Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre) with amending laws of: 6 March 2003 [shall come into force on 4 April 2003]; 22 April 2004 [shall come into force on 1 May 2004]; 8 February 2007 [shall come into force on 1 March 2007]; 6 December 2007 [shall come into force on 5 January 2008]; 16 December 2010 [shall come into force on 1 January 2011]; 31 March 2011 [shall come into force on 27 April 2011]; 18 April 2013 [shall come into force on 22 May 2013]; 12 September 2013 [shall come into force on 1 January 2014]; 28 November 2013 [shall come into force on 1 January 2014]; 18 December 2014 [shall come into force on 31 December 2014]; 18 May 2017 [shall come into force on 14 June 2017]; 6 December 2018 [shall come into force on 13 December 2018]; 29 October 2020 [shall come into force on 11 November 2020]; 23 March 2023 [shall come into force on 5 April 2023]. If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the date of the amending law appears in square brackets at the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph or clause.

The Saeima ¹ has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:

Copyright Law

Chapter I
General Provisions

Section 1. Terms Used in this Law

The following terms are used in this Law:

1) author - a natural person, as a result of whose creative activities a concrete work has been created;

2) work - the results of an author's creative activities in the literary, scientific or artistic domain, irrespective of the mode or form of its expression and its value;

3) database - a collection of independent works, data or other materials arranged in a systematic or methodical manner and individually available by electronic or other means;

4) fixation - the embodiment of sound or image into material form, which provides a possibility to communicate it to the public, perceive or reproduce it by means of a relevant device;

5) film - an audio-visual or cinematographic work or moving images, whether or not accompanied by sound;

6) film producer - a natural or legal person who finances and organises the creation of a film and is responsible for its completion;

7) phonogram - fixation of the sounds of a performance, other sounds or representation of sounds;

8) phonogram producer - a natural or legal person who or which takes the initiative and has the responsibility for the first fixation of the sounds of a performance or other sounds, or the representations of sounds;

9) rights management information - information provided by a holder of copyright or related rights and also the maker of a database which identifies the holder of copyright or related rights and also the maker of a database and the object, and information about the terms and conditions of use of the object of copyright or related rights and also of the database, and also any numbers or codes that represent such information;

10) performer - an actor, singer, musician, dancer, or other persons who act, read, sing, play, or otherwise perform literary or artistic works or expressions of folklore, provide stage, circus or puppet performances;

11) distribution - an activity by which the original or copy of the object of copyright or related rights is sold or otherwise alienated;

12) disclosure - an action by means of which a work is made available to the public for the first time, irrespective of its form;

12¹) accessible format copy - a copy of a work or related rights object in an alternative format which gives a person with functional limitations access to the work or the related rights object, similarly as to a person without such limitations;

12²) cultural heritage institution - a publicly accessible library or museum, an archive, including a library and an archive of an educational institution, research organisation, or public broadcasting organisation, and also an institution preserving heritage of films or sound recordings;

13) publication - any action, by means of which copies of an object of copyright or related rights are made available to the public with the consent of the holders of copyright or related rights, conforming to the condition that the number of copies shall satisfy a reasonable public demand in conformity with the nature of object of copyright or related rights; performances of dramatic, dramatic-musical or musical works, demonstrations of audio-visual works, public readings of literary works, the broadcasting of literary or artistic works, demonstrations of visual works or erected architectural works shall not be deemed to be publication of an object of copyright;

14) communication to the public - any action by means of which, either directly or through a relevant technical device, a work, performance, phonogram or broadcast is made available to the public;

15) public performance - the performance, playing or any other use of any work or other object protected by this Law, which is intended for several members of the public not personally related to the user or not personally interrelated, either directly or by means of any technical equipment or process;

16) public lending - an action by the user of the original or a copy of the work of an author, the fixation of a performance, a phonogram or a film, by means of which the object of copyright or related rights is made available through the intermediation of a publicly accessible institution to an unlimited number of people for a limited period of time, not for the purpose of gaining direct or indirect economic or commercial benefit;

17) reproduction - the making of one or more copies, by any means and in any form and scale, fully or partially, of an object of copyright or related rights, also short-term or long-term storage in electronic form of an object of copyright or related rights or a part thereof, as well as the making of three-dimensional copies of a two-dimensional object or two-dimensional copies of a three-dimensional object;

18) reprographic reproduction - the making of facsimile copies of a work, by any means of photocopying, except printing. Reprographic reproduction shall also be deemed the scanning or the making of facsimile copies by means of photocopying in an enlarged or reduced scale;

19) technological measures - technological protection measures (technologies, devices, or components thereof) used by a holder of copyright or related rights and also the maker of a database which are normally used in order to restrict or prevent such activities involving an object of copyright or related rights and also a database which are not authorised by the holder of copyright or related rights and also by the maker of the database. Technological measures shall be deemed effective where the holder of copyright or related rights and also the maker of a database control the use of an object of copyright or related rights and also a database through the application of an access control or a protection process (with encryption, scrambling or other transformation of the object of copyright or related rights or database work or a copy control mechanism which achieves the protection objective);

19¹) text and data mining - any automated analytical technique enabling to analyse text and data in a digital manner in order to obtain specific information, for example, models, trends, and correlations;

20) original work of visual art - a work of graphic or plastic art (paintings, collages, drawings, engravings, lithographs, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics or glassware, photographs and similar) if they are made by the author himself or herself, or also copies of the work, which are considered to be original works of visual art. Copies of the work which have been made in limited numbers by the author himself or herself or have been made with his or her permission shall be considered to be original works of visual art. Such copies shall normally have been numbered, signed, or otherwise appropriately designated by the author;

21) seller of an original work of visual art - a merchant (also a commission agent) who performs an auction or whose undertaking is an art gallery, an art salon, a store, an internet store, an auction house or the like, in which an original work of visual art is offered for purchase to a customer.

[22 April 2004; 8 February 2007; 18 April 2013; 6 December 2018; 23 March 2023]

Section 2. Principles of Copyright

(1) Copyright shall belong to the author as soon as a work is created, regardless of whether it has been completed.

(2) Copyright shall apply to works of literature, science, art, and other works referred to in Section 4 of this Law, also unfinished works, regardless of the purpose of the work and the value, form or type of expression.

(3) Proof of copyright ownership shall not require registration, special documentation for the work or conformity with any other formalities.

(4) Authors or their successors in title may indicate their rights to a work by means of a copyright protection symbol which shall be affixed in such a manner and in such a place so that it is clearly visible. Such a sign shall include three elements:

1) the letter "C" within a circle;

2) the name (designation) of the copyright holder;

3) the year of first publication of the work.

(5) Copyright has the nature of moral and economic rights.

(6) Copyright shall be governed by the same legal rights as personal property rights within the meaning of the Civil Law, but it may not be an object of property claims.

Section 3. Scope of Copyright

(1) Copyright to works that have or have not been disclosed in Latvia, but which exist in Latvia in any material form, shall belong to the authors or their heirs, as well as to other successors in title.

(2) Copyright to works that are simultaneously published in a foreign state and in Latvia shall belong to the authors and their heirs, as well as to other successors in title.

(3) In accordance with Paragraph two of this Section, a work shall be deemed published simultaneously in a foreign state and in Latvia if it has been published in Latvia within 30 days after its first publication in a foreign state.

(4) Copyright to works that have been disclosed in a foreign state in any material form shall be recognised as to citizens of Latvia and as to persons who are entitled to a non-citizen passport, or as to persons whose permanent residence (domicile) is in Latvia, as well as to the successors in title to such persons. Copyright to works that have been disclosed or otherwise made known in a foreign country in any material form shall be recognised as to other persons, in accordance with the international agreements binding on Latvia.

Chapter II
Protected and Non-protected Works

Section 4. Protected Works

The objects of copyright, regardless of the manner or form of expression, shall comprise the following works of authors:

1) literary works (books, brochures, speeches, computer programs, lectures, addresses, reports, sermons and other works of a similar nature);

2) dramatic and dramatico-musical works, scripts and treatments of audio-visual works;

3) choreographic works and pantomimes;

4) musical works with or without lyrics;

5) audio-visual works;

6) drawings, paintings, sculptures and graphic art and other works of art;

7) works of applied art, decorative and scenographic works;

8) design works;

9) photographic works and works which are expressed by a process analogous to photography;

10) sketches, drafts and plans for buildings, structures and architectural works, models of buildings and structures, other architectural designs, city construction works and garden and park plans and models, as well as fully or partly constructed buildings and implemented city construction or landscape objects;

11) geographical maps, plans, sketches, and moulded works which relate to geography, topography and other sciences;

12) other works of authors.

Section 5. Protected Derivative Works

(1) Without prejudice to the rights of authors as to the original work, the following derivative works shall also be protected:

1) translations and adaptations, revised works, annotations, theses, summaries, reviews, musical arrangements, screen and stage adaptations and similar works;

2) collections of works (encyclopaedias, anthologies, atlases, and similar collections of works) and also databases and other compiled works which, in terms of selection of materials or arrangement, are the result of creative activity.

(2) Derived works shall be protected irrespective of whether the works from which they are derived or which are included within them can have copyright protection applied to them.

(3) Databases the creation, obtaining, verification, or presentation of which has required a substantial qualitative or quantitative investment (financial resources or consumption of time and energy), whether or not they are the objects of copyright, shall be protected in accordance with Chapter IX of this Law.

[22 April 2004; 18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 6. Non-protected Works

The following shall not be protected by copyright:

1) laws and regulations and administrative acts, other documents issued by State and local government institutions and court rulings (laws, court judgements, decisions, and other official documents), as well as official translations of such texts and official consolidated versions;

2) State approved, as well as internationally recognised official symbols and signs (flags, coats of arms, anthems, and awards) the use of which is subject to specific laws and regulations;

3) maps the preparation and use of which are determined by laws and regulations;

4) information provided in the press, radio or television broadcasts or other information media concerning news of the day and various facts and events;

5) ideas, methods, processes, and mathematical concepts;

6) copies of such works of visual art in respect of which copyright has expired, unless they are the result of creative activity.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Chapter III
Authors and their Successors in Title

Section 7. Copyright Holders

(1) The author of a work, co-authors, including authors of audio-visual works, authors of derivative works, their heirs and other successors in title may be copyright holders.

(2) Copyright holders may exercise the copyright to a work themselves or through their representatives (also through collective management organisations).

[18 May 2017]

Section 8. Presumption of Authorship

(1) The person whose name or generally recognised pseudonym appears on a work communicated to the public or a published or a reproduced work shall be considered to be the author of the work, if it is not proven otherwise.

(2) If a work is communicated to the public or published without reference to the author, the editor shall act in the name and interests of the author, but if the editor is also not identified, then the publisher or the authorised representative of the author. This condition shall be in effect until the author of a work reveals his or her identity and claims authorship.

Section 9. Co-authors

(1) If a work has two or more authors and the individual contribution of each author to the creation of the work cannot be segregated as a separate work, copyright to the work shall belong to all the co-authors jointly.

(2) If the individual contribution of each author is a separate work, each author shall have copyright to his or her individual contribution as a separate work.

(3) Protection against copyright infringement may be realised by any of the co-authors, independently from the other co-authors.

(4) If one of the authors refuses to finish or, for reasons independent of the author, cannot finish his or her part in the creation of the work, he or she may not prevent the use of his or her part of the work in the completion of the work. Such author shall have copyright to his or her part of the work, as well as remuneration for it, unless specified otherwise by contract.

Section 10. Compiler of a Composite Work

(1) A compiler the result of whose creative activity is the selection or arrangement of materials, holds the copyright to the compilation of the composite work.

(2) Authors of works included in collections or other composite works shall each retain copyright to their respective work and may independently use it also separate from the collection or composite work.

(3) The copyright of a compiler shall not impose restrictions on other persons to independently make the selection and arrangement of the same works and material.

[18 May 2017]

Section 11. Authors of Audio-visual Works

(1) The authors of an audio-visual work shall be the director, the author of the script, the author of the dialogue, the author of a musical work (with or without lyrics) created for the audio-visual work, as well as other persons who, as a result of their creative activity, have contributed to the making of the work.

(2) The producer of a work may not be recognised as an author of an audio-visual work.

(3) The authors of an audio-visual work, except for the author of a musical work created for the audio-visual work, shall each retain moral rights to their work, but may not use it independently of the whole of the audio-visual work, if it is not specified otherwise by contract with the producer. The author of a musical work shall retain both the moral rights of an author and the economic rights of an author. The author of a script may use his or her work in a different type of work, unless specified otherwise by contract.

[18 May 2017]

Section 12. Author of a Work Created in the Course of Employment

(1) If an author has created a work performing his or her duties in an employment relationship, the moral and economic rights to the work shall belong to the author, except for the case specified in Paragraph two of this Section. Starting from the moment of the creation of the work the employer shall acquire the right to use the respective work for the purpose it was created and to the extent justified by this purpose, unless otherwise provided in the employment contract. The author may agree with the employer on the transfer of the economic rights of the author to the employer.

(2) If a computer program has been created by an employee while performing a work assignment, all economic rights to the computer program so created shall belong to the employer, unless specified otherwise by contract.

[23 March 2023]

Section 13. Author's Contract for a Commissioned Work

(1) If an author's contract has been entered into for a commissioned work, the author must perform the commissioned work in accordance with the provisions of the contract and must provide the work for use by the commissioning party, within the term specified and according to the procedures indicated in the contract.

(2) It is the obligation of an author to personally perform the work commissioned from them.

(3) Co-authors may be invited and the composition of co-authors changed only with the written consent of the commissioning party if it is necessary for the performance of the work and is not provided for otherwise in the contract. If an author does not comply with the obligation to perform the work personally, the commissioning party may terminate the contract.

Chapter IV
Rights of an Author

Section 14. Moral Rights of an Author

(1) The author of a work has the inalienable moral rights of an author to the following:

1) authorship - the right to be recognised as the author;

2) a decision whether and when the work will be disclosed;

3) the revocation of a work - the right to request that the use of a work be discontinued, with the provision that the author compensate the losses which have been incurred by the user due to the discontinuation;

4) name - the right to require his or her name to be appropriately indicated on all copies and at any public event associated with his or her work, or to require the use of a pseudonym or anonymity;

5) inviolability of a work - the right to permit or prohibit the making of any transformations, changes or additions either to the work itself or to its title;

6) legal action (also unilateral repudiation of a contract without compensation for losses) against any distortion, modification, or other transformation of his or her work, as well as against such an infringement of an author's rights as may damage the honour or reputation of the author.

(1¹) The author of a computer program may not, on the basis of his or her moral rights, prohibit transformation, modification, and supplementation of the computer program as long as such use does not damage the honour or reputation of the author and also may not exercise his or her moral rights to revoke the work.

