to the Committee, which is available on HCO’ s website. Attached to this he
shall subm it all and any document referred to therein as mandat ory as well as any additional evidence to suppor t
his claims . For the submission of the application to be admissible, the rightholder must have made use of the
corresponding procedur e which the provider had determined and which was concluded within reasonable time
but with no r esult.
5. With in ten (10) working days upon receipt of the application, the Committee shall either (a) archive the case or
(b) follow thr ough the pr ocedur e.
a. The case shall be archived by means  of a Committee act in which mention shall be made of at least one of the
following r easons:
aa. non use of pr o-forma application
ab. lack of sucient information
ac. a case is pending between the same parties befor e the cour ts or the issuance of a nal decision on the
dispute at issue
ad. lack of competence
ae. lack of gr ounds and lack of sucient e vidence (-appar ently unsubstantiated-)
af. withdr awal fr om the application prior t o its r eview
ag. non pa yment of the r eview f ee pursuant t o the pr ovisions of par agraph 3 abo ve
ah. obtaining of a license of use
b. If the procedur e follows through, within ten (10) working days from receipt of the application, the Committee
shall simultaneously notify the internet access providers and, wher e possible, the host providers, the
administr ators and/or pr opriet ors of the websites and/or of the domain names r eferred to in the application.
Such notic e thereof shall include at least the exact denition of the rights allegedly infringed; the law provisions
which, by declar ation of the rightholde r, are violated; a summar y of events and the outcome of the evaluation of
evidence; the competent person to whom objections may be raised; the conditions upon which the procedur e may
be terminated and a mention t o the possibility of the v oluntar y compliance of the par ties inv olved.
6. The administr ator or the propriet or of the referred in the application websites or domain names may obtain
from the rightholder the relevant permission within ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the notice.
The perso n who receiv es such notice may voluntarily within ve (5) working days from the date of receipt of the
notice comply to the applicant’ s claim by informing accor dingly the Committee through electr onic mail or submit
to the Committee his objections wher eby he shall simultaneously submit all evidence from which it is provided
mainly that no infringement ther eby occurs.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 68/81Such deadlines ma y extend t o the double upon decision b y the Committee.
In the case that the person who receives the notice voluntar y complies with  it, a decision by the Committee is
issued in which his voluntar y compliance is expr essly stated. In the event that a license for use of rights is
obtained, the case shall be ar chived.
Upon expir ation of the deadline for objections to be raised and wher e deemed necessar y the Committee shall ask
further e vidence t o be submitted within v e (5) working da ys.
7. With in ve (5) working days from expiration of the above deadlines the Committee shall review the case and in
no later than forty (40) working days from the submission of the applicatio n, it shall notify of its decision the
applicant and the person who r eceiv es the notice. In such decision:
a. Wher e no infringement of copyright or related rights is substantiated, it shall archive the case by issuing a
reasoned opinion.
b. or, wher e an infrin gement is substantiated, it shall issue a reasoned decisio n in which it shall ask from all those
that receiv e it to comply with it within a period of no more than three (3) work ing days from the date of receipt by
them.
In case that the deadlines set out in paragraph 5 above are extended by decision of the Committee pursuant to
the provisions of the same paragraph thereof, the deadline of forty (40) working days referred to in the rst
subpar agraph her ein shall be extended t o sixty (60) working da ys.
8. Where the Committee substantiates that copyright or related rights are infringed, it shall ask from those that
are notie d to remo ve the infringing content from the website wher e it has been illegally posted or to block access
to it and take any other measur e deem ed appr opriate by the Committee that aim at the discontinuation of the
infringement, the pr evention of r ecurr ence or/and the pr evention of infringement.
Wher e the content is hosted on a webs ite whose server is within the Greek territ ory, the Committee shall ask from
those that are noti ed the remo val of such content and to take any other measur e deemed appr opriate by the
Committee which aim at the discontinuation of the infringement, the prevention of recurr ence or/and the
prevention of infringement . In case of large scale infringement the Committee may decide, instead of content
remo val, the blocking of access to this content and to take any other measur e deemed appr opriate by the
Committee which aim at the discontinuation of the infringement, the prevention of recurr ence or/and the
prevention of infringement. Wher e the website is hosted on a server outside the Greek territ ory, the Committee
shall ask the intern et access provider to block access to this content and to take any other measur e deemed
appr opriate by the Committee which aim at the discontinuation of the infringement, the prevention of recurr ence
or/and the pr evention of infringement.
9. If after the issuanc e of the decision of the Committee and its execution there is a violation or a repetition of the
infringement of the content referred to in the decision is threatened in any technical way, the applicant may le an
application to the Committee asking for the issuance of a new decision with out paying new fee as review fee of
the paragraph 3, providing evidence that prove that there is an infringement of the decision or threat of repetition
of infringement as described abo ve.
10. The Committee shall inform the administr ator or the propriet or of the referred in the application websites
or/and domain names regar ding the led application, by communicating the application by any means and
provides him a deadline of ve (5) days, in order for the above-mentioned propriet or or administr ator to present
his views.  The Committee shall issue the decision within ten (10) days from the expir ation of the above-mentioned6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 69/81deadline of ve (5) days. The Committee creates and updates a catalogue with the domain names and
subdomains or/and  ip addr esses, for which it is substantiated by its decision that there is an infringement of
copyright or/and related rights and for the term provided in the above-mentioned decision regar ding the term of
blocking of access t o it.
