Implementation of Directive on Copyright in the Information Society

The Hungarian Copyright Act (76/1999) was amended as of May 1, 2004 in order to bring it in line with EU directives. The provisions of the Directive on Copyright in the Information Society (2001/29/EC) were also incorporated into the act in the course of this amendment.

When drafting the Copyright Act in 1997 and 1998, the legislative expert committee took into consideration the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties and the then available draft Directive on Copyright in the Information Society. As a result, the act included provisions on:

• the 'make available' right of authors and neighboring right owners from September 1 1999, and of database producers from January 1, 2002;