(2) None of the rights mentioned in Paragraph one of this Section may be transferred to another person during the lifetime of the author.

[23 March 2023]

Section 15. Economic Rights of an Author

(1) With respect to the use of his or her own work, an author, except for the author of a computer program or a database, has the following exclusive rights:

1) to communicate the work to the public;

2) to publish the work;

3) to publicly perform the work;

4) to distribute the work;

5) to broadcast the work;

6) to retransmit the work;

7) to make the work available to the public by wire or by other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

8) to lease, rent or to publicly lend originals or copies of a work, except for three-dimensional architectural works and works of applied art;

9) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduce the work;

10) to translate a work;

11) to arrange, to adapt for stage or screen, or to otherwise transform a work.

(2) With respect to the use of a computer program, the author of a computer program has the following exclusive rights:

1) to distribute the computer program;

2) to make the computer program available to the public by wire or by other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

3) to lease, rent or to publicly lend the computer program;

4) to temporarily or permanently reproduce the computer program (insofar as the loading, demonstration, use, transmission or storage of the computer program requires its reproduction, if permission for such action has been granted in writing by the rightholder);

5) to translate, adapt and in any other way transform the computer program and reproduce the results obtained thereby (insofar as it is not contrary to the rights of the person who transforms the computer program).

(3) With respect to the use of a database, the author of the database has the following exclusive rights to permit or prohibit:

1) to communicate the database to the public or demonstrate it;

2) to distribute the database;

3) to make the database available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

4) to reproduce the database temporarily or permanently;

5) to translate, adapt, or otherwise transform the database, and also to reproduce, distribute, communicate to the public, demonstrate, or display the result of such activities.

(4) The author has the right to use his or her work in any manner, to permit or prohibit its use, receive remuneration for permission to use his or her work and for the use of the work except for the cases provided for in law.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Section 16. Transfer of the Rights of an Author

(1) The right to disclose and to use a work and to receive remuneration for the permission to use a work, and for the use of the work shall pass to the heirs of the author. The heirs of an author have the right to protect the moral rights of the author.

(2) Only the rights specified in Section 15, Paragraphs one, two, and three of this Law may be transferred to other successors in title (including legal persons).

(3) Copyright is not linked with property rights to the material object in which the work is expressed. Copyright to a work expressed in a material object shall be dissociated from possession of such work. Transfer of possession of a material object (also a copy of the first fixation of the work) shall not of itself result in the transfer of copyright to the work.

Section 17. Inalienable Right of Authors to Receive Remuneration in the Case of the Public Resale of Original Works of Visual Art (Droit de Suite)

(1) Authors shall retain inalienable rights to receive remuneration for alienated original works of visual art which have been transferred to the ownership of another person. An agreement in respect of which the author waives the right to remuneration in the future shall not be in effect. The transfer of ownership of the original work of visual art from the author to another person, with or without remuneration, shall be considered the first alienation of such a work.

(2) After the first alienation of the original work of art, the further public resale (by auction, or through the mediation of an art gallery, an art salon, a store, an Internet store, an auction house or similar enterprise) of the original work of visual art, the author has the right to receive a remuneration of:

1) 5 % for the portion of the resale price up to 50 000 euros;

2) 3 % for the portion of the resale price from 50 000.01 euros to 200 000 euros;

3) 1 % for the portion of the resale price from 200 000.01 euros to 350 000 euros;

4) 0.5 % for the portion of the resale price from 350 000.01 euros to 500 000 euros;

5) 0.25 % for the portion of the resale price exceeding 500 000 euros.

(3) The amount of remuneration each time for one original work of visual art may not exceed 12 500.00 euros.

(4) The monetary amount (without tax) received by the seller of an original work of visual art shall be considered the sale price.

(5) The seller of an original work of visual art has a duty to pay remuneration to a collective management organisation which manages these rights, within 10 days after selling of the work, unless the agreement with the collective management organisation provides for another time limit for the payment.

(6) On the basis of a request from a collective management organisation managing these rights, the seller (also store, gallery, salon, etc.) has a duty to provide the information which is necessary in order to ensure management of the remuneration. Such a request may be made within three years after the sale of the original work of visual art.

(7) The owner of the original work of visual art has a duty to give the author of the alienated work a possibility to realise the right to reproduce the work, as well as to exhibit the work in a personal exhibition. The author has a duty himself or herself to ensure the preservation of the work in delivering it to and from the place of reproduction or exhibition, unless specified otherwise by contract.

(8) The rights referred to in this Section shall be applied to foreign authors and their heirs only in such case if the specific country protects the public resale rights of original works of visual art of Latvian authors and their heirs.

(9) After the death of the author, the rights referred to in this Section shall be devolved to the heirs of the author.

[22 April 2004; 8 February 2007; 6 December 2007; 12 September 2013; 28 November 2013; 18 May 2017]

Section 17.¹ Banknotes

(1) The Bank of Latvia holds the copyright of lat banknotes. The Bank of Latvia copyright does not affect the right of the author of the images used on the banknotes to be recognised as the author thereof.

(2) It is prohibited to reproduce banknotes in any way, except for the case where the Bank of Latvia, the European Central Bank, the central bank or country which has emitted such banknotes has provided written permission or the requirements of the Bank of Latvia, the European Central Bank or the relevant country for the reproduction of banknotes. Restrictions on the economic rights of authors shall not apply to banknotes.

[22 April 2004]

Chapter V
Restrictions on the Economic Rights of an Author

Section 18. Principles of Restrictions on Economic Rights of an Author

(1) The right of an author to permit or prohibit the use of his or her work and receive remuneration for its use may be restricted in cases specified by this Law.

(2) The restrictions on the economic rights of an author determined in this Law shall be applied in such a way that they are not contrary to the provisions for normal use of the work of an author and may not unjustifiably limit the lawful interests of the author.

(3) In case of doubt, it shall be considered that the right of an author to the use of the work or to the receipt of remuneration is not restricted.

(4) If a user of the work has the right to use the work in the cases specified in Section 20, Paragraph one, Clause 1, Sections 21, 22, 23, 24, and 27 of this Law, but he or she cannot exercise these rights due to the effective technological measures used by the author, he or she has the right to request that the author gives access to such works taking into account the restrictions on the economic rights of the author. The author may refuse to provide such a possibility if the use of the work is contrary to the provisions of Paragraph two of this Section.

(5) If the user of the work and the author cannot reach an agreement in respect of the provisions of Paragraph four of this Section, they may apply to a mediator.

[22 April 2004; 18 December 2014; 23 March 2023]

Section 19. Use of a Work of an Author without the Consent of the Author and without Compensation

(1) Copyright shall not be considered infringed if a work of an author is used without the consent of the author and without the payment of compensation in accordance with the procedures laid down this Law:

1) a work is used for informational purposes (Section 20);

2) a work is used for educational and research purposes (Section 21);

3) a work is used for text and data mining (Section 21.¹);

4) a work is used for text and data mining for research purposes (Section 21.²);

5) a work is used for the benefit of persons with functional limitations (Section 22);

6) a certain work is used for the benefit of persons who are blind or who have other reading difficulties (Section 22.¹);

7) a work is used for the needs of cultural heritage institutions (Section 23);

8) a work is reproduced for the purposes of judicial proceedings (Section 24);

9) a work on public display is used (Section 25);

10) a work is used in a public performance during official or religious ceremonies and also in educational institutions as part of a face-to-face teaching process (Section 26);

11) a work is used ephemerally by a broadcasting organisation (Section 27);

12) a work is parodied, caricatured, or used in pastiche;

13) a work is used for purposes of advertising a public exhibition or public sale of works of art (Section 27.¹);

14) a computer program is used for reproduction, translation, and other transformation (Section 29);

15) interoperability of a computer program is ensured (Section 30);

16) a work is re-alienated to another person, except as provided for in Section 17 of this Law (Section 32).

(2) [22 April 2004]

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 6 December 2018; 23 March 2023]

Section 19.¹ Public Lending of a Work

(1) Copyright shall not be deemed to be infringed if without the consent of the author, but with the payment of just compensation to him or her, the published work is used for public lending.

(2) The procedures for calculating the amount of compensation referred to in Paragraph one of this Section in relation to the libraries of the State, local governments or other derived public entities and in relation to private libraries, as well as the procedures for disbursing the compensation and the proportional distribution among authors, performers, phonograph producers and film producers shall be determined by the Cabinet.

(3) Compensation for the use of a published work for public lending in libraries of the State, local governments, derived public entities and in private libraries shall be paid into the account in a credit institution indicated by the collective management organisation.

[22 April 2004; 8 February 2007; 18 May 2017]

Section 20. Use of a Work for Informational Purposes

(1) It being mandatory that the title of the work and the name of the author to be used are indicated and that the provisions of Sections 14 and 18 of this Law are observed, it is permitted:

1) to reproduce and communicate to the public disclosed works in the form of quotations and fragments for scientific, research, polemical, and critical purposes and also in news broadcasts and reports of current events to the extent justified by the purpose of use;

2) to publish, to broadcast or otherwise make known publicly given political speeches, addresses, announcements and other analogous works, to the extent justified by the informational purpose;

3) to fixate, communicate to the public and publish current events by photographic works; for a broadcasting organisation - to broadcast works which have been seen or heard in the course of current events, to the extent justified by the informational purpose.

(2) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to computer programs.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 23 March 2023]

Section 21. Use of a Work for Educational and Research Purposes

(1) It is permitted to use disclosed works or fragments thereof for non-commercial purposes to the extent justified by the purpose of use by indicating the title of a work, source, and name of the author and also in compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law:

1) for illustration purposes in a teaching process if such use occurs in an educational institution or another place where an educational programme is implemented or in a secure electronic environment available to educatees and persons implementing the educational programme;

2) for research purposes.

(2) Within the meaning of this Law, the use for illustration purposes is such use of works or fragments thereof which supports, enriches, or supplements the teaching process.

(3) Within the meaning of this Law, the secure electronic environment is a digital environment for teaching needs in which authentication of educatees and persons implementing the educational programme is ensured.

(4) The place of use of works or fragments thereof specified in Paragraph one, Clause 1 of this Section, if it is implemented in a secure electronic environment, shall be deemed a European Union Member State or a country of the European Economic Area where the relevant educational institution has been established. The place of use of works or fragments thereof specified in Paragraph one, Clause 1 of this Section shall be deemed Latvia if an educational institution established outside a European Union Member State or a country of the European Economic Area operates in Latvia and implements the programme of the subject Latvian Studies.

[23 March 2023]

Section 21.¹ Use of a Work for Text and Data Mining

(1) In compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, it is permitted to reproduce lawfully accessible works in order to perform text and data mining.

(2) The copies of works made in accordance with Paragraph one of this Section may be kept as long as required for text and data mining purposes.

(3) Copyright holders may prohibit use of works in the manner specified in Paragraph one of this Section by informing thereof clearly in an appropriate manner. A prohibition to use works that are accessible to the general public online shall be communicated in a machine readable form, including through metadata.

[23 March 2023]

Section 21.² Use of a Work for Text and Data Mining for Research Purposes

(1) In compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, a research organisation and a cultural heritage institution are permitted to reproduce lawfully accessible works in order to perform text and data mining for research purposes.

(2) Within the meaning of this Law, the research organisation is a higher education institution, including a library thereof, a scientific institution, or any other institution the main task of which is to carry out research or perform an educational activity that also includes research and which does not generate any profit or invests all generated profit in research, or acts in the public interest recognised by the State. An enterprise which has a decisive influence in the research organisation shall not have access privileges for the research results generated by it.

(3) The copies of works made for research purposes shall be stored by ensuring an adequate level of security insofar as it is necessary for research purposes, including verification of research results.

(4) Copyright holders have the right to take measures to ensure security and integrity in respect of data networks and databases which are used for the storage of works to the extent justified by this purpose.

(5) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to computer programs.

[23 March 2023]

Section 22. Use of a Work for the Benefit of a Person with Functional Limitations

Without the consent of the author and payment of the compensation, in accordance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, an accessible format copy of the disclosed work may, for non-commercial purposes, be made and reproduced, distributed, and published for persons with functional limitations, insofar as it is necessary in the case of the relevant limitation of such persons.

[6 December 2018]

Section 22.¹ Use of Certain Works for the Benefit of Persons who are Blind or with Other Reading Difficulties

(1) A person who is blind or with other reading difficulties, within the meaning of this Law, regardless of any other functional limitations is a person who meets at least one of the following criteria:

1) is blind;

2) has a visual impairment which prevents the person from reading printed works to substantially the same degree as a person without such an impairment and which cannot be improved so as to give the person visual function substantially equivalent to that of a person who has no such impairment;

3) has a perceptual disability or other reading difficulty preventing the person from reading printed works to substantially the same degree as persons without such disability;

4) due to a physical disability, is unable to hold or manipulate a book, focus or move their eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading.

(2) The competent authority within the meaning of this Law is an authority which provides education or access to information for persons who are blind or with other reading difficulties on a non-profit basis. Public authorities and non-profit organisations which provide educational and information access services to persons who are blind or with other reading difficulties, and such services are one of the main activities or obligations of the abovementioned authorities or one of the tasks they perform in the public interest, are also recognised as competent authorities.

(3) A person who is blind or with other reading difficulties, or a person who acts in his or her interests, in accordance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, may, without the consent of the author and payment of compensation, make an accessible format copy of a disclosed printed work expressed in any format, including in audio format, or a musical work noted as sheet music, and the illustrations included in such works for the benefit of a person who is blind or with other reading difficulties.

(4) The competent authority may, without the consent of the author and payment of compensation, in accordance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, for non-commercial purposes:

1) make accessible format copies of the works indicated in Paragraph three of this Section to be used for the benefit of a person who is blind or with other reading difficulties;

2) communicate, make available, distribute, or lend an accessible format copy to a person residing in a European Union Member State who is blind or with other reading difficulties or to the competent authority established in a European Union Member State.

(5) Upon making an accessible format copy, its maker has an obligation to respect the integrity of the work, except for where the transformation of the work is necessary to make it available to persons who are blind or with other reading difficulties.

(6) A person who is blind or with other reading difficulties and the competent authority are entitled to obtain or access an accessible format copy from any competent authority established in a European Union Member State.

(7) The competent authority established in Latvia which carries out the activities specified in Paragraph four or six of this Section with accessible format copies in respect of persons residing in other European Union Member States who are blind or with other reading difficulties or the competent authorities established in a European Union Member State:

1) shall take the appropriate measures to discourage the unauthorised reproduction, distribution, communication to the public or making available to the public of accessible format copies;

2) shall handle works and their accessible format copies with due diligence and maintain records of the activities carried out therewith;

3) shall publish and update on its website or through other forms of public disclosure information on how it fulfils the obligations laid down in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Paragraph;

4) upon request shall submit the following information to the persons who are blind or with other reading difficulties, to other competent authorities, or to copyright holders:

a) the list of the works held thereby in accessible format copies and the available formats of these works,

b) the names and contact information of the competent authorities with which it exchanges accessible format copies.