The Committee shall upload on the website of HCO the decisions issued accor ding t o the pr esent Ar ticle.
10A.  1. F ollowing an application fr om the rightholder and pr ovided that:
a) it is imminent a large – scale violation of protected copyright and related rights on the internet for events of
either national or global viewing which ar e going t o be tr ansmitted simultaneously with their conduct,
b) the violation will take place, indicativ ely by certain uniform resour ce locat or (URLs), IP addr esses or domain
names which suppor t the unauthoriz ed subscription connection by any means, and, in particular , by the use of
passwor ds or of a decoder and
c) c) there is an urgent case of preventing an immediate, serious and immine nt danger or an irrepar able damage
to the public inter est or to the rightholder , the Committee may, by decision, order the blocking of access to the
certain uniform resour ce locat or (URL), IP addr esses or domain names accor ding to the aforementioned in
subpar agraph 2, for a period of at least  15 days. For the purposes of taking this decision, it suces the probability ,
from the Commission, that a violation of rights is imminent in accor dance with the provisions of the points a) and
b) (as amended with ar ticle 48, par .1 c) Law 4821/2021).
2. (a) The applicati on of the rightholder shall be submitted befor e the Comm ittee fteen (15) days at the latest
befor e the scheduled transmission of the event. In the case wher e the Committee accepts the application, it
issues a decision by the means of which internet access providers are ordered to block access to the content and
to take any other measur e deemed appr opriate by the Committee which aims at the discontinuation of the
infringement, the prevention of recurr ence or/and the prevention of infring ement within a time – limit which
cannot be less than (6) hours and no longer that twelv e (12) hours from the dispatching of the decision. Within
the abovementioned deadline, the internet access providers send out statements of compliance to the
Committee ’s judgm ent, to the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT). The decision of the
Committee may impose the blocking of access to domain names of second level, even if the access to content is
allowed by domain names of third or other level. The decision of the Committee is issued twenty – four hours (24)
at the latest befor e the transmission of event and it is sent, within the same time – limit, by an e-mail to the
rightholder , to the service provider and to EETT.in accor dance with the communication details under paragraph 7.
Following the blocking of access to the content by the internet access providers, the Committee shall notify the
decision to website oper ators and owners of the websites or the domain names referred to in the decision,
providing that is awar e of their identities.
(b) In the case of infringement of the decision of the Committee, which was issued under the above procedur e as
well as in the case of, by any technical means, recurr ence of the infringement of the content referred to in the
forementioned decision of the Committee, the rightholder may submit additional evidence to the Committee
regar ding the infringement of the decis ion or the recurr ence of infringement without paying new fee as review fee.
If by the submitted evidence is specula ted the infringement of the decision of the Committee or -by any technical
means- the recurr ence of the infringem ent of the rights or content referred to in the forementioned decision, the
Committee issues, if needed, a supplementar y relevant act. The execution of the supplementar y act in the
previous subpar agraph is implemented accor ding t o the pr ocedur e of point (a).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 70/81(c) The Committee ’s decision for the blocking of access of an illegal transmission is extended beyond certain
uniform resour ce locat or (URLs), IP addr esses or domain names explicitly mentioned in the decision to any other
uniform resour ce locat ors (URLs), IP addr esses or domain names to which the illegal transmission may be
transf erred after the issuance of the abo vementioned decision.
For this reason if, by any technical mea ns, the illegal transmission is transf erred to a new uniform resour ce locat or
(URL), IP addr ess or domain name, the rightholder may submit to the relevant depar tment of EETT, with a notice to
the Comm ittee, any supplementar y evidence regar ding the infringement of the decision or the recurr ence of the
infringement, without any time-limit as regar ds to their submission, even during the transmission and without
paying new f ee as a r eview f ee.
If by the submitted evidence is speculated the infringement of the Committee ’s decision or -by any technical
means- the recurr ence of the infringem ent of the rights or content referred to in the forementioned decision, the
relevant depar tmen t of EETT shall immediately give by email an order to the internet access providers to block the
access to the additional uniform resour ce locat or(s) (URLs), IP addr esses or domain names and shall notify by
email the Committee. This order is effectiv e until the issuance of the relevant supplementar y decision by the
Committee, which is issued within a month. The internet access providers with more than fty thousand (50.000)
subscribers, are obliged to block the access to the content within the time-limit set out by the EETT’s notication
and which cannot be longer than thirty (30) minutes from the dispatching of the EETT’s order. The Committee,
after the EETT’ recommendation and taking into consider ation especially the supplementar y evidence submitted
by the rightholder and the order of the relevant EETT’s depar tment, shall issue a supplementar y act on the rst
decision, including all the supplementar y evidence submitted to the Committee. The act of the previous
subpar agraph shall be notied by the Committee to the rightholder , the internet access providers and to website
oper ators and owners of the websites or the domain names referred to in its decision, providing that is awar e of
the identities of the latter (as amended with ar ticle 48, par . 2 Law 4821/2021).
