The State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), in partnership with the EU Project “Support for Structured Policy Dialogue, Coordination of the Implementation of the Association Agreement, and Enhancement of the Legal Approximation Process”, organized on June 17, this year, the Information Workshop entitled “Copyright for Journalists: What You Need to Know When Working Online”.

The event aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills of journalists in managing and using copyright and related rights in the media space, including on virtual communication platforms (blogs, social networks, etc.).

The event started with a non-formal and open discussion with the Director General of AGEPI, Eugeniu Rusu, who welcomed the interest of journalists, bloggers and influencers to be present at the event and urged them to actively participate in discussions with questions from journalistic practice. The institution’s manager presented the new draft law on copyright and related rights, which was drafted with the purpose of implementing European standards and presented the most relevant and important adjustments.

Subsequently, according to the program, AGEPI experts spoke about the specific aspects of copyrights protection in the digital environment, the ways of authorizing the use of works and of using copyright on social media platforms. The participants were also informed about the necessary measures to be taken when distributing a work online and what rights the journalist has in relation to the media institution (employer).

Experts from the State Agency on Intellectual Property explained to the public under what conditions the materials published by journalists could be copyrighted objects, talked about the copyright contract, news coverage by media institutions and other current topics.

Speaker in the workshop was also the EU Project expert Irina Lucan-Arjoca, who addressed the need to harmonize the legal framework of the Republic of Moldova with the acquis communautaire in the field of copyright and related rights, presented case studies and the differences between the laws of the states in the field of valorization and protection of the rights of journalists and creators of texts.

During the workshop, those present asked questions to the specialists, being discussed current issues in the media space.

In conclusion, the mass media representatives and the organizers agreed to create new information workshops in this field in the future.