[6 December 2018]

Section 23. Use of a Work for the Needs of Cultural Heritage Institutions

(1) In compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, a cultural heritage institution is permitted for non-commercial purposes to reproduce, in any format and data medium, a work that is permanently in its collection for preservation purposes, including to preserve a damaged or worn work or such work the data medium of which is technologically obsolete, to the extent justified by this purpose.

(2) In compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, a cultural heritage institution of the State, local government, or another derived public entity is permitted for non-commercial purposes to make individually available the works in its collection and also copies thereof made in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph one of this Section, upon request to be used for scientific research or self-education, to natural persons who have authorised access to computers specifically set up on premises of the relevant cultural heritage institution. The cultural heritage institution shall provide such service by using specially protected intranets only in respect of works which are not available commercially insofar as the agreement with the author does not provide otherwise.

(3) In compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, a cultural heritage institution is permitted to reproduce, without direct or indirect commercial purpose, the works in its collection or fragments thereof in posters, leaflets, brochures, and other similar informative materials to the extent justified by the informational purposes.

(4) The provisions of Paragraphs two and three of this Section shall not apply to computer programs.

[23 March 2023]

Section 24. Reproduction of a Work for Purposes of Judicial Proceedings

(1) Reproduction of a work is permitted to the extent justified, for purposes of judicial proceedings, without the permission of the author and without compensation to the author.

(2) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to computer programs.

Section 25. Use of a Work on Public Display

(1) It is permitted to use images of works of architecture, photography, visual arts, design, as well as of applied arts, permanently displayed in public places, for personal use and as information in news broadcasts or reports of current events, or include in works for non-commercial purposes.

(2) That which is referred to in this Section shall not apply to cases when the image of a work is an object for further repetition of the work, for broadcast by broadcasting organisations or for the purpose of commercial use of the image of a work.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007]

Section 26. Free Use of a Work in a Public Performance

In conformity with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, a work may be performed in public without the consent of the author and without the payment of remuneration:

1) during official and religious ceremonies, to the extent justified by the nature of the ceremony;

2) within the framework of the implementation of an educational programme, to an extent that corresponds to the teaching process and for non-commercial purposes, with a mandatory indication of the title and the name of the author of the work being used, and provided that the work is performed in public to an audience consisting of only the teachers, students or persons directly associated with the implementation of the relevant educational programme.

[6 December 2007]

Section 27. Free Recordings for Ephemeral Use by Broadcasting Organisations

(1) In conformity with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, a broadcasting organisation may make ephemeral recordings of works which the organisation has the right to use in broadcasting, if the broadcasting organisation makes such recordings on its own account for its own use.

(2) The broadcasting organisation has the obligation to destroy such recordings within one month after their preparation, if there has not been an agreement with the author regarding a longer storage time.

(3) Recordings of works that have a particular documentary or cultural and historical significance may be preserved in official archives without an agreement with the author of the work, but the use of such a work requires the permission of the author.

[22 April 2004]

Section 27.¹ Use of a Work for Advertising Purposes

In compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law, it is permitted to use the works specified in Section 4, Clauses 6, 7, 8, and 9 of this Law or fragments thereof for advertising a public exhibition or public sale of works of art, insofar as it is necessary to promote a relevant event without using them for any commercial purposes.

[23 March 2023]

Section 28. Reproduction of a Work for Technical Use in a Broadcasting Organisation

[22 April 2004]

Section 29. Restrictions Regarding the Rights of Reproduction, Translation, Adaptation and any other Transformation of Computer Programs

(1) If not specified otherwise by contract, and the right to use a computer program has been lawfully obtained, its reproduction, translation, adaptation or any other transformation and the reproduction of the results of such activities shall not require any special permission from the copyright holder, as long as such activities (including correction of errors) are necessary for the purpose of the intended use of the computer program.

(2) A contract entered into with a person who has lawfully acquired the right to use a computer program may not prohibit the making of a back-up copy, if such copy is necessary for the use of the computer program.

(3) A person who has the right to use a computer program may, without the permission of the copyright holder, observe, study or test the functioning of the program in order to discover the ideas and principles which underlie any element of the computer program, if such person does so while demonstrating, using, broadcasting or storing.

[22 April 2004]

Section 30. Ensuring the Interoperability of Computer Programs

(1) The permission of the copyright holder shall not be required, if, without reproducing the code of the computer program or modifying its form, it is not possible to obtain the necessary information in order to achieve the interoperability of an independently created computer program with other computer programs. Such use shall be permitted, if the following provisions are observed in their entirety:

1) a person who has lawfully acquired the right to use a copy of the computer program performs the relevant activities;

2) the information necessary to achieve interoperability has not been easily accessible beforehand;

3) only those parts of the computer program which are necessary to achieve interoperability, are subject to such activities.

(2) In accordance with the provisions of Paragraph one of this Section, the information obtained may not be:

1) used for purposes other than to achieve interoperability with an independently created computer program;

2) disclosed to other persons, except for the cases when it is necessary to achieve interoperability with an independently created computer program;

3) used with the intention of developing, producing or selling a substantially similar computer program, or for any other activity whereby copyright is infringed.

[22 April 2004]

Section 31. Restrictions with Respect to Databases

(1) A lawful user of a database or copy thereof may take any action which is necessary in order to access the contents of the databases and use it without the authorisation of the author of the database. If the lawful user is authorised to use only part of the database, the abovementioned provision shall apply only to that part.

(2) Agreements which are contrary to the provisions of this Section shall not be in effect.

[23 March 2023]

Section 32. Exhaustion of Distribution Rights

The right to distribute a work shall be exhausted from the moment when such work is sold or otherwise alienated in the European Union for the first time if it has been done by the author himself or herself, or with his or her consent. This condition applies only to works embodied in concrete material objects or the copies thereof and which are sold or otherwise alienated.

[22 April 2004]

Section 33. Temporary Reproduction of a Work

It is permitted to temporarily reproduce a work without the consent of the author and without compensation if the reproduction of the work is an integral part and an essential component of a technological process and the purpose of the reproduction is to permit the sending of the work performed by the intermediary to a data network between third persons or the lawful use thereof, and if such reproduction has no independent economic significance.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007]

Section 34. Blank Tape Levy

(1) Without the consent of the author, a natural person is permitted to reproduce (including in a digital format) in one copy works that have been included in a lawfully acquired film or phonogram or in other form of expression of the work to be protected and also visual works for personal use without direct or indirect commercial purpose. Third persons shall not be involved in the production of such copy. The author is entitled to receive a fair compensation (blank tape levy) for the production of such copy.

(2) The blank tape levy for the reproduction for personal use shall be paid by the manufacturers of equipment and blank recording media to be used for such reproduction and by persons who import them in Latvia.

(3) The blank tape levy shall not be paid if the equipment and blank recording media referred to in Paragraph two of this Section is imported for professional use by broadcasting organisations or the equipment and blank recording media are imported wholesale for reproduction of works for commercial purposes, as well as where natural persons import such equipment and blank recording media for non-commercial purposes.

(4) If the equipment and blank recording media referred to in Paragraph two of this Section are exported unused from Latvia, persons who have paid the blank tape levy have the right to receive it back.

(5) The seller of the equipment and blank recording media referred to in Paragraph two of this Section, on the basis of a request from a collective management organisation, has a duty to prove that the blank tape levy for the abovementioned equipment and blank recording media has been paid.

(6) If a seller cannot prove that the blank tape levy has been paid, the seller shall pay such levy. In such case, the seller is entitled to bring a subrogation action against the manufacturer or the person who imported the referred to equipment and blank recording media into Latvia.

(7) The amount of the blank tape levy, procedures for collection, repayment and payment of the levy, as well as proportional distribution among authors, performers and phonogram and film producers shall be determined by the Cabinet.

(8) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to computer programs and data bases.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 35. Compensation for Reprographic Reproduction of Works

(1) Natural persons shall be permitted to reprographically reproduce published works, except for sheet music, for personal use without direct or indirect commercial purpose without the permission of the author. Persons who have in their ownership or possession the equipment intended for reprographic reproduction and who ensure the availability of such reproduction to natural persons for a fee or free of charge shall be allowed to reprographically reproduce works for the benefit of and for the personal use of a natural person. Authors and publishers are entitled to receive a fair compensation for reprographic reproduction.

(2) The compensation for reprographic reproduction shall be paid by persons in whose ownership or possession there is the equipment intended for reprographic reproduction and who ensure the availability of such reproduction to natural persons for a fee or free of charge.

(3) The amount of compensation to be paid for reprographic reproduction, and also the procedures for its collection, repayment and disbursement shall be determined by the collective management organisation according to an agreement with the persons, or an association thereof, referred to in Paragraph two of this Section.

(4) The Cabinet shall set up a commission representing the public administration and shall agree with the collective management organisation on the criteria for determining the relevant compensation and its amount. The composition of the commission shall include representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Finance. The agreement reached by the Commission shall be approved by the Cabinet.

(5) Compensation shall be collected, distributed and paid to the authors and publishers by a single collective management organisation that has obtained a permit from the Ministry of Culture in accordance with Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

(6) The collected compensation shall be distributed among authors and publishers on the basis of the printed publications included in the unified National Catalogue which have been delivered to the National Library of Latvia in accordance with the Legal Deposit Law and in conformity with the following conditions:

1) in distributing the compensation, the number of works included in the National Catalogue and the information compiled by the National Library of Latvia regarding the number of printed sheets shall be taken into consideration, whereas the content of the works shall not be taken into consideration;

2) authors and publishers shall agree on proportional distribution separately for periodical publications and non-periodical publications, in conformity with the provisions of Paragraph one of this Section.

[6 December 2007; 16 December 2010; 18 December 2014; 18 May 2017]

Chapter VI
Term of Copyright

Section 36. General Provisions Regarding the Term of Copyright

(1) Copyright shall be in effect for the entire lifetime of an author and for 70 years after the death of an author, except for the cases specified in Section 37 of this Law.

(2) If the country in which the work has been created is not a Member State of the European Union according to Article 5, Paragraph four of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the author of the work is not a citizen of the European Union, the term of protection of this work in the European Union shall expire on the date of expiry of the protection granted by the country of origin, but it shall not exceed the term specified in Paragraph one of this Section.

[6 December 2007]

Section 37. Term of Copyright for Particular Types of Works

(1) Copyright to audio-visual works shall be in effect for 70 years after the death of the last of the following persons:

1) the director;

2) the author of the script;

3) the author of the dialogue;

4) the author of a musical work created for an audio-visual work.

(2) Copyright to a work that has legally become available to the public anonymously or under a pseudonym shall be in effect for 70 years from the time when it has legally become available to the public. If during the time referred to the author of a work whose work has legally become available to the public anonymously or under a pseudonym reveals his or her identity, or if there is no doubt about the identity, Section 36, Paragraph one of this Law shall apply.

(3) Copyright to a work created by co-authors shall be in effect for the duration of the lives of all the co-authors and for 70 years after the death of the last surviving co-author.

(4) As to authors, whose works were prohibited in Latvia or the use of which was restricted from June 1940 to May 1990, the years of prohibition or restriction shall be excluded from the term of the copyright.

(5) Copyright to works, whose term of copyright begins at the moment of legal publication and which are published in volumes, parts, instalments or sections, shall be in force separately for each volume, part, instalment or section.

(6) A work, the term of protection of which is not calculated from the moment of the death of the author or authors, protection shall expire if within 70 years after the creation of such a work it has lawfully not become accessible to the public.

(7) Any person, who after expiration of a copyright lawfully publishes or communicates to the public a previously unpublished work, shall acquire rights which are equivalent to the economic rights of an author and shall be in effect for 25 years from the first publication or the communicating to the public of the work.

[22 April 2004]

Section 38. Calculation of the Duration of Copyright

The beginning of a copyright term provided for in this chapter shall begin on 1 January of the year following the moment of the creation of rights (legal fact) and shall expire on 31 December of the year in which the terms referred to in Sections 36 and 37 of this Law expire.

Section 39. Works to which Copyright has Expired

(1) Works in respect of which copyright has expired may be freely used by any person, observing the right of the author to a name and inviolability of the work in accordance with the provisions of Section 14 of this Law.

(2) Remuneration shall not be paid to the author for the use of such works.

Chapter VII
Alienation of Economic Rights of an Author and Rights to the Use of Works

[23 March 2023]

Section 39.¹ Rights of an Author to Exercise His or Her Economic Rights

An author is entitled to exercise his or her economic rights in any manner, including the following:

1) to alienate them;

2) to give his or her permission to use a work.

[23 March 2023]

Section 39.² Alienation of Economic Rights of an Author

(1) An author may alienate all or individual his or her economic rights by specifying the territory in respect of which the economic rights are alienated and also to restrict alienation of the respective rights indicating a specific time period.

(2) If a contract under which an author alienates his or her economic rights does not specify the territory in respect of which the economic rights are alienated, it shall be deemed that they are alienated in respect of the country in which the contract was entered into.

[23 March 2023]

Section 40. Rights to the Use of Works

(1) To obtain the right to use a work, it is necessary for the user of the work, for each type of use and each time it is to be used, to receive the permission of the copyright holder. It is prohibited to use works if permission of the copyright holder has not been received, except for the cases specified in law.

(2) The permission of the copyright holder shall be issued both as a licensing agreement and as a licence.

(3) Before using a work, the user of the work must enter into a licensing agreement or obtain a licence for the use of the work.

(4) The document which certifies the right to the use of a work shall be in possession of the organiser of a concert, performance, attraction or event at least 10 days prior to the relevant event.

(5) Upon request from a copyright holder, users of works have a duty to provide information regarding the works used in the amount requested by the copyright holder. The right of a collective management organisation to receive information regarding the use of the works and the procedures for requesting it shall be determined in the Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 18 May 2017]

Section 41. Licensing Agreements

(1) A licensing agreement is an agreement by means of which one party - the copyright holder - gives permission to the other party - the user of the work - to use a work and specifies the type of use of the work, thereby agreeing on the provisions for the use, the amount of remuneration, the procedures and the term for the payment of remuneration.

(2) A licensing agreement may lay down that a licence grants the right to use a work in one or more specific ways and also the right to grant a licence to third parties (sub-licence). The particular rights may be granted completely or partially. If the agreement does not so specify, a licence shall be limited to such actions as arise from the agreement and which are necessary for achieving the purpose of the agreement.

(3) If the amount of remuneration is not specified in the licence, in case of a dispute it shall be determined upon discretion of the court.