3. A rightholder may, at the latest by the issuance of the decision of the Committee, submit befor e the latter new
evidence, concerning in particular , variations of domain names, URLs or IP addr esses through which the conduct
of infringement is speculated.
4. Administers and owners of the websites or of the domain names, which are referred to into the decision of the
Committee, may bring an action against the latter befor e the Administr ative Cour t of Athens, within ten (10) days
from their notication of the decision. The action shall not automatically susp end the execution of the decision of
the Comm ittee. In the case wher e no action is brought within the said time – limit or in the case wher e it is
dismissed b y the cour t, the blocking of access or dered becomes irr evocable.
5. In the case wher e the action is to be successful, by virtue of an assessment of the Cour t that the conditions laid
– down under paragraph 1, had not been met, the righolder who had demand ed the issuing of the decision of the
Committee, shall pay compensation to the administer or the owner of the websites or of the domain names who
had raised legal proceedings and were affected by the decision of the Committee. The amount of the
compensation shall be determined to the appr opriate, depending on the circumstances, level, taking into
consider ation the either r easonable or abusiv e beha vior of the rightholder .
6. For the examina tion of the applica tion provided under paragraph 1, a payment of a fee is requir ed. By the
means of a Joint Decision issued by the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts and the Minister of Digital Governance,6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 71/81special issues with regar d to the rightholder ’s application, the decision of the Committee, the amount and the
method of the pa yment of the f ee, ar e determined.
7. A Special Providers’ Register is kept by the Committee, that includes the following information: name, company
name, distinctiv e title and e-mail addr ess of the provider and of the representativ e of the latter . EETT
communicates any of those contact details to the Committee and noties the latter for every change on the
individual details of the Pr ovider ’s Register (as amended with ar ticle 48, par . 7 Law 4821/2021).
8. In the case of an untimely and non – appr opriate compliance of providers with the oper ative part of the
decision provided under paragraph 1 and with the obligation to inform and update the information provided under
paragraph 7, par agraph 11 shall be applicable (as added b y Article 68 of Law 4761/2020).
11 In case of non-com pliance with the dictum of the decision, the Committee shall impose a ne of ve hundr ed
(500) up to a thousand (1000) Euros for each and every day of non-co mpliance. The seriousness of the
infringement and its repetition shall be amongst the criteria taken into account. The Minister of Finance in
conjunction with the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts shall mutually decide on the manner in which the ne shall be
imposed and collected, the competent collection authorities and all other r elevant matters.
12. The comm encement of the procedur e befor e the Committee does not affect or prejudice the right of access to
a tribunal for the same dispute. Wher e, howe ver, the case has been brought to the cour ts by the same applicant
and on the same grounds, the Committee shall archive the case. Also, the issuance of a decision by the
Committee does not prevent the inter ested parties from exercising their right of access to a tribunal for the
protection of their legitimate inter ests.
13. The decisions of the Committee are susceptible to appeal befor e the Administr ative Cour t of Appeal of Athens
within a deadline of sixty (60) days after their notication. The deadline of the exercise of the appeal and its
exercise do not suspend the implemen tation of the decision. The Administr ative Cour t of Appeal of Athens by its
decision may, under the request of the applicant, suspend the implemen tation of the decision by applying
respectiv ely the relevant stipulations of the Administr ative Procedur e Code. Postponement of hearing upon
request of the party is possible only once and for proper grounds to a hearing at a date as close as possible,
unless there is a case of joining of more cases. Appeal in cassation against the decision of the Administr ative
Cour t of Appeal of Athens is possible before the Council of State accor ding to the provisions in force (as replaced
by article 68 of Law 4761/2020).
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Article 66F: Denition of online content-sharing service provider and use of works of other subject – matters of
protection b y online content-sharing ser vice pr oviders
1. ‘Online content-sharing service provider ’ within the framework of this Article means a provider of an information
society service of which the main or one of the main purposes is to store and give the public access to a
signicant amount of copyright-pr otected works or other subject – matters of protection uploaded by its users,
and which the service organises and promotes for prot-making purposes. Providers of services, such as not-for-
prot onlin e ency clopedias, not-for-pr ot educational and scientic reposit ories, open sour ce softwar e developing
and sharing platforms, providers of electr onic communications services as dened in the Law 4727/2020 ( Α΄6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 72/81184), online mark etplaces, business-t o-business cloud services and cloud services that allow users to upload
content for their own use, ar e not ‘ online content-sharing ser vice pr oviders’ within the meaning of this Law .
2. For the purposes of implementing this Article, online content-sharing service providers perform an act of
communication to the public or an act of making available to the public, when they give the public access to
copyright-pr otected works or other subject - matters of protection uploaded by users. Ther efore, online content –
sharing service providers, in order to communicate to the public or mak e available to the public works or other
subject – matters of protection, shall obtain an authorisation from the holders  of the rights of communicating and
making available to the public referred to in point h) of paragraph 1 of Article 3, in point g) of paragraph 2 of
Article 36, in point d) of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 47, in point g) of paragraph 1 of Article 48, as well as in
point b) of par agraph 2 of Ar ticle 51 Β , in par ticular b y concluding a licensing agr eement.
3. When an online content-sharing service provider obtains an authorisation, that authorisation shall also cover
the acts of commun ication and making available to the public carried out by users of the services as provided in
paragraph 2, provided that they are not acting on a commer cial basis or their activity does not gener ate signicant
revenues.
4. When an online content-sharing service provider performs an act of communicating to the public or making
available to the public, under the conditions mentioned in this Article, the limitation of liability provided under
Article 13 of the Presidential Decr ee 131/2003 ( Α΄  116) shall not apply to cases covered by this Article. In any
case, the rst sentence herein does not affect the potential implementation of Article 13 of the Presidential
Decr ee to services providers, to whom  it concerns, for purposes which are not falling within the scope of this
Article.
5. . If no authorisation is granted, online content-sharing service providers shall  be liable for unauthorised acts of
communication and making available to the public, of copyright-pr otected works and other subject – matters of
protection, unless the service providers demonstr ate, in light of the principle of propor tionality , that they have: a)
made every possible effor t to obtain an authorisation, and b) made, in accor dance with high industr y standar ds of
professional diligen ce, every possible effor t to ensur e the unavailability of specic works and other subject –
matters of protect ion for which the rightholders have provided the service providers with the relevant and
necessar y information, and in any event c) acted expeditiously , upon receivin g a suciently substantiated notice
from the rightholde rs, to disable access to, or to remo ve from their websites, the notied works or other subject –
matters of protectio n, and made every possible effor t to prevent their futur e uploads in accor dance with point (b).
The above – mentioned exemption from liability shall not apply to service providers whose main purpose is the
participation in or the facilitation of cop yright pir acy.
6. In order to determin e if the service provider has complied with its obligations  in accor dance with paragraph 5,
and in light of the principle of propor tionality , the following elements, among  others, shall be taken into account:
a) the type, the audience and the size of the service and the type of works or other subject – matters of protection
uploaded by the users of the service, as well as b) the availability of suitable and effectiv e means and their cost
for ser vice pr oviders.
7. By way of derogation from paragraph. 5, new online content-sharing service providers, the services of which
have been  available to the public in the European Union for less than three (3) years and which have an annual
turno ver below ten (10) million (10.000.000,00 Euros, calculated in accor dance with Commission6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 73/81Recommendation of May 6th, 2003 concerning the denition of micr o, small and medium-siz ed enterprises
(2003/361/EC (L 124), are liable for unauthoriz ed acts of communicating and making available to the public
works and other subject – matters of protection, unless they prove, in light of the principle of propor tionality , that
they have made every possible effor t to obtain a license and they had acted expeditiously , upon receiving a
suciently substantiated notice from the rightholders, to disable access to, or to remo ve from their websites, the
notied works or other subject – matters of protection to whom the notication concerns. Wher e the average
number of monthly unique visitors of such service providers, calculated on the basis of the previous calendar year,
exceeds ve million (5.000.000,00) Euros, these providers shall also demonstr ate that they have made every
possible effort to prevent further uploads of the notied works and other subject – matters of protection for
which the rightholders ha ve provided r elevant and necessar y information.
8. The cooper ation between online content-sharing service providers and rightholders shall not hinder the
availability of works or other subject – matters of protection uploaded by users, which do not infringe copyright
and relate d rights, including works or other subject – matters of protection which are covered by an exception or
limitation. Users may upload and mak e available content gener ated by users on online content-sharing services
for: a) quotation, criticism, r eview and b) use for caricatur e, par ody or pastiche.
9. The application of this Article shall not lead to any gener al monit oring obligation. Online content-sharing service
providers provide rightholders, at their request, with sucient information on the functioning of their practices
with regar d to the cooper ation referred to in paragraph 5 and, wher e licensing agreements are concluded between
service providers and rightholders, information on the use of content covered by the agreements between online
content-sharing ser vice pr oviders and rightholders.
10. Online content-sharing service provider s shall put in place an effectiv e and expeditious complaint and redress
mechanism, which is available to users of their services, in the event of disp utes over the disabling of access to,
or the removal of, works or other subje ct – matters of protection uploaded by them. Wher e rightholders request to
have acce ss to their specic works or other subject – matters of protection, the access to which has been
disabled, or to have those works or other subject – matters of protection remo ved, they shall duly justify their
requests. Complaints submitted unde r the mechanism provided for in the rst sentence shall be processed
without undue dela y and the decision s to disable access to or remo ve uploaded content shall be subject to
human review . In the event of a dispute between rightholders and users, the dispute may be resolv ed with the
assistance of one or mor e mediat ors, applied accor dingly for the r est par agraph 9 of Ar ticle 35.
1. Online content-sharing service providers shall inform their users in their terms and conditions that they can use
works and other subject – matters of protection under exceptions or limitations to copyright and related rights
provided for in Union law .
2. This Article shall not allow the identication of individual users nor the processing of personal data. The
processing of personal data is taking place only in accor dance with the Law 3471/2006 ( Α΄  133) (as added with
Article 20 τ ου  ν . 4996/2022 (Ar ticle 2 par agraph 6 and Ar ticle 17 of the Dir ectiv e (EU) 2019/790)).