[23 March 2023]

Section 42. Types of Licences

(1) A licence constitutes permission to use the particular work in such a way and in accordance with such provisions as are indicated in the licence. A licence may be non-exclusive, exclusive or general.

(2) A non-exclusive licence gives the licensee the right to undertake activities indicated therein concurrently with the author or other persons who have received or will receive the relevant licence.

(3) An exclusive licence gives the right to conduct the activities specified therein solely to the licensee.

(4) A general licence is issued by a collective management organisation, and such licence gives the right to use the works of all the authors represented by such organisation.

[18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 43. Form of Licences and Licensing Agreements

(1) All licences shall be issued in writing.

(2) A licensing agreement may be entered into either orally or in writing.

(3) The following licensing agreements shall be entered into in writing:

1) a publishing contract;

2) a contract for the communicating to the public of a work;

3) a contract for creating an audio-visual work;

4) a contract specifying such rights as are included in a general licence or an exclusive licence.

Section 44. Term of a Licensing Agreement or a Licence

(1) The term for which a licensing agreement is entered into or for which a licence is issued shall be determined by agreement of the parties.

(2) If a licensing agreement which has been entered into or a licence which has been issued is not restricted as to time, the author or other copyright holder may terminate the licensing agreement or revoke the licence, giving a notice six months in advance.

(3) A provision in a licensing agreement or a licence according to which the author relinquishes the rights specified in Paragraph two of this Section is void.

Section 45. Territory in which a Licensing Agreement or a Licence is in Effect

(1) A licensing agreement or a licence must indicate the territory in which it is in effect.

(2) If a licensing agreement or a licence does not indicate the territory in which it is in effect, it shall be in effect in the country where the licensing agreement was concluded or the licence was issued.

Section 45.¹ Fair Remuneration for the Alienation of Economic Rights or Use of a Work

(1) A fair remuneration to the author shall be laid down in a contract under which the author alienates his or her economic rights and a licencing agreement.

(2) Within the meaning of Chapter VII of this Law, a remuneration is fair provided that it corresponds to the economic value of the economic rights to be alienated or of the rights to the use of works to be acquired and provided that it forms a proportionate share of the financial benefit gained as a result of the rights or use of the work.

(3) In laying down a fair remuneration, the conditions affecting the economic value of economic rights or rights to the use of works, including commercial and non-commercial benefits gained by a successor in title or user of work, the purpose, extent, and significance of the exercise of rights or use of work depending on the type of use, the contribution of the author to the creation of the work, and also the financial contribution of the successor in title or user of work in respect of the specific work shall be taken into account.

(4) If a dispute arises between the author and the successor in title or licensee as to whether the remuneration laid down in the contract is fair, the author has the right to request the successor in title or licensee to amend the contract by laying down a fair remuneration therein, and disburse the remuneration (remuneration difference) which would be due to the author if the fair remuneration was laid down when entering into the contract. If no agreement has been reached on amendments to the contract within three months from the day when the author has addressed the successor in title or licensee, the author is entitled to ask a court to determine a fair remuneration.

(5) Remuneration which the author has received for a work that he or she has created while being in an employment relationship with the employer and performing his or her work duties shall be deemed to be a fair remuneration.

(6) Notwithstanding the rights referred to in Paragraph one of this Section, the author has the right to request an additional remuneration if the remuneration laid down in the contract is disproportionately small in comparison with all revenues generated as a direct result of the exercise of rights or use of work after entering into the contract, including where the respective revenues have been generated as a result of a new type of the exercise of rights or use of work or as a result of such type of use the significance of which has increased during validity of the relevant contract. The obligation to pay the additional remuneration shall fall on a person with whom the author has entered into the contract or, in the case of further alienation of economic rights, to the successor in title.

(7) If the right of the author to request an additional remuneration that has been referred to in Paragraph six of this Section is provided for within the scope of a collective agreement of the sector, the relevant collective agreement shall apply.

(8) The provision of the contract which lays down that the author waives the right referred to in this Section shall be invalid.

(9) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the authors of computer programs.

(10) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to licensing agreements entered into with a collective management organisation or independent management entity within the meaning of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

[23 March 2023 / See Paragraph 17 of Transitional Provisions]

Section 45.² Obligation to Provide Information

(1) The successor in title of economic rights of the author or licensee with whom the author has entered into a licensing agreement has the obligation to, at least once a year, provide the author with updated and comprehensive information about the exercise of rights or use of a work, including types of the exercise of rights or use of work, the revenues generated as a result of such exercise or use, and the remuneration due to the author. This information shall be provided according to specific circumstances of each sector, including agreeing in the agreement with the author on the manner and form of the provision of information.

(2) If the successor in title has entered into a licensing agreement or issued a licence for further use of a work and therefore the successor in title does not have the information indicated in Paragraph one of this Section at his or her disposal, the successor in title shall, upon request of the author or representative of the author, immediately provide him or her with information about the licensee (the given name, surname or name and contact details). Upon request of the author or representative of the author, the licensee has the obligation to immediately provide him or her with the information which has been indicated in Paragraph one of this Section and is at the disposal of the licensee.

(3) If the licensee with whom the author has entered into a licensing agreement has issued a sub-licence for further use of a work and therefore the licensee does not have the information about the use of work under the sub-license which has been indicated in Paragraph one of this Section at his or her disposal, the licensee shall, upon request of the author or representative of the author, immediately provide him or her with information about the recipient of the sub-licence (the given name, surname or name and contact details). Upon request of the author or representative of the author, the recipient of the sub-licence has the obligation to immediately provide him or her with the information which has been indicated in Paragraph one of this Section and is at the disposal of the recipient of the sub-licensee.

(4) If provision of the information indicated in Paragraph one of this Section is related to a disproportionate administrative burden in comparison with the revenues generated as a result of the exercise of rights or use of a work, the successor in title or licensee is entitled to provide information only in accordance with such type and level of detail as could be reasonably expected in such cases.

(5) The successor in title and licensee do not have the obligation to provide the information indicated in Paragraph one of this Section in respect of the author the contribution of which to the overall work is insignificant, except for the case where the author has informed the successor in title or licensee that the respective information is necessary to exercise the right to an additional remuneration provided for in Section 45.¹, Paragraph six of this Law.

(6) If the obligation to provide information specified in this Section is provided for within the scope of a collective agreement of the sector and it corresponds to all provisions of this Section, the relevant collective agreement shall apply.

(7) The provision of the contract which lays down that the author waives the right referred to in this Section shall be invalid.

(8) In respect of the works created by the author while being in an employment relationship with the employer and performing his or her work duties, the information indicated in Paragraph one of this Section shall be provided upon request of the author, including about such use of the respective works which has not been provided for in the employment contract or which does not correspond to the purpose for which the work has been created.

(9) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the authors of computer programs.

(10) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to licensing agreements entered into with a collective management organisation or independent management entity within the meaning of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

[23 March 2023]

Section 45.³ Unilateral Withdrawal from the Contract

(1) If, within two years from entering into the contract or transfer of a work to the commissioning party after entering into the contract, the successor in title or licensee, who has been granted the rights to the use of work under an exclusive license, has not started using the respective work, the author has the right to unilaterally withdraw from the contract or revoke the license fully or in respect of part of rights, except for the case where it is reasonably expected that the author himself or herself will eliminate conditions due to which the right was not exercised or work was not used.

(2) The author may exercise the right provided for in Paragraph one of this Section if he or she has informed the successor in title or licensee of his or her intention to unilaterally withdraw from the contract or revoke the license, setting a reasonable period of time which is not shorter than 12 months during which the successor in title or licensee is required to start using the work but the successor in title or licensee has not started the use by expiry of the specified period of time.

(3) After expiry of the time period referred to in Paragraph two of this Section, the author shall exercise the right provided for in Paragraph one of this Section by informing the successor in title or licensee thereof within three months. If the author has failed to inform the successor in title or licensee of unilateral withdrawal from the contract within the abovementioned period of time, the respective contract shall be further deemed a licensing agreement granting a non-exclusive licence for the use of the work.

(4) If a work has two or more authors and the individual contribution of each author cannot be segregated as an independent work, the right provided for in Paragraph one of this Section may be exercised only by all co-authors jointly, except for the case where any of the co-authors makes use of the possibility to further deem the respective contract to be a licensing agreement granting a non-exclusive licence for the use of the work in compliance with Paragraphs one and two of this Section.

(5) The provision of the contract which provides for waiver of the right referred to in this Section shall only be valid in the case where it has been laid down within the scope of a collective agreement of the sector.

(6) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the authors of computer programs.

(7) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to licensing agreements entered into with a collective management organisation or independent management entity within the meaning of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

[23 March 2023 / See Paragraph 17 of Transitional Provisions]

Section 46. Rental of a Work

(1) The author shall preserve the right to receive a fair remuneration for rental even if he or she has alienated to a producer his or her rental rights to a phonogram, the original of the audiovisual work or copies thereof.

(2) If the author has alienated to a producer his or her rental rights to a phonogram, the original of the audiovisual work or copies thereof, the author shall preserve the right to receive remuneration for rental.

(3) An agreement according to which the author relinquishes the right to receive remuneration for a future period shall not be in effect.

[23 March 2023]

Section 46.¹ Ancillary Online Services Provided by Broadcasting Organisations

(1) Within the meaning of this Law, an ancillary online service is an online service which includes provision of radio or television broadcasts and complementary materials thereof to the public and which is rendered by a broadcasting organisation or under control of a broadcasting organisation and under responsibility of a broadcasting organisation concurrently with the transmission of broadcasts by the broadcasting organisation or for a limited period thereafter. Within the meaning of this Section, television broadcasts are news and current affairs broadcasts on television or other television broadcasts created and fully financed by the broadcasting organisation itself, except for broadcasting of sports events and works included therein.

(2) Ancillary online services shall be provided by broadcasting works, making them available to the public by wire or other means so that they are accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time and also by reproducing works. The acts necessary for the provision of ancillary online services shall be deemed to occur in the European Union Member State or the country of the European Economic Area where the broadcasting organisation has its principal establishment.

(3) In determining the amount of remuneration for the use of the works referred to in Paragraph two of this Section, all aspects of the ancillary online service shall be taken into account, including duration of online availability of the broadcasts included in the respective service, audience, and language versions provided. The remuneration may also be determined as part of revenues of a broadcasting organisation.

(4) Application of Paragraph two of this Section shall not affect the freedom of contract between copyright holders and broadcasting organisation to agree on restriction of the rights which are necessary for the provision of ancillary online services.

[23 March 2023 / See Paragraph 18 of Transitional Provisions]

Section 46.² Direct Injection

(1) Within the meaning of this Law, direct injection is a technical process through which a broadcasting organisation transmits its signals carrying broadcasts to an organisation other than a broadcasting organisation in such a manner that the signals carrying broadcasts are not available to the public during transmission thereof.

(2) If the broadcasting organisation transmits signals carrying broadcasts to a distributor by using direct injection, without however transmitting the signals carrying such broadcasts to the public, and if the distributor of signals transmits the respective signals to the public, it shall be deemed that the broadcasting organisation and distributor of signals are carrying out a joint activity of communication to the public.

(3) The broadcasting organisation and distributor of signals shall obtain a permission from copyright holders for the communication to the public referred to in Paragraph two of this Section.

(4) The broadcasting organisation and distributor of signals shall not be jointly and severally liable for the joint activity of communication to the public referred to in Paragraph two of this Section.

[23 March 2023 / See Paragraph 19 of Transitional Provisions]

Chapter VIII
Related Rights

Section 47. Objects and Holders of Related Rights

(1) Related rights shall be the rights of performers, phonogram producers, film producers, broadcasting organisations, and press publishers.

(2) A related rights object shall be a performance, its fixation, phonogram, film, broadcast, and publication.

(3) Holders of the rights specified in this Section shall be performers, phonogram producers, film producers, broadcasting organisations, press publishers, or successors in title thereof, including heirs.

(4) Cable operators who only retransmit the broadcasts of other broadcasting organisations are not holders of related rights.

(5) Phonogram producers, film producers and broadcasting organisations shall exercise their rights within the framework of those rights which, in contracts with authors and performers, have been granted for the objects of copyright or related rights. Permission for the use of a related rights object, obtained from one holder of related rights, shall not constitute a substitute for permission that must be obtained from another holder of related rights and from the author of the work. The permission of an author and of a performer is not mutually interchangeable.

(6) Holders of related rights shall exercise the rights specified in this Section, conforming to the rights of authors of the works.

(7) No formalities are necessary to affirm related rights. Performers, phonogram producers and film producers may use, on copies of phonograms or their packaging, a sign consisting of two elements: the letter "P" within a circle and the year of the first publication of a phonogram or of the year of the fixation of a film.

(8) Persons whose name, pseudonym or designation are indicated on a related rights object, attached thereto or appear in association with the related rights object, shall be deemed to be holders of related rights if not proven otherwise.

(9) The rights of holders of related rights shall not be associated with ownership rights to a material object in which the related rights object are expressed or included. The rights of holders of related rights shall be separated from the possession of the material object. The devolvement of the possession of the related rights object by itself shall not create the devolvement of the rights of the holder of related rights.

(9¹) As regards the right of holders of related rights to exercise their economic rights, the provisions of Sections 39.¹ and 39.² of this Law shall be applied.

(10) As regards the use of related rights objects, the provisions of Sections 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46.¹, and 46.² of this Law shall be applied. The provisions of Sections 45.¹, 45.², and 45.³ shall be applied also to performers.

(11) Holders of related rights shall exercise their rights directly, through an authorised person, or through collective management organisations.

[22 April 2004; 18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 48. Rights of Performers

(1) [22 April 2004]

(2) A performer, irrespective of his or her economic rights, and also in the case where economic rights are alienated, has the following rights in respect of his or her performance and the fixation thereof:

1) to require that he or she be identified as a performer, except for the cases when such right is not possible due to the type of use of the performance;

2) to object to any distortion, modification or other transformation of his or her performance which may harm the reputation of the performer.

(3) With respect to their performance, performers shall have exclusive rights to:

1) broadcasting or communicating to the public the performance, except for the cases when the performance has already been broadcast;

2) fixation of a performance that has not been previously fixed;

3) distribution of the fixation of a performance;

4) broadcasting or retransmission of the fixation of a performance;

5) making available to the public of the fixation of a performance, by wire or otherwise, in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

6) lease, rent, or public lending of the fixation of a performance;

7) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduce the fixation of a performance;

(4) If performers individually or collectively enter into a contract with a film producer for the creation of an audiovisual work, the performers may be considered to have alienated their rental rights to the producer, unless otherwise provided in the contract.

(5) If a performer has alienated his or her rental rights in respect of a phonogram or the original or copy of an audiovisual work, or if the performer may be deemed, in accordance with Paragraph four of this Section, to have alienated his or her rental rights to the phonogram or film producer, the performer shall preserve the right to receive a fair compensation for the rental. An agreement regarding a waiver of right to receive the compensation for a future period shall be invalid.