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 6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 74/81CHAPTER TWEL VE: FIN AL AND TRANSI TION AL PRO VISIONS
Article 67: Applicable Legislation
1. Copyright in a publi shed work shall be governed by the legislation of the State in which the work is rst made
lawfully accessible to the public. Copyright in an unpublished work shall be governed by the legislation of the
State in which the author is a national.
2. Rela ted rights shall be governed by the legislation of the State in which the performance is realiz ed, or in which
the sound or visua l or sound and visual recor ding is produced, or in which the radio or television broadcast is
transmitted or in which the printed publication is eff ected.
3. In all cases, the determination of the subject, object, content, duration and limitations of the right shall be
governed by the legislation applicable pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2), above, with the exception of any
exploitation license arrangement. The protection of a right shall be subject to the legislation of the State in which
the pr otection is sought.
4. Paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), above, shall apply except wher e they run contr ary to any international conv ention
ratied by Greece. In the case of States not conjoint with Greece through  the ratication of an international
conv ention, paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), above, shall be applicable as regar ds the protection of copyright or of any
particular object of copyright or of any particular related right, provided that the legislation of the relevant state
offers adequate copyright protection to works rst made accessible to the public in Greece and to related rights
stemming fr om acts eff ected in Gr eece.
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Article 68: Law not Retr oactiv e
1. Works for which the duration of protection has expir ed prior to the entry into force of this Law shall remain
without cop yright pr otection.
2. The protection prescribed under Article 2(3) and Articles 40 to 53 shall become applicable to computer
programs created in the past and to related rights stemming from acts effected in the past from the date of the
entry into for ce of this Law .
3. Contr acts  concluded befor e the entry into force of this Law shall be governed by the preceding legislation for
one y ear fr om the date of the entr y into for ce of this Law .
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Article 68A: Diachr onic Law
1. The term of protect ion provided for in Articles 29, 30 paragraph 1, 31 and 52 shall apply to all related works and
related rights protected in at least one Member State on 1.7.1995 pursuant to national laws on copyright and
related rights.. Third parties who under took the exploitation of works or subject matter which are protected by
related rights that had become commo n possession befor e the entry into force of the present law may continue
the said exploitatio n in the same ways, with the same means and to the sam e extent until 1.1.1999. The term of6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 75/81protection provided  for in Article 30 (2) shall apply to musical compositions  with lyrics provided that either the
musical compositio n or the lyrics were protected in at least one Member State of the European Union on 1
November 2013 and to musical compositions with lyrics created after this date, subject to any exploitation acts
carried out befor e 1 November 2013 and to any acquir ed rights of third parties (as amended with article 54 par.10
b) Law 4481/2017).
2. The agreements concerning the exploitation of works and other protected subject matter which were valid
befor e 1.1.1995 are subject as of 1.1.2000 to the provisions of article 35, paragraph 3, of the present law, provided
that they expir e after this date. If an international co-pr oduction agreement concluded befor e 1.1.1995 between a
co-pr oducer from a Member-State and one or more co-pr oducers from other Member-States or third countries
expr essly provides for a geogr aphic distribution system of the exploitation rights of the co-pr oducers for all
means of commu nication to the public without distinction between the arrangements applicable for
communication to the public by satellite and the provisions applicable to other means of communication and if
the communication  to the public by satellite would prejudice the exclusivity , particularly the language exclusivity ,
of one of the co-pr oducers or his assignees in a specic territ ory, the consent of the beneciar y of the said
exclusivity , whether he is the co-pr oducer or an assignee, is requir ed for the authorisation of communication to
the public by satelli te by a co-pr oducer or his assignees. The term of protection provided for in article 30 of this
law shall apply to musical composition s with lyrics, if either the musical composition or the lyrics were protected
in at least  one Member State of the European Union on November 1st, 2013 and to musical compositions with
lyrics which come into being after that date, without prejudice to any acts of exploitation that have been
performed befor e November 1st, 2013  and any acquir ed rights from third parties. If, due to this provision, there is
a revival of rights that have been transferred or other wise assigned to third parties based on license or contr act,
the extension of the term of protection shall benet the nal beneciar y or the special assignee thereof.
Other wise, the heir of the creator will benet. The term of protection provided in cases (c) and (d) of article 52
applies to the material xations of the performances and to the phonogr ams in relation to which the performer or
the phonogr am producer are still protected, by virtue of those provisions in the version thereof in force on 30
October 2011, as at 1 November 2013, and to xations of performances and phonogr ams which come into being
after that date (as added with ar ticle 5 Law 4212/2013).
1a. In the absence of clear contr actual indications to the contr ary, a contr act on transf er or assignment of article
52 (aa) and (dd), concluded befor e 1 November 2013 shall be deemed to continue to produce its effects beyond
the mome nt at which, the performer would no longer be protected, accor ding to article 52(c), in the version
thereof in force befor e the Implement ation of Directiv e 2011/77 into nation al law (as added with article 5 Law
4212/2013).
3. The provisions on orphan works provided for in article 27A shall apply to all the works and phonogr ams
protected by copyright or related right s for the rst time from 29.10.2014 onwar ds, while they shall be without
prejudice to the validity of acts concluded and rights acquir ed befor e the above mentioned date ” (as added with
article 8 Law 4212/2013).
4. Agreements concerning the exercise of copyright and related rights which refer to: a) acts of communication to
the public works of other subject – matters of protection, by wire or wireless means, as well as the making
available to the public works of other subject – matters of protection by wire or wireless means, in such a way
that the public may have access to them from a time and place individuall y chosen by them, which are taking6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 76/81place with in the framework of providing  an online service, the access to it or the use of such an online service and
which is in force on June 7th, 2021 are subject to Article 3B from Januar y 7th, 2023, provided that they expir e
following that date. Licenses which had been granted for acts of communicat ion to the public which fall within the
scope of Article 3 Α  and which are in force on June 7th, 2021, are subject to Article 3A from June 7th, 2025,
provided that the y expir e following that date.
5. Paragraph. 5 of Article 3, Articles 15 Α , 15 Β , 21, 21 Α , 21 Β , 22 Α , 27 Β , 31 Α , paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of Article 32,
paragraph 3 of Article 34, Articles 32 Α , 34 Α , 39 Α , paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 of Article 42, paragraph 3 of Article 45, the
last sente nce of paragraph 6 of Article 45 Α , the last sentence of paragraph 5 and paragraph. 6 of Article 46,
Article 51 Β , point z) of Article 52, paragraph 6 of Article 66 Α  and Article 66F, which constitute implementation of
the Directiv e (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Counci l of 17 April 2019 on copyright and
related rights in the Digital Single Mark et and amending Directiv es 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC, shall apply from
June 7th, 2021 and the acts which had been concluded and the rights which had been acquir ed befor e June 7th,
2021 shall not be prejudiced. In particular , the the application of paragraph 6 of Article 51 Β , concerning the
provision of the procedur e for the determination of the remuner ation of publishers from information society
service providers, shall begin from March 1st, 2023, and until that date paragraph 7 of the same Article is directly
applicable.
6. Paragraph 2 of Article 51 Β  shall not apply to press publication which have been published for the rst time
befor e June, 6th 2019.
7. Licensing or transf er of rights agreements of authors and performers are subject to the transpar ency obligation
provided under Article 15 Α  since June 7th, 2022 (as paragraphs 4, 5, 6 and 7 had been added with Article 55 τ ου
ν. 4996/2022).
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Article 69: Establishment of the Cop yright Or ganization
1.  A legal entity in private law under the jurisdiction of the Ministr y of Cultur e shall be established at a register ed
addr ess in Athens under the title “The Copyright Organization. ” The purpose of the Copyright Organization shall be
the protection of authors and of holders of related rights, the super vision of the collecting societies, the
implementation of this Law and of related international conv entions, the prepar ation of legal studies on matters
pertaining to copyright and related rights and the representation of Greece in dealings with all the competent
international organizations and with the institutions of the European Community . HCO may also organiz e any kind
of semina rs to educate and inform judges, lawy ers, civil servants, authors, holders of related rights, educat ors,
students on copyright and related rights, and to provide mediation services on copyright, related rights and
collectiv e management issues, as well as time-stamping services, namely by providing certied dates in relation
to works or objects  of protection which may be protected by copyright and/or a related right (time stamping
services). In no circumstance shall the Copyright Organization have as its purpose the administr ation of rights
pursuant t o Articles 54 t o 58 of this Law (as emended with ar ticle 54 par .11 Law 4481/2017).
2. The Hellenic Copyright Organization shall be subsidiz ed with a contribution of 1% of the annul gross revenue of
each collectiv e management organization, payable by 31st October of each year, on the basis of the balance sheet
of the previous year, and receiv ed in accor dance with the Public Revenue Collection Code. The annual balance6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 77/81sheets of collecting societies shall be submitted to the Hellenic Copyrigh t Organization and the Ministr y of
Cultur e. The above are also applicable to the collectiv e protection organizations obliged to draw up an annual
balance sheet, which is submitted to the Hellenic Copyright Organization and the Ministr y of Cultur e. Gross
revenue is the revenue dened in the Unied Accounting Plan. The Hellen ic Copyright Organization may also
receiv e grant nancing from international organizations and the Instruments of the European Community , gifts
and bequests, grants from any third party and the revenues due to it for the rendering of services. For the
commencement of its oper ation the Hellenic Copyright Organization shall receiv e a one-off grant of 20 million
drachmas from the budget of the Minis try of Cultur e. The Copyright Organizat ion may also be subsidised from the
funds of the Ministr y of Cultur e or the pr oceeds of the L OTTO and PRO-T O lotteries.
3. Matters pertaining to the main focus and detailed eld of competence of the Copyright Organization within the
framework of its overall purpose, the exact manner of its overall purpose, the exact manner of its powers and the
procedur e relating to its exercise of them, its management and the super vision of its administr ation, its internal
structur e and personnel, the fees it charges for services which may, as requir ed, be adjusted by decision of the
Minister of Cultur e, the determination of its scientic, management and ancillar y stang requir ement, its
remuner ation and every other detail shall be determined by Preside ntial Decr ee issued on the joint
recommendation of the Minister of Cultur e, the Minister to the Oce of the Prime Minister and the Minister of
Finance.