(6) The specified compensation shall be collected, apportioned, and disbursed in accordance with Section 51, Paragraph three of this Law.

(7) For the permission granted to use a performance, and for its use, a performer shall be paid a fair compensation. The compensation shall be paid to the performer or an authorised collective management organisation.

(8) [22 April 2004]

(9) If the phonogram producer does not offer to purchase copies of the phonogram in sufficient quantity or does not ensure that the phonogram is available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time, the performer has the right to unilaterally withdraw from the contract under which he or she has alienated the right to fixation of his or her performance to the phonogram producer by notifying thereof 12 months in advance, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

1) 50 years have passed since lawful publishing or lawful communication to the public of the phonogram, if the phonogram has not been published;

2) within 12 months after the performer has notified the phonogram producer of his or her intention to unilaterally withdraw from the contract, the phonogram producer does not offer to purchase copies of the phonogram in sufficient quantity and does not ensure that the phonogram is available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time.

(10) If, in accordance with the procedures laid down in Paragraph nine of this Section, the performer unilaterally withdraws from the contract under which he or she has alienated the right to fixation of his or her performance to the phonogram producer, the right of the phonogram producer to the phonogram shall expire. An agreement between the performer and the phonogram producer laying down that the performer waives the right to unilaterally withdraw from the contract under which the performer has alienated the right to fixation of his or her performance to the phonogram producer shall be invalid.

(11) If performances of a plurality of performers are fixed in a phonogram, performers may only exercise jointly the right laid down in Paragraph nine of this Section to unilaterally withdraw from the contract with the phonogram producer, including via a joint representative. None of performers may refuse, without a sufficient justification, other performers whose performances are fixed in the phonogram to exercise the right laid down in Paragraph nine of this Section to unilaterally withdraw from the contract.

(12) If the performer has alienated the right to fixation of his or her performance to the phonogram producer for a one-off compensation, the performer has the right to receive an annual additional compensation from the phonogram producer in the amount of 20 per cent from the revenues generated by the phonogram producer in the year prior to disbursement of the respective additional compensation by reproduction, distribution, and making of the relevant phonogram available by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time. If performances of a plurality of performers are fixed in a phonogram, the total amount of the annual additional compensation to be paid to performers shall conform to 20 per cent of the revenue of the phonogram producer referred to in this Paragraph. In calculating the amount of the annual additional compensation, the revenue of the phonogram producer prior to making of any deductions shall be taken into account.

(13) A performer has the right to receive the annual additional compensation indicated in Paragraph twelve of this Section for each calendar year, starting from the following year after the fiftieth year when the phonogram has been lawfully published or, if it has not been published, it has been lawfully communicated to public. An agreement by which the performer refuses the right to receive the annual additional compensation shall be invalid. The right to receive the annual additional compensation shall be managed by one collective management organisation.

(14) Upon request, the phonogram producer has the obligation to provide the performer or his or her authorised collective management organisation with all the information which is necessary for ensuring disbursement of the annual additional compensation referred to in Paragraph twelve of this Section, including to provide information about the revenues generated by the phonogram producer from the use of the relevant phonogram.

(15) If the performer has alienated the right to fixation of his or her performance to the phonogram producer for a regular compensation, the phonogram producer may not deduct advance payments or any other deductions laid down in the contract with the performer from payments intended for the performer after expiry of the following periods of time:

1) 50 years after such phonogram is published in which the performance of the performer is fixed;

2) 50 years after lawful communication to the public of the phonogram, if the phonogram has not been published.

[22 April 2004; 28 November 2013; 18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 49. Contract for the Creation of an Audiovisual Work

(1) By a contract for the creation of an audiovisual work, the performer shall alienate to the film producer his or her rights to the fixation, communication to the public, and reproduction of his or her performance. The film producer does not have the right to use separately sounds or images fixed in the audiovisual work, unless otherwise provided in the contract. The contract for the creation of an audiovisual work shall be entered into in writing.

(2) A contract for the creation of an audiovisual work shall provide for the compensation to the performer for each type of use of the particular work.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Section 50. Rights of Film Producers

Film producers have exclusive rights in respect of the original of the film or copies thereof to:

1) distribute;

2) retransmit;

3) make available to the public by wire or otherwise in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

4) lease, rent, or publicly lend;

5) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduce the original of the film or copies thereof.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Section 51. Rights of Phonogram Producers

(1) Phonogram producers have exclusive rights in respect of the phonograms or copies thereof to:

1) distribute;

2) make available to the public by wire or otherwise in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

3) lease, rent or publicly lend, also in the cases where the distributor thereof is the phonogram producer himself or herself or such has occurred with his or her consent;

4) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduce the phonograms or copies thereof.

(2) [22 April 2004]

(3) The collection of remuneration for the lease, rental and public lending of phonograms, its apportionment and payment shall be carried out by collective management organisations authorised by performers and phonogram producers. The remuneration amounts paid by users in conformity with the provisions of this Section shall be divided between the phonogram producer and the performers in equal parts, if it is not specified otherwise in the contract between the collective management organisations.

[22 April 2004; 18 May 2017]

Section 52. Use of Phonograms Published for Commercial Purposes

(1) Performers and phonogram producers have the right to receive just compensation for the use of phonograms published for commercial purposes. The use shall include broadcasting, communication to the public, public performance, communication to the public of broadcasts consisting of phonograms published for commercial purposes, retransmission, and other manners of communication to the public. As a phonogram published for commercial purposes shall be deemed also such phonograms that are made legally accessible to the public by wire or otherwise so that they are available in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time.

(2) A document that confirms the conformity with the rights provided for in Paragraph one of this Section shall be with the user at the time when he or she uses phonograms published for commercial purposes.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 23 March 2023]

Section 53. Rights of Broadcasting Organisations

(1) Broadcasting organisations, with respect to their broadcasts, shall have exclusive rights to:

1) make broadcasts for a charge or in locations which are accessible to the public for a charge, or in locations where the owners or possessors use the broadcasts to attract customers;

2) the transmission of a signal carrying the programme with the assistance of any other broadcasting organisation, cable operator, or some other distributor;

3) the acquisition of any photographic image of the screen from a broadcast (photograph of the screen) if it is not done for personal use, and any duplication or distribution of such photographs;

4) retransmission of a broadcast;

5) making a broadcast or the fixation thereof available to the public by wire or otherwise so that they are available in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

6) fixation of any broadcasts by means of sound or video recording equipment, direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction of a fixation of a broadcast and any distribution of such fixations.

(2) A broadcasting organisation shall receive remuneration for permission to use broadcasts and for their use in the cases specified in Paragraph one of this Section.

(3) A broadcasting organisation has the right to broadcast and communicate to the public such audio-visual works and phonograms which were lawfully included in its archives until the coming into force of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights (15 May 1993), paying the remuneration to the holders of copyright and related rights in conformity with the amounts of remuneration specified by the collective management organisation.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 53.¹ Rights of a Press Publisher in Respect of the Use of a Publication Online

(1) A press publisher has the following exclusive rights in respect of the use of a publication online made by a provider of information society services:

1) directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently reproduce the publication;

2) make the publication available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time.

(2) Within the meaning of this Law, a publication is a compilation of works which mainly includes literary works in journalism, but can also include other works or related rights objects and which:

1) constitutes an individual item in a periodical or regularly updated publication under a single title, for example, a newspaper or a general or special interest magazine;

2) contains public information about news of the day or other topics;

3) has been communicated to the public in any mass media upon initiative of the service provider and under control and editorial responsibility thereof.

(3) Periodicals communicated to the public for scientific or academic purposes shall not be deemed publications within the meaning of this Law.

(4) The provisions of Paragraph one of this Section shall not be applied:

1) if a publication is used by an individual user for personal use or non-commercial purposes;

2) to post a hyperlink;

3) to use individual words or very short fragments.

(5) The provisions of Paragraph one of this Section shall not affect the rights which, in accordance with this Law, are provided for the holders of copyright and related rights in respect of the works included in the publication and related rights objects.

(6) The press publisher is not entitled to, on the basis of the right provided for in Paragraph one of this Section, prohibit others from using such works and related rights objects which have been included by the press publisher in the publication under a non-exclusive licence.

(7) The press publisher is not entitled to, on the basis of the right provided for in Paragraph one of this Section, prohibit others from using works and related rights objects if their term of copyright or related rights has expired.

(8) The author of the work included in the publication has the right to a proportionate share of revenues generated by the press publisher from the online use of the publication referred to in Paragraph one of this Section.

[23 March 2023 / See Paragraph 20 of Transitional Provisions]

Section 54. Restrictions on Rights of the Holders of Related Rights

(1) It is allowed to restrict the right of a holder of related rights to permit or to prohibit the use of a related rights object and to receive compensation for the use thereof in the cases specified in this Law.

(2) The restrictions provided for in this Law shall be applied in such a way that they are not in contradiction with the provisions for normal use of a related rights object and do not unjustifiably restrict the lawful interests of the holders of related rights.

(3) Related rights shall not be deemed infringed if, without permission of the holders of related rights and without the payment of compensation, the related rights object is used and fixed:

1) in short segments that are included in news broadcasts and in reports of current events, in amounts appropriate for informative purpose;

2) for any other purposes specified in Sections 21, 21.¹, 21.², 22, 22.¹, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 33 of this Law in respect of the restriction of economic rights of authors;

3) [23 March 2023].

(4) Related rights shall not be deemed infringed if, without the permission of the holder of related rights but with the payment of fair compensation to him or her, films, phonograms, as well as related rights objects included in a film or a phonogram are used for public lending. The procedures for paying the compensation shall be determined in Section 19.¹, Paragraphs two and three of this Law.

(5) Without the consent of the holder of related rights a natural person is permitted to reproduce (including in a digital format) in one copy lawfully acquired films or phonograms and also related rights objects included in a lawfully acquired film or phonogram for personal use, without direct or indirect commercial purpose. Third persons shall not be involved in the production of such copy. Holders of related rights are entitled to receive fair compensation (blank tape levy) for the production of the copy referred to in Paragraph one of this Section. The procedures for paying the blank tape levy shall be laid down in Section 34, Paragraphs two, three, four, five, six, and seven of this Law.

(6) If the use of the related rights object in accordance with the provisions specified in Paragraph two of this Section is not possible due to the effective technological means utilised by the holder of related rights, the provisions of Section 18, Paragraphs four and five of this Law shall be applicable.

(7) The right of holders of related rights to control the distribution in the European Union of the fixation of his or her performance, phonogram or film or the copies thereof shall expire on the date when they are sold or otherwise alienated in the European Union for the first time, if done by the holder of related rights himself or herself or with his or her consent. This condition shall apply only to those related rights objects included in concrete material media and the copies thereof which have been sold or otherwise alienated.

[6 December 2007; 6 December 2018; 23 March 2023]

Section 55. Term of Related Rights

(1) The rights of performers shall be in effect for 50 years from the first performance. If during this time a fixation of the performance in a phonogram is lawfully published or communicated to the public, the term of protection shall be in effect 70 years from the day of such publication or communication to the public of the phonogram, depending on which action was the first. If during this time the performance is not fixed in a phonogram, but is fixed in another way, then the term of protection shall be in effect 50 years from the day of the relevant lawful publishing or communication to the public, depending on which action was the first. The moral rights of performers shall be in effect as long as the economic rights are in effect.

(2) The rights of a film producer shall be in effect for 50 years from when the fixation was made. If during this time a film has been lawfully published or communicated to the public, the term of protection shall be 50 years from the day of such publishing or communication to the public, depending on which action was the first.

(2¹) The rights of a phonogram producer shall be in effect for 50 years from when the fixation was made. If during this time a phonogram has been lawfully published or, if it has not been published, communicated to the public, the term of protection shall be 70 years from the day of such publishing or communication to the public.

(3) The rights of broadcasting organisations shall be in effect for 50 years from the first transmission of a broadcast.

(3¹) The term of protection laid down in Paragraphs one, two, 2.¹ and three of this Section shall also be in effect if the rightholder is not a citizen of the European Union but at least one Member State of the European Union ensures protection to him or her. Such term of protection shall expire on the date when the protection granted by the state whose citizen the rightholder is expires, but shall not be longer than the term specified in Paragraphs one, two, 2.¹ and three of this Section, unless otherwise provided by international agreements binding for Latvia.

(3²) The rights of a press publisher shall be in effect for two years after communication of a publication to the public.

(4) The term for related rights provided for in this Section shall begin on 1 January of the year following the year in which the rights were created (legal fact) and shall end on 31 December of the year in which the time referred to in this Section ends.

[22 April 2004; 6 December 2007; 28 November 2013; 23 March 2023]

Section 56. Scope of Related Rights

(1) The rights of performers shall be recognised if one of the following conditions is met:

1) the performer is a citizen of Latvia, or a person entitled to a Latvian non-citizen passport, or a person whose permanent residence (domicile) is in Latvia;

2) the performance occurred in Latvia;

3) the performance is fixed in a phonogram which is protected in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph two of this Section;

4) a performance that is not fixed in a phonogram, has been included in a broadcast of a broadcasting organisation which is protected in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph four of this Section.

(2) The rights of phonogram producers shall be recognised if one of the following conditions is met:

1) the producer of a phonogram is a citizen of Latvia, or a person entitled to a Latvian non-citizen passport, or a person whose permanent residence (domicile) is in Latvia;

2) the first sound fixation was made in Latvia;

3) the publication or making available to the public of the phonogram has occurred in Latvia.

(3) The rights of film producers shall be recognised if one of the following conditions is met:

1) the film producer is a citizen of Latvia, or a person entitled to a Latvian non-citizen passport, or a person whose permanent residence (domicile) is in Latvia;

2) the first fixation of the film was made in Latvia.

(4) The rights of broadcasting organisations shall be recognised in accordance with this Chapter if the official location of the broadcasting organisation is Latvia.

(5) The rights provided for in this Chapter shall be recognised for foreign natural and legal persons in accordance with international agreements binding on Latvia.

[22 April 2004]

Chapter VIII.¹
Use of a Work or Related Rights Object Made by a Provider of Online Content Sharing Services

[23 March 2023]

Section 56.¹ Provider of Online Content Sharing Services

(1) A provider of online content sharing services shall be a provider of information society services the principle objective or one of the principle objectives of which is to store and ensure public access to a large quantity of works or related rights objects which have been uploaded by service users and which organises and promotes use thereof in order to gain profit.

(2) Within the meaning of this Law, a provider of online content sharing services shall not be deemed non-profit online encyclopaedias, non-profit repositories of educational or scientific materials, platforms for development and sharing of open source software, providers of electronic communications services defined in the Electronic Communications Law, online sales points, providers of business-to-business cloud services, and providers of such cloud services which enable users to upload content for their needs, and also other providers of information society services to whom the objective and requirements laid down in Paragraph one of this Section are not applicable.