4. The Copyright Organization is a legal entity for public welfar e. The Copyright Organization is not part of the
public sect or and is not subject to the provisions of public accounting nor the provisions on public commissions
and public  works and other related provisions. The Copyright Organization operates for the public benet under
the rules of priv ate economy and is go verned b y priv ate law .
5. The Copyright Organization enjo ys all administr ative, economic and judicial exemptions as well as all
procedur al and essential privileges of the State.
6. The Rules of Construction Contr acts , Design, Supply and Service to the Hellenic Copyright Organization is
established by a decision of the Hellenic Copyright Organisation ’s Boar d of Members (as added with article 46
Law 3905/2010).
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Article 70: Collecting Societies Alr eady F unctioning
1. Colle cting societies which are already functioning at the date of the promulgation of this Law shall, within 12
months of the entry into force of this Law, lodge with the Ministr y of Cultur e the statement and copy of their rules
requir ed under Article 54 (4) of this Law and gener ally shall carry out all other actions necessar y to comply with
this Law .
2. Societies  of authors which at the date of the promulgation of this Law are carrying on the administr ative activity
referred to in Article 5 of Law No. 4301 /1929 and Article 43 of Law No. 1597 /1986 may continue to carry on that
activity for 24 months fr om the date of the entr y into for ce of this Law .
Top6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 78/81Article 71: Implementation of Dir ectiv es of the E uropean Community
1. Articles 2(3) and 40 to 45 of this Law shall constitute implementation of Council Directiv e 91/250/EEC of May
14, 1991, on legal pr otection of computer pr ograms.
2. Articles 3 paragraph. 1, section e), 5 Α , 9, 34, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52 and 53 consist  of implementation of the Directiv e
(EC) 2006 /115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain
aspects of copyright and related rights  in the information society (as added with Article 44 of the Law 4996/2022
(Implementation of the Dir ectiv e (EC ) 2006/115).
3. Articles 35 paragraphs 3 and 4, 35 paragraphs 5 to 8. 52h and 68A paragraph 2 of the present law are added in
application of the Council Directiv e 93/83/EEC of 27th September 1993 on the coor dination of certain rules
concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission
(as amended with ar ticle 54 par . 12 b) Law 4481/2017).
4. Articles 11, 29 (1), 30 (1), 31, 51A, 52c, d, e, f, g and 68A (1) of this Law implement Directiv e 93/98/EEC of the
European Council of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of the right, as well as of copyright and
of cer tain r elated rights (as amended with ar ticle 54 par . 12 c) Law 4481/2017).
5. Articles 2a, 3 paragraph 3, 45A, 64 last sentence, 65 paragraph 6, 66 paragraph 9 and 10, 72 paragraph 8 of this
law are adopted in application of Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliam ent and of the Council of 11 March
1996 on the legal pr otection of databases.
6. Art. 3 paragraph 1, 28 Α  paragraph 12, 28 Β  and 28C, 46 paragraph 2, 47 paragraphs 1 and 2, 48 paragraph 1, 52
point d), 64 Α , 66 paragraphs 1 and 2, 66 Α  and 66 Β  of this Law, constitute  an implementation of the Directiv e
2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain
aspects of copyrigh t and related rights  in the information society , as amended by the Directiv e (EU) 2017/1564 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2017 (as amended with Art. 9 par. 3 Law
4672/2020) (Ar t. 3 par . 1 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
7. Article 5 constitut es the implementation of Directiv e 2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 27 September 2001 on the r esale right for the benet of the author of an original work of ar t.
8.  Articles 10, paragraphs 3, 63A, 63B, 64, 65, paragraphs 1, 66C and 66D constitute the implementation of
Directiv e 2004/48 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the enfor cement of
intellectual pr oper ty rights.
9.  Articles 30 (2), 52 (c), second subpar agraph, 52 (d), second and third sub-par agraphs, 52 (d), sub-par agraphs
aa to gg, 68A paragraph 1, third to sixth sub-par agraph and Article 68A, paragraph 1 implement Directiv e
2011/77/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 amending Directiv e
2006/116/EC on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights. " (as amended with article 54 par.
12 c) Law 4481/2017)
10.  Articles 27A and 68A paragraph 3 constitute an application of Directiv e 2012/28/EU of the European
Parliament and Council of 25th October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works (as added with article 9
Law 4212/2013).6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 79/8111. Art. 28A paragraphs 1 to 11, Art. 42 paragraph 6 and the last point of paragraph 6 Art. 45 Α  Law 2121/1993,
constitute an implementation of the Directiv e 2017/1564/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13
September 2017 (as added with Ar t. 9 par . 4 Law 4672/2020) (Ar t. 3 par . 1 Dir ectiv e (EU) 2017/1564).
12. The seco nd sentence of paragraph 4 and paragraphs 5 to 9 of Article 35, as well as Articles 3 Α , 3 Β  and
paragraph 4 of Article 68 Α  consistu te of implementation of the Directiv e (EU) 2019/789 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights
applicable to certain online transmiss ions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and
radio programmes, and amending Council Directiv e 93/83/EEC (L 130) (as added with Article 45 of the Law
4996/2022 (Implementation of the Dir ectiv es (EU) 789/2019 και  ( ΕΕ ) 790/2019).