[23 March 2023]

Section 56.² Liability of the Provider of Online Content Sharing Services

(1) In ensuring public access to a work or related rights object uploaded by a service user, the provider of online content sharing service communicates the work or related rights object to the public or makes it available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time. It shall be required for the provider of online content sharing services to obtain a permission of a holder of copyright or related rights for the use of the abovementioned work or related rights object. Within the meaning of this Chapter, the holder of related rights is a performer, phonogram producer, film producer, and broadcasting organisation.

(2) If the provider of online content sharing services has obtained a permission to communicate a work or related rights object to the public or make it available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time, such permission shall also cover activities of users of the online content sharing services for non-commercial purposes or such activities of users which do not generate substantial revenues.

(3) If the provider of online content sharing services has not obtained a permission for the use of the work or related rights object referred to in Paragraph one of this Section, it shall be liable for any infringement of copyright or related rights, except for the case where the provider proves that:

1) it has made the greatest efforts to obtain the permission;

2) it has made the greatest efforts to ensure that such works or related rights objects whereof the holders of copyright or related rights have provided relevant and necessary information are not available to the public;

3) it has made the greatest efforts and has acted without delay to disable access on its website to the work or related rights object referred to in the notification or to remove such work or related rights object from its website preventing repeated upload thereof if it has received a substantiated notification of the holder of copyright or related rights.

(4) In determining whether the provider of online content sharing services has fulfilled the obligations laid down in Paragraph three of this Section, the principle of proportionality shall be applied, including also according to the type of the service, audience, and scope, the type of the work or related rights object uploaded by service users, and also the availability of adequate and efficient means and costs thereof incurred by the provider of services.

(5) In fulfilling the obligations laid down in Paragraph three, Clauses 2 and 3 of this Section in cooperation with the holders of copyright and related rights, the provider of online content sharing services shall not prevent access to such works or related rights objects uploaded by users the use of which does not infringe copyright and related rights, including to works or related rights objects to which restrictions on the economic rights of the holders of copyright or related rights apply.

(6) If the provider of online content sharing services communicates works or related rights objects to the public or ensures availability thereof to the public by wire or other means so that they are accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time in the manner specified in Paragraph one of this Section, the provisions of Section 10, Paragraph five of the Law on Information Society Services shall not be applicable to such provider of online content sharing services.

(7) The provisions of this Section shall not generate a general monitoring obligation for the provider of online content sharing services.

(8) The provisions of this Section shall not affect the freedom of contract and shall not impose an obligation on a holder of copyright or related rights to give a permission for the use of a work or related rights object.

[23 March 2023]

Section 56.³ Exceptions to Liability of a Provider of Online Content Sharing Services

(1) If the provider of online content sharing services, the services of which in the European Union are available less than three years and the annual turnover of which is less than EUR 10 million, has not obtained the permission for the use of a work or related rights object referred to in Section 56.², Paragraph one of this Law, it shall be liable for any infringement of copyright or related rights, except for the case where the provider proves that:

1) it has made the greatest efforts to obtain the permission;

2) upon receipt of a substantiated notification of the holder of copyright or related rights, it has acted without delay to enable access on its website to the work or related rights object specified in the notification or to remove such work or related rights object from its website.

(2) If, according to calculations based on the previous calendar year, the average number of unique visitors per months of the provider of online content sharing services which have been referred to in Paragraph one of this Section exceeds five millions, it shall, in addition to the obligations referred to in Paragraph one of this Section, be required to prove that it has made the greatest efforts to prevent repeated upload of such works or related works object whereof the holders of copyright or related rights have provided relevant and necessary information.

[23 March 2023]

Section 56.⁴ Examination of Complaints Submitted by Users of Online Content Sharing Services

(1) The provider of online content sharing services shall lay down efficient and expeditious procedures by which it, without delay and without charge, examines complaints submitted by users about disabling access to uploaded works or related rights objects or removal thereof.

(2) In examining the complaints submitted in accordance with Paragraph one of this Section, the provider of online content sharing services shall ensure that:

1) the holder of copyright or related rights concerned is informed of the submission of the complaint;

2) the parties concerned have a possibility to justify their complaints;

3) a natural person shall scrutinise the decision to disable access to an uploaded work or related rights object or removal thereof.

[23 March 2023]

Section 56.⁵ Obligation of the Provider of Online Content Sharing Services to Provide Information

(1) Upon request of the holder of copyright or related rights or representative thereof, the provider of online content sharing services has the obligation to provide him or her with information about the following:

1) implementation of the cooperation referred to in Section 56.², Paragraph three of this Law, including information about measures and tools implemented to ensure that the public has no access to any works or related rights objects for use of which a permission has not been received;

2) use of works or related rights objects covered by the licensing agreement between the provider of online content sharing services and the holder of copyright or related rights, including intensity of and revenues from the use.

(2) The provider of online content sharing services has the obligation to inform users through the rules for the provision of services about the possibilities to use works and related rights objects on the basis of the restrictions on economic rights of the holder of copyright or related rights provided for in this Law.

[23 March 2023]

Chapter IX
Special Aspects of the Protection of a Database (Sui Generis)

[23 March 2023]

Section 57. Rights of the Maker of a Database

(1) A natural or legal person who has taken the initiative and investment risk in making of a database shall be recognised as the maker of such database, in the creation, verification, or presentation of which a substantial qualitative or quantitative investment has been made (Section 5, Paragraph three).

(2) The maker of a database has the right to prevent the following regarding the whole or a substantial part of the contents of the database which may be assessed qualitatively or quantitatively:

1) extraction which means permanent or short-term (temporary) transfer of the whole or a substantial part of the contents of the database to another environment by any means or in any form;

2) re-use which means any form of making available to the public the whole or a substantial part of the contents of the database by the distribution of copies, by rental, by providing online or other forms of transmission.

(3) Public lending is not an act of extraction or re-use.

(4) The repeated and systematic extraction and re-use of non-essential parts of the contents of a database if such is done by acts which conflict with normal use of such database or which unreasonably prejudice the lawful interests of the maker of the database are not permitted.

[23 March 2023]

Section 58. Rights and Obligations of the User of a Database

(1) A lawful user of a database which is available to the public has the right to extract or re-use, for any purposes, an insubstantial part of the contents of the database which may be assessed qualitatively or quantitatively. This condition shall only apply to such part of the database which a lawful user is permitted to extract or re-use.

(2) A lawful user of a database which is available to the public shall comply with the rights of the holders of copyright or related rights related to the works or materials contained in the database.

(3) A lawful user of a database which is available to the public may not take any actions that conflict with normal use of the database or unreasonably prejudice the lawful interests of the maker of the database.

[23 March 2023]

Section 59. Restrictions on the Rights of Protection of a Database

(1) Without the consent of the maker of a database which is available to the public, the lawful users of the database may:

1) extract the contents of a non-electronic database for personal use;

2) extract or re-use a substantial part of the contents of the database for illustration purposes in a teaching process in compliance with the provisions of Section 21, Paragraph one, Clause 1, Paragraphs two, three, and four of this Law;

2¹) extract a substantial part of the contents of the database for research purposes in compliance with the provisions of Section 21, Paragraph one, Clause 2 of this Law;

3) extract or re-use a substantial part of the contents of the database for the purposes of national security and also for the purposes of administrative or judicial proceedings;

4) extract a substantial part of the contents of the database for text and data mining in compliance with the provisions of Sections 21.¹ and 21.² of this Law;

5) extract or re-use a substantial part of the contents of the database for the benefit of persons who are blind or who have other reading difficulties in compliance with the provisions of Section 22.¹ of this Law;

6) extract a substantial part of the contents of the database for preservation for the needs of cultural heritage institutions in compliance with the provisions of Section 23, Paragraph one of this Law.

(2) The right of the maker of a database to control the resale of the database in the European Union shall be exhausted at the moment when the database is sold or otherwise alienated in the European Union for the first time if it has been done by the maker of the database himself or herself, or if it has been done with his or her consent. This condition shall apply only to those objects included in concrete material media or the copies thereof which are sold or otherwise alienated.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Section 60. Term of Rights of Protection of a Database

(1) The rights specified in Section 57, Paragraph two of this Law shall be in effect for 15 years from the day when the creation of a database has been completed. The term shall begin on 1 January of the year following the day of the creation of the database.

(2) If the database becomes available to the public before expiry of the term specified in Paragraph one of this Section, the term of rights of protection shall begin on 1 January of the year following the day when the database has first become available to the public and shall be in effect for 15 years.

(3) If any substantial amendments, which may be assessed qualitatively or quantitatively, are made to the contents of the database and also any changes occur therein resulting from the accumulation of successive additions, deletions, or changes as a result of which it may be considered that a new substantial investment which may be regarded as qualitatively or quantitatively substantial has been made, such database has the right to its own term of protection, and the provisions of Paragraphs one and two of this Section shall apply.

[23 March 2023]

Section 61. Framework of Rights of Protection of a Database

(1) The rights of the maker of a database that is a natural person shall be recognised if he or she is a Latvian citizen or a person who is entitled to a Latvian non-citizen passport, a citizen of another European Union Member State or if Latvia or another European Union Member State is his or her permanent place of residence (domicile) or if he or she has a permanent residence permit.

(2) The rights of the maker of a database that is a legal person shall be recognised if such legal person has been established in accordance with the laws and regulations of Latvia or another European Union Member State, and its legal address, administration, or principal place of activities is in the European Union. If a legal person has only its legal address in the territory of Latvia or another European Union Member State, the operations of such person must be linked on an ongoing basis with the economy of Latvia or the relevant European Union Member State.

(3) If a database is created outside Latvia and the provisions of Paragraphs one and two of this Section are not applicable thereto, such database shall be protected on the basis of international agreements binding on Latvia.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Section 62. Protection of the Rights of the Maker of a Database

The rights of the maker of a database shall be protected in accordance with the provisions of Chapter XI of this Law.

[22 April 2004; 23 March 2023]

Chapter IX.¹
Use of Orphan Works

[18 December 2014]

Section 62.¹ Orphan Works

(1) In compliance with the requirements laid down in this Chapter, cultural heritage institutions shall be permitted the following in relation to orphan works included in their collections, without the consent of the holders of copyright and related rights:

1) to reproduce in order to make their copies in digital format, to index, catalogue, preserve, or restore, to make available to the public by wire or other means so that they are available in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time;

2) to make available to the public by wire or other means so that they are available in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time.

(2) Within the meaning of this Law, orphan works are works and related rights objects included in the collections of cultural heritage institutions which have been published or broadcasted for the first time in any European Union Member State and the rightholders of which could not be identified or found after diligent search:

1) works published in the form of books, journals, magazines, newspapers or other writings;

2) audiovisual works, including cinematographic works, and their fixations;

3) phonograms;

4) works and related rights objects which are included in the works and related rights referred to in this Paragraph.

(3) Within the meaning of this Law orphan works are also works included in the archives of public broadcasting organisations which have been created until 31 December 2002, including cinematographic works, their fixations and phonograms, as well as works and related rights objects which have been included in the abovementioned works and related rights objects if the respective works and related rights objects have been published or broadcasted for the first time in any European Union Member State and the rightholders thereof could not be identified or found after diligent search.

(4) Works and related rights objects which have not been published or broadcasted may be used in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Section, if the authority referred to in Paragraph one of this Section which wishes to use them, with a permission of the respective rightholder has made them accessible to the public otherwise and there are grounds to assume that the rightholders would not have objected to the use indicated in Paragraph one of this Section.

(5) Works and related rights objects which have several rightholders from which not all could be identified and found after diligent search may be used as orphan works, if the rightholders identified and found have agreed to the use indicated in Paragraph one of this Section.

(6) The authorities referred to in Paragraph one of this Section are entitled to use orphan works only to the extent necessary to achieve the objectives related to the tasks of such authorities which are performed thereby in public interests, particularly in order to preserve or restore the works and related rights objects included in their collections and also to ensure access to their collections for the purpose of disseminating culture and promoting learning, including in digital format. Using orphan works, the authorities referred to in Paragraph one of this Section shall indicate the identified authors and other rightholders.

(7) The authorities referred to in Paragraph one of this Section are entitled to generate revenue from the use of orphan works only to the extent to cover the costs incurred by such authorities when making copies of the respective works or related rights objects in digital format and making them available to the public by wire or other means so that they are available in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time.

[18 December 2014; 23 March 2023]

Section 62.² Diligent Search for Rightholders and Documentation Thereof

(1) The rightholders referred to in Section 62.¹ of this Law of each work and related rights object shall be searched with the utmost diligence in order to determine whether it is an orphan work. The rightholders shall be searched with diligence before the use of the respective work or related rights object is commenced, and it shall be performed in good faith, using the sources of information referred to in Paragraph eight of this Section, including in the European Union Member State in which the respective work or related rights object was published or broadcasted for the first time, except for the cases indicated in Paragraphs two and three of this Section. If there are grounds to assume that information regarding rightholders is available in another country, also the sources of information available in this state shall be used within the scope of diligent search for rightholders.

(2) If the location or permanent place of residence (domicile) of the producer of an audiovisual, including cinematographic, work is in a European Union Member State, the rightholder of such work shall be searched with diligence in the respective Member State.

(3) The rightholders of the works and related rights objects referred to in Section 62.¹, Paragraph four of this Law shall be searched with diligence in the European Union Member State, in which economic activity is performed by an institution, which has made the respective work or related rights object available to the public with a permission of the rightholder.

(4) Diligent search for rightholders shall be performed by the institution referred to in Section 62.¹, Paragraph one of this Law or its authorised third party.

(5) The authority which performs diligent search for rightholders or has authorised a third party for this purpose shall document the course and results of the search in order to justify that the rightholder has been searched for diligently. After diligent search the respective authority shall send to the Latvian National Library:

1) the diligent search results of a rightholder which justify the recognition of the work or related rights object as an orphan work;

2) information regarding the types, in which the authority is using the orphan work;

3) information regarding termination of the status of an orphan work or any changes in the status in relation to a work or related rights object used by the authority;

4) the contact information of the authority, including its name, address, electronic mail address, and telephone number.

(6) The Latvian National Library after receipt of the information referred to in Paragraph five of this Section shall forward it, without delay, to the European Union agency "European Union Intellectual Property Office".

(7) Rightholders of such works and related rights objects need not be searched for which are indicated as orphan works in the database of the European Union agency "European Union Intellectual Property Office".

(8) The sources of information to be used within the scope of diligent search for rightholders, upon consulting with the collective management organisations, other organisations of holders of copyright and related rights, and the authority referred to in Section 62.¹, Paragraph one of this Law, shall be determined and updated by the Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Culture shall publish the list of sources of information and amendments thereto in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis and make it public on its website.

[18 December 2014; 18 May 2017]

Section 62.³ Termination of the Status of an Orphan Work

(1) The rightholders, which could not be identified or found after diligent search and whose works or related rights objects have been recognised as orphan works or made equivalent thereto in accordance with Section 62.¹, Paragraph five of this Law, have the right to request that the institution, which performed the search for rightholders, terminates the status of an orphan work in relation to the particular work or related rights object. Such request must be justified.

(2) After receipt of the request referred to in Paragraph one of this Section the authority which performed diligent search for rightholders in relation to the respective work or related rights object shall examine, without delay, such request and terminate the status of an orphan work, discontinuing the use of the respective work or related rights object and informing the Latvian National Library regarding termination of the status.

(3) If the institution, which performed diligent search for rightholders, does not exist anymore, the rightholders, which could not be identified or found after diligent search and whose works or related rights objects have been recognised as orphan works or made equivalent thereto in accordance with Section 62.¹, Paragraph five of this Law, have the right to request that the Latvian National Library terminates the status of an orphan work in relation to the particular work or related rights object.

(4) The rightholders referred to in Paragraph one of this Section are entitled to receive a fair compensation for the use of the work or related rights object from the authority which used the respective work or related rights object.

(5) Upon determining the amount of the compensation referred to in Paragraph four of this Section, the following shall be taken into account:

1) the amount and purpose of the use of the work or related rights object;

2) the tasks performed in public interests and significance of the use in the performance of such tasks;

3) the non-commercial nature of the use;

4) the potential harm which has been caused by the use of the work or related rights object to the rightholder.

(6) The authority which has an obligation to disburse the compensation referred to in Paragraph four of this Section to the rightholder shall agree with the rightholder on the amount of the compensation and disburse it in a reasonable period of time, but not later than within a year after receipt of the request of the rightholder, transferring it to the settlement account indicated by the rightholder.

[18 December 2014]

Chapter IX.²
Use of Out-of-Commerce Works or Related Rights Objects

[23 March 2023]

Section 62.⁴ Out-of-Commerce Works or Related Rights Objects

(1) Within the meaning of this Law, a work or related rights object shall be deemed to be out of commerce if it has been established upon making reasonable efforts that it can be assumed that the entire work or related rights object is not offered to the public in conventional forms of distribution thereof.

(2) A cultural heritage institution shall ascertain whether the relevant works or related rights objects are deemed to be out of commerce by using at least the sources of information referred to in Paragraph three of this Section.

(3) The Ministry of Culture shall regularly, in consultation with collective management organisations, other organisations of copyright and related rights, and cultural heritage institutions, update the sources of information which are used to ascertain whether the relevant works or related rights objects are deemed to be out of commerce. The Ministry of Culture shall publish the list of sources of information and amendments thereto in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis and make it public on its website.

(4) If a work or related rights object has been communicated to the public in several formats or versions and one of such formats or versions is deemed to be in commerce, this work or related rights object shall be deemed to be in commerce.

[23 March 2023]

Section 62.⁵ Use of Out-of-Commerce Works or Related Rights Objects on the Basis of a Licensing Agreement

(1) In entering into a licensing agreement with the cultural heritage institution on reproduction, distribution, communication to the public of out-of-commerce works or related rights objects that are permanently in its collection or making them available to the public by wire or other means so that they are accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time for non-commercial purposes, a collective management organisation is entitled to represent the holders of copyright or related rights without entering into a collective management agreement. The respective licensing agreement shall grant a non-exclusive or general licence within the meaning of Section 42 of this Law.

(2) The licensing agreement specified in Paragraph one of this Section may be entered into only with a collective management organisation which has obtained a permit from the Ministry of Culture for the management of the respective type of the rights and works or related rights objects in accordance with the Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

(3) If several collective management organisations which correspond to the conditions of Paragraph two of this Section manage one type of rights and works or related rights objects, such collective management organisations shall enter into a joint licensing agreement with the cultural heritage institution.

(4) The collective management organisation and the cultural heritage institution may agree on a territory within the European Union or European Economic Area where the licensing agreement specified in Paragraph one of this Section is in effect.

(5) The holders of copyright or related rights have the rights to request at any moment that the cultural heritage institution discontinues use of their works or related rights objects in accordance with the licensing agreement specified in Paragraph one of this Section wholly or in respect of individual works or related rights objects.

[23 March 2023]

Section 62.⁶ Use of Out-of-Commerce Works or Related Rights Objects without the Consent of the Holders of Copyright or Related Rights

(1) The cultural heritage institution may, in compliance with the provisions of Section 18, Paragraph two of this Law and without the consent of the holders of copyright and related rights and payment of compensation, make available to the public for non-commercial purposes the out-of-commerce works and related rights objects that are permanently in its collection by wire or other means so that they are accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time on a non-commercial website in the following cases:

1) if economic rights of the relevant holders of copyright or related rights are not managed by any collective management organisation which has obtained a permit from the Ministry of Culture for the management of the type of the relevant rights and works or related rights objects in accordance with the Law on Collective Management of Copyright;

2) if the name of the author or any other identifiable holder of copyright or related rights is indicated.

(2) The holders of copyright or related rights have the rights to request at any moment that the cultural heritage institution discontinues use of their works or related rights objects in accordance with Paragraph one of this Section wholly or in respect of individual works or related rights objects.

(3) The place of use of the out-of-commerce works or related rights objects specified in Paragraph one of this Section shall be deemed a European Union Member State or a country of the European Economic Area where the relevant cultural heritage institution which uses the works for the purposes referred to in Paragraph one of this Section has been established.

[23 March 2023]

Section 62.⁷ Third-country Works or Related Rights Objects

(1) The conditions of this Chapter shall not be applied to a set of works or related rights objects in respect of which it has been established in accordance with Section 62.⁴ of this Law that it mainly consists of the following:

1) works or related rights objects, except for cinematographic or audiovisual works, which are published for the first time or, if not published, broadcasted for the first time in a third country;

2) cinematographic or audiovisual works of a producer whose location or permanent place of residence (domicile) is in a third country;

3) works or related rights objects of third-country nationals in respect of which it is not possible to ascertain a specific country in accordance with Clauses 1 and 2 of this Paragraph.

(2) A collective management organisation may enter into the licensing agreement specified in Section 62.⁵, Paragraph one of this Law in respect of the works or related rights objects specified in Paragraph one of this Section if it represents a significant number of the holders of copyright or related rights from a specific third country.

[23 March 2023]

Section 62.⁸ Provision of Information

(1) At least six months before the cultural heritage institution commences the use of works and related rights objects, it shall send information to the European Union Intellectual Property Office to be posted in the online portal about the following:

1) the out-of-commerce works or related rights objects which the cultural heritage intends to use;

2) the manner in which the holders of copyright and related rights can object to the commencement of the use of the works or related rights objects and request discontinuation of the use thereof;

3) the licensing agreement entered into, including the parties and territory of operation thereof, and the intended means of the use of the works or related rights objects.

(2) In order to provide the holders of copyright and related rights with information relevant to the specific nature of sectors, the cultural heritage institution and collective management organisation shall take additional publicity measures. If there is a reason to believe that the respective publicity measures would be more efficient in another European Union Member State, a country of the European Economic Area, or a third country, such publicity measures shall be taken in the specific European Union Member State, country of the European Economic Area, or third country.

[23 March 2023]

Chapter X
Collective Management

[18 May 2017]

Section 63. General Provisions for Collective Management

[18 May 2017]

Section 64. Scope of Rights of a Collective Management Organisation of Economic Rights

[18 May 2017]

Section 65. Functions of Collective Management Organisations of Economic Rights

[18 May 2017]

Section 66. Duties of Collective Management Organisations of Economic Rights

[18 May 2017]

Section 66.¹ Duty of Collective Management Organisations of Economic Rights to Conform to Specific Criteria in Determining the Remuneration

[18 May 2017]

Section 67. Supervision of the Activities of Collective Management Organisations of Economic Rights

[18 May 2017]

Chapter X.¹
Mediators

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.¹ Disputes Subject to a Mediator

An interested party is entitled to turn to a mediator if:

1) the user and the collective management organisation have a dispute regarding the use of works or related rights objects, including regarding entering into a licensing agreement or provision of information regarding the use;

2) the association of users and the collective management organisation have a dispute regarding entering into an agreement in respect of the use of the works or related rights objects of represented rightholders;

3) the retransmission service provider and the broadcasting organisation cannot agree on retransmission;

4) there is a dispute regarding multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online use in the case indicated in the Law on Collective Management of Copyright;

5) the user and the holder of copyright or related rights cannot agree on access to works or related right objects in any of the cases referred to in Section 18, Paragraph four of this Law;

6) the parties that wish to enter into a contract for making an audiovisual work available to the public by wire or other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time on a platform where audiovisual on-demand services are available have encountered difficulties in licensing the use of the work;

7) there is a dispute regarding disabling access to the work or related rights object uploaded by a user of the online content sharing services or regarding the removal thereof from the website;

8) there is a dispute regarding the rights specified in Section 45.¹, Paragraph six of this Law to request an additional remuneration or regarding the obligation specified in Section 45.² of this Law to provide information.

[18 May 2017; 23 March 2023]

Section 67.² Selection of a Mediator and Agreement with a Mediator

(1) The process of the mediator shall be managed by one or several mediators. The parties may agree on the candidatures of mediators or regarding the procedures by which mediators are invited or appointed. If the parties cannot agree on the candidatures of mediators or on the procedures by which they are invited or appointed, one or several mediators from the list of professional mediators may be recommended by the Minister for Culture on the basis of a written request from the parties. The Minister for Culture shall select a mediator or mediators from the list of professional mediators and inform the parties thereon within 10 days after the day of receipt of the request from the parties.

(2) A mediator shall be selected so as no doubts regarding his or her independence and objectivity could arise.

(3) A written agreement shall be entered into with the selected mediator. The following shall be indicated in the agreement with the mediator:

1) the consent of the parties and the mediator for the use of the mediator procedure;

2) the essence of the dispute;

3) the rights and obligations of the parties and the mediator;

4) the provisions for payment of the mediator service and expenses for the mediator procedure;

5) other information that the parties and the mediator deem to be necessary.

(4) During the mediator procedure the agreement with the mediator may be amended provided that the parties and the mediator agree to it.

(5) Unless it is otherwise provided for in the agreement with the mediator, the parties shall cover expenses for the mediator procedure in equal amount.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.³ Requirements to be Brought Forward for a Professional Mediator

(1) The following natural person may be a professional mediator:

1) who is a citizen of Latvia or another European Union Member State, or a citizen of the European Economic Area State or the Swiss Confederation, or a non-citizen of Latvia;

2) who is a proficient user of the official language at the highest level;

3) who has an impeccable reputation;

4) who has acquired at least academic master's degree or professional master's degree and appropriate professional qualification or other qualification conforming to level 7 of the European Qualification Framework laid down in the education classification of Latvia;

5) who has experience of at least three years in the field of copyright.

(2) A person may not be a professional mediator if she or he:

1) has provided false information in order to be included in the list of professional mediators;

2) fails to comply with the requirements laid down in Paragraph one of this Section;

3) has been convicted for committing an intentional criminal offence or against whom criminal proceedings for committing an intentional criminal offence on the basis other than exoneration have been terminated;

4) is a suspect or accused in a criminal matter;

5) according to the court judgment may not provide mediation services or services of a professional mediator.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.⁴ Submission Regarding Inclusion in the List of Professional Mediators

(1) A person who wishes to be included in the list of professional mediators, shall provide the following in the application to the Ministry of Culture:

1) the given name and surname;

2) the field of activity (no more than 500 characters) in which he or she is competent to provide mediator services;

3) the working languages;

4) the work experience in the field of copyright;

5) the contact information, including electronic mail address and telephone number;

6) whether she or he agrees to publication of a photography if any is appended to the submission, in the case indicated in Section 67.⁵, Paragraph six of this Law;

7) confirmation that the person conforms to the requirements indicated in Section 67.³, Paragraph one of this Law;

8) the request to include his or her data in the list of professional mediators.

(2) The documents confirming the conformity of the person with the requirements indicated in Section 67.³, Paragraph one of this Law shall be appended to the submission regarding inclusion in the list of professional mediators. The photography of the relevant person may be appended to the submission in electronic form.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.⁵ List of Professional Mediators

(1) The Ministry of Culture shall maintain the list of professional mediators.

(2) The data shall be included in the list of professional mediators on the basis of the data indicated in the written submission of the relevant person.

(3) A person shall be included in the list of professional mediators for four years. Not later than three months before the end of the time period the person may ask to renew his or her status of professional mediator for the next four year.

(4) The following data regarding the mediator shall be included in the list of professional mediators:

1) the given name and surname;

2) the field of activity;

3) the working languages;

4) the contact information, including electronic mail address and telephone number;

5) upon consent of the mediator - his or her photography.

(5) A professional mediator shall immediately notify the Ministry of Culture in writing regarding the detected mistakes and any amendments to the data which were included regarding him or her in the list of professional mediators.

(6) The list of professional mediators shall be available to any interested person. The Ministry of Culture shall publish the list of professional mediators, and also any amendments thereof on its website.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.⁶ Exclusion of the Mediator from the List of Professional Mediators

A mediator shall be excluded from the list of professional mediators if he or she:

1) has provided false data in order to be included in the list of professional mediators;

2) has been recognised as guilty of committing an intentional criminal offence or criminal proceedings have been terminated against him or her regarding committing an intentional criminal offence on the basis other than exoneration;

3) according to the court judgment he or she may not provide mediation or mediator services;

4) no longer complies with the requirements laid down in Section 67.³, Paragraph one of this Law;

5) has submitted a request to exclude him or her from the list of professional mediators;

6) is a suspect or accused in a criminal matter;

7) is dead.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.⁷ General Principles of Mediator Procedure

(1) The parties have equal rights in the mediator procedure. The parties shall take decisions by co-operating.

(2) A mediator shall try to facilitate an agreement between the parties, including by providing his or her proposals for fair settlement of a dispute.

(3) The attitude of the mediator shall be neutral against the parties. The mediator shall not be personally interested in the result of the mediator procedure. The mediator has a duty to notify the parties regarding all circumstances which may affect his or her independence or objectivity.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.⁸ Course of the Mediator Procedure

(1) If any of the parties has expressed a proposal to resolve the dispute, the mediator procedure shall take place on the basis of such proposal.

(2) If neither of the parties has expressed a certain proposal for the settlement of the dispute or such has been expressed by both parties, the mediator may express his or her proposal for the settlement of the dispute to the parties in writing and determine the time period within which the parties shall confirm or refuse his or her proposal in writing. If neither of the parties expresses objections against the proposal of the mediator within the time period specified by the mediator which is not less than one month after the day of sending the proposal, it is considered that they accept such proposal and that laid down therein is binding to the parties. The mediator shall expressly indicate in his or her proposal the legal effects that will set in if the parties do not object against the proposal within the time period indicated by the mediator.