13. Paragraph 5 of Article 3, Articles 15 Α , 15 Β , 21, 21 Α , 21 Β , 22 Α , 27 Β , 31 Α , paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of Article 32,
Articles 32 Α , 34 Α , 39 Α , paragraphs 7, 8 και  9 of Article 42, paragraph 3 of Article 45, the last sentence of
paragraph 6 of Article 45 Α , the last sentence of paragraph 5 and paragraph 6 of Article 46, Article 51 Β , point z) of
Article 52, paragraph 5 of Article 66 Α  and Article 66F constitute implementation of the Directiv e (EU) 2019/790 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single
Mark et and amending Directiv es 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC (as added with Article 45 of the Law 4996/2022
(Implementation of the Dir ectiv es ( Ε U) 789/2019 και  ( ΕΕ ) 790/2019).
Note: The Directiv es of the European Directiv e were implemented to the Greek Copyright Law with the following
amendments:
Act No. 2557/1997 (Article 8)(Satellit e and Cable Directiv e 93/83/EC and Term Directiv e 93/98/EEC ); Act No.
2819/2000 (Article 7)(Database Directiv e 96/9/EC ); Act No. 3057/2002 (Article 81) ( Information Society
Directiv e, 2001/29/EC ); Act No. 3524/2007 (Resale Right Directiv e 2001/84/EC and the Enfor cement Directiv e
2004/48/EC ).
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Article 72: Repeal of Pr ovisions and Regulation of other Matters
1. From the date of the entry into force of this Law every provision which runs  counter to this Law or deals with
matters which are regulated by this Law shall be repealed. Specically , the following laws and parts of laws shall
be repealed: GYPG/1909 and 2387/19 20, Legislativ e Decr ee No. 12/15 of June 1926, Laws Nos. 4186/1929,
4301/1929 and 4489/1930, Article 2(1) of Legislativ e Decr ee 619/1941, Legi slativ e Decr ee No. 2179/1943, Laws
Nos. 763/1943, 1136/1944 and 56/1944, Article 12 of Law No. 3188/1995, Legislativ e Decr ee No. 4264/1962,
Article 4 of Law No. 1064/1980, Articles 5 and 10 to 22 of Law No. 1075/1980, Article 19 of Law No. 1348/1983
and Ar ticles 3, 40, 43 and 46 of Law No. 1597/1986.
2. Law No. 988/1943 shall r emain in for ce.
3. Collecting societies established and functioning pursuant to Articles 54 to 58 of this Law shall have the right to
organiz e conf erences on matters pertaining to copyright and related rights and to participate in such conf erences.
Articles 54 to 58 of this Law shall not prevent the concluding of recipr ocal contr acts between collecting societies
established in other countries and collecting societies established in Gr eece.6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
https://www .opi.gr/en/library/law-2121-1993#a66e 80/81Categories Library Contact4. Until July 1, 1994, paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of Article 49 of this Law shall  not be applicable to phonogr ams
used for pr esentations t o the public in caf es in communes with populations of less than 5,000 inhabitants.
5. Article 38(4) a) of this Law shall apply t o the publication of any phot ograph whatsoe ver.
6..Paragraph 6 has been abolished b y art. 4 par . 2 Law 3524/2007.
7. The association under the name Association of Greek Composers (EMSE) may continue to exercise its
managing activity as a collectiv e management or ganization until December 1999.
8. The regulations on the right of the author of a database and the sui generis right of the mak er of a database
shall be without prejudice to provisions concerning in particular copyright, rights related to copyright or any other
rights or obligations subsisting in the data, works or other materials incorpor ated into a database, patent rights,
trade marks, design rights, the protection of national treasur es, laws on restrictiv e practices and unfair
competition, trade secr ets, security , condentiality , data protection and privacy, access to public documents and
the law of contr act.
9. (9) A Presidential  Decr ee, issued upon proposal of the Minister of Cultur e and Spor ts, may allow for the
codication of the legislation on copyright, related rights and collectiv e management in its entir ety, for the
amendment of the order and numbering of the provisions, for the merging of similar provisions and, in gener al, for
any amendments necessar y for the administr ative codication of such legislation (as amended with article 54
par. 12 b) Law 4481/2017).
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CHAPTER 13 - CUL TURAL M ATTERS AND O THER ARRANGEMEN TS
Articles 73 t o 76 ar e not r eproduced her e because the y do not concern cop yright or neighbouring rights
 
CHAPTER FOUR TEEN: EN TRY INTO FORCE
Article 77
With the exception of Article 69, this Law shall enter into force from the date of its promulgation in the Ocial
Journal. Article 69 of this Law shall enter into force six months after the date of the promulgation of this Law in
the Ocial Journal.
We command the pr omulgation of this Law in the Ocial Journal and its implementation as a law of the State.
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 6/26/23, 2:16 PM Law 2121/1993 - ΟΡΓ ΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΠΝΕΥΜΑ ΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΔΙΟΚΤΗΣΙΑΣ
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