(3) The mediator procedure shall be terminated upon a written agreement by the parties, except for the cases referred to in Paragraph four of this Section. The proposal of the mediator indicated in Paragraph two of this Section against which neither of the parties has objected within the time period specified by the mediator, shall be recognised as agreement of the parties.

(4) The mediator procedure shall be terminated without agreement in the following cases:

1) at least one party notifies the mediator in writing that he or she objects against continuation of the mediator procedure;

2) the mediator notifies the parties in writing regarding termination of the mediator procedure.

(5) Involvement of the mediator shall not affect the rights of the parties to turn to the court.

(6) The duration of the time period for bringing an action laid down in the laws and regulations shall be suspended on the day when a proposal to settle a dispute within the framework of the mediator procedure is expressed. The duration of the time period for bringing an action shall resume on the day when the mediator procedure is terminated.

[18 May 2017]

Section 67.⁹ Confidentiality of the Mediator Procedure

(1) Information which is acquired in the mediator procedure or is related thereto, shall be confidential unless it is otherwise agreed by the parties.

(2) The mediator shall not disclose to one party the information provided by the other party, unless the other party has agreed to it.

(3) It is prohibited to interrogate the mediator and participants of the mediator procedure as witnesses regarding the facts which have become known to them during the mediator procedure.

(4) This Section shall not apply to the cases when the content of the agreement reached during the mediator process is necessary in order to implement the particular agreement.

[18 May 2017]

Chapter XI
Protection of Copyright and Related Rights

[22 April 2004]

Section 68. Infringement of Copyright and Related Rights

(1) Violations of copyright and related rights shall be deemed to be activities by which the personal or economic rights of the holders of copyright and related rights are infringed, including:

1) fixation of copyright and related rights objects, their publication, communicating them to the public, their reproduction or distribution in any form without the consent from the holder of copyright and related rights;

2) activities, by which, without the permission of the holders of copyright and related rights, electronic information regarding the management of rights attached by holders of copyright and related rights has been extinguished, amended or transformed;

3) activities, by which an object of rights for which the electronic information regarding the management of rights has been extinguished, amended or transformed without permission is distributed, broadcast, communicated to the public or published;

4) the destruction or circumvention of such effective technological measures used by the holders of copyright and related rights which were intended in order to restrict or not allow any activity with the copyright and related right object, or other activities with technological measures if such have occurred without the permission of the holders of copyright and related rights;

5) the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, lease, advertisement or use for other commercial purposes of such devices or the components thereof, as well as the provision of such services which are directed towards the circumvention of effective technological measures or the destruction thereof;

6) the non-payment of the compensation provided for in Sections 34, 35, 52 and 62.³ of this Law;

7) non-provision of the information provided for in Section 40, Paragraph five of this Law or provision of such information to an inadequate extent;

8) not sending of the information provided for in Section 62.², Paragraph five, Clause 1 of this Law before commencing the use of the respective work or related rights object or not sending of the information provided for in Section 62.², Paragraph five, Clause 3 of this Law immediately after it has become known to the institution, which performed diligent search for rightholders or which has authorised a third party for this purpose.

(2) In determining whether an action qualifies as an infringement of copyright or related rights, the restrictions of copyright or related rights specified in this Law shall be taken into account.

(3) Copyright and related rights objects or the copies thereof produced as a result of illegal actions are infringing copies.

(4) Copyright and related rights objects protected in Latvia which have been imported from countries where such works are not protected by copyright or where the term of protection has expired shall also be deemed to be infringing copies.

[6 December 2007; 18 December 2014]

Section 69. General Principles for the Protection of Rights of the Holders of Copyright and Related Rights

(1) Holders of copyright and related rights, collective management organisations, and other representatives of holders of copyright and related rights have the right:

1) to require of the person who has illegally used the object of copyright or related rights to recognise the rights of the holders of copyright and related rights;

2) to prohibit the use of their works;

3) to require that the person who has illegally used the object of copyright or related rights renew the status existing prior to the infringement of these rights, and that the illegal activity be stopped or that creative work not be threatened;

4) to require that the person stop the activities that are considered to be preparation for illegal use of the objects of copyright or related rights;

5) to require that the person who has illegally used the object of copyright or related rights compensate the losses and moral damage incurred by the holders of copyright and related rights;

6) to require that the infringing copies be destroyed;

7) to require that intermediaries the services provided by whom are used in order to infringe the rights of the holders of copyright and related rights, or who make such infringement possible, shall perform relevant measures for the purpose of preventing the users from being able to perform such infringements. If the intermediary does not perform relevant measures, the holders of copyright and related rights or their representative has the right to bring an action against the intermediary.

(2) To protect their rights, the holders of copyright and related rights or their representatives may initiate proceedings. If the rights that are to be protected in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Law on Collective Management of Copyright have been infringed, an action for protection of the infringed rights shall be brought by the holder of copyright and related rights himself or herself or, on behalf of the holders of copyright and related rights - by the collective management organisation.

(3) When bringing an action concerning infringement of rights to a court, the holders of copyright and related rights shall be exempt from the State fee. Collective management organisations, when bringing an action to court concerning infringement of rights that arise from the cases referred to in Section 3, Paragraph two of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright, shall be exempt from the State fee.

[8 February 2007; 18 May 2017]

Section 69.¹ Procedures for Determining the Amount of Compensation for Losses and Moral Damage

(1) If objects of copyright or related rights have been illegally used due to the fault of a person, the holders of copyright and related rights are entitled to require a compensation for the incurred losses and moral damage.

(2) The amount of compensation for losses and moral injury shall be determined in accordance with the Civil Law. When determining the amount of compensation for losses, the unfair earnings gained by the person who has illegally used the object of copyright or related rights may be taken into consideration.

(3) If the amount of actual losses cannot be determined in accordance with Paragraph two of this section, the amount of compensation for losses shall be determined according to the amount which could be received by the holders of copyright and related rights for the issue of a permit to use the object of copyright or related rights.

[8 February 2007]

Section 70. Attachment and Destruction of Infringing Copies

(1) Upon identifying infringing copies, the police or another competent State institution shall seize them.

(2) In deciding the liability of the offender, a decision shall be taken on destruction of the infringing copies. If the offender is not identified, a decision on destruction of the infringing copies shall be taken by the institution which has seized them.

Section 71. Liability for the Infringement of Copyright and Related Rights, and Rights of the Maker of a Database

Depending on the nature of the infringement of copyright or of related rights and the consequences thereof, the person who has illegally used the object of copyright or related rights shall be held liable in accordance with the law.

[8 February 2007; 23 March 2023]

Chapter XII
Administrative Offences in the Field of Copyright and Related Rights and Competence in Administrative Offence Proceedings

[29 November 2020]

Section 72. Administrative Offences in the Field of Copyright and Related Rights

(1) For using an object of copyright or related rights in a public performance without the consent of the holder of copyright and related rights or without paying remuneration, a warning or a fine of up to one hundred and forty units of fine shall be imposed on a natural person, but a fine of up to one thousand four hundred and twenty units of fine - on a legal person.

(2) For reproduction of an object of copyright or related rights without the consent of the holder of copyright and related rights, except to make it available to the public by wire or by other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time, a warning or a fine of up to one hundred and forty units of fine shall be imposed on a natural person, but a fine of up to one thousand four hundred and twenty units of fine - on a legal person.

(3) For failure to pay a blank tape levy or compensation for reprographic reproduction of works, a warning or a fine of up to one hundred and forty units of fine shall be imposed on a natural person, but a fine of up to one thousand four hundred and twenty units of fine - on a legal person.

(4) For making an object of copyright or related rights available to the public by wire or by other means so that it is accessible in an individually selected location and at an individually selected time and for the reproduction thereof to perform such activity without the consent of the holder of copyright and related rights or without paying remuneration, a warning or a fine of up to one hundred and forty units of fine shall be imposed on a natural person, but a fine of up to one thousand four hundred and twenty units of fine - on a legal person.

(5) For retransmitting an object of copyright or related rights without the consent of the holder of copyright and related rights or without paying remuneration, a warning or a fine of up to one hundred and forty units of fine shall be imposed on a natural person, but a fine of up to one thousand four hundred and twenty units of fine - on a legal person.

[29 October 2020]

Section 73. Competence in the Administrative Offence Proceedings

Administrative offence proceedings for the offences referred to in Section 72 of this Law shall be conducted by the State Police.

[29 October 2020]

Transitional Provisions

1. The following are repealed:

1) the law On Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Latvijas Republikas Augstākās Padomes un Valdības Ziņotājs, No. 22/23, 1993);

2) the 11 May 1993 decision of the Supreme Council On the Coming into Effect of the Republic of Latvia Law On Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Latvijas Republikas Augstākās Padomes un Valdības Ziņotājs, No. 22/23, 1993).

2. The terms of protection of copyright and related rights provided for in this Law shall apply to all the works and objects of rights which were subject to protection on 1 July 1995 at least in one Member State of the European Union in accordance with the relevant national provisions regarding copyright and related rights.

[8 February 2007]

3. The provision of Section 35 of this Law regarding compensation to authors for reprographic reproduction shall come into force on 1 January 2001.

4. The provision of Section 19, Paragraph two of this Law regarding the payment of compensation to authors in respect of libraries which are financed from the State budget, or from the budgets of local governments, shall come into force from 1 January 2003.

5. The rights of protection of a database provided for in Section 57 of this Law shall apply also to such databases the creation of which was completed not earlier than 15 years before the coming into force of this Law and which are, on the day of the coming into force of the Law, in conformity with the provisions of Section 5, Paragraph two of this Law. Protection of a database shall not restrict previously acquired rights and shall not affect contracts which have been entered into before the coming into force of this Law.

[23 March 2023]

6. The rights of performers specified in Section 48, Paragraph three, Clauses 3 and 7 of this Law shall be managed only collectively in relation to the performances fixed in phonograms which are fixed or published in Latvia up to 15 May 1993.

[22 April 2004; 18 May 2017]

7. Collective management organisations that have been established until 1 May 2004 shall, not later than by 1 September 2004, obtain a permit to perform the administration of economic rights on a collective basis.

[22 April 2004; 18 May 2017]

8. Until the date of entry into force of new Cabinet regulations, but not later than until 1 September 2007, Cabinet Regulation No. 444 of 27 April 2004, Regulations Regarding Public Lending, shall be applicable insofar as they are not in contradiction to this Law.

[8 February 2007]

9. The provisions of Sections 32, 36, 54, 55, 59, and 61 of this Law shall also be applicable to the following countries of the European Economic Area: Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Kingdom of Norway.

[6 December 2007]

10. A collective management organisation shall ensure that not later than until 1 June 2013 the information provided for in Section 66, Paragraph six of this Law is posted on its website.

[18 April 2013; 18 May 2017]

11. Section 66.¹ of this Law shall come into force from 1 January 2014.

[18 April 2013]

12. Amendments to Section 48 of this Law regarding supplementation thereof with Paragraphs nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen, amendments to Section 55, Paragraph one regarding extending the term of protection of the rights of performers from 50 to 70 years, if the performance is fixed in a phonogram, and regarding supplementation of Section 55 with Paragraph 2.¹ regarding the term of protection of the rights of phonogram producers, shall be applicable to fixations of performances and phonograms, the term of protection of the protection of the rights of performers and phonogram producers of which has not expired on 1 November 2013, as well as to fixations of performances and phonograms created after 1 November 2013.

[28 November 2013]

13. A contract between a performer and a phonogram producer, by which the performer has alienated to the phonogram producer the right to fixation of his or her performance and which has been concluded prior to 1 January 2014, shall be in effect also during the period by which the term of protection of the rights of performers and phonogram producers has been extended in accordance with Paragraph 12 of these Transitional Provisions, unless otherwise provided in the contract between the performer and the phonogram producer.

[28 November 2013; 23 March 2023]

14. The Ministry of Culture, shall until 1 February 2015, in accordance with Section 62.², Paragraph eight of this Law, determine the sources of information to be used within the scope of diligent search for rightholders, publish their list in the official gazette Latvijas Vēstnesis, and post them on its website.

[18 December 2014]

15. The compensation amounts not requested and verified which are reserved in the accounts of collective management organisations collected from the users of the works and related rights objects until the day of deleting Chapter X of this Law, shall be recognised as non-disbursable revenue from the right management within the meaning of Section 23 of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright if, within three years from the day when such amount has been paid into the account of the organisation, the holder of copyright and related rights to whom such compensation is due has not been verified or found. The collective management organisations have no obligations to apply Section 22 of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright in respect of the abovementioned compensation amounts.

[18 May 2017]

16. The permits which have been issued to collective management organisations in accordance with Section 67, Paragraph one of the Law on Collective Management of Copyright shall be in force and are equalled to the permits issued in conformity with the Law on Collective Management of Copyright.

[18 May 2017]

17. Sections 45.¹ and 45.³ of this Law shall be applied to any activities performed in accordance with the contract after 25 April 2023.

[23 March 2023]

18. Section 46.¹ of this Law shall be applied from 7 June 2023 to contracts for the rights necessary for the provision of ancillary online services which were in effect on 7 June 2021 and become ineffective after 7 June 2023, in accordance with legal norms arising from Directive (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 transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC.

[23 March 2023]

19. Section 46.² of this Law shall be applied from 7 June 2025 to permissions for the communication to the public which were in effect on 7 June 2021 and become ineffective after 7 June 2025 in accordance with legal norms arising from Directive (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 transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC.

[23 March 2023]

20. Section 53.¹ of this Law shall be applied to the publications which were communicated to the public for the first time after 5 June 2019.

[23 March 2023]

Informative Reference to European Union Directives

[8 February 2007; 28 November 2013; 18 December 2014; 18 May 2017; 6 December 2018; 23 March 2023]

This Law contains legal provisions arising from:

1) Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs;

2) Council Directive 92/100/EEC of 19 November 1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property;

3) Council Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission;

4) Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights;

5) Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases;

6) Directive 2001/29/EC 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;

7) Directive 2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art;

8) Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights;

9) Directive 2011/77/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 amending Directive 2006/116/EC on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights;

10) Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works;

11) Directive 2014/26/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing of rights in musical works for online use in the internal market;

12) Directive (EU) 2017/1564 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2017 on certain permitted uses of certain works and other subject matter protected by copyright and related rights for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled and amending Directive 2001/29/EC on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society;

13) Directive (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 transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC;

14) Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC.

This Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 6 April 2000.

President V. Vīķe-Freiberga

Rīga, 27 April 2000

---

¹ The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia

Translation © 2023 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)