On February 3, 2022, a round table was held on the topic “Protection of copyright in the future of journalism”, organized by Kosovars and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo – JAK.
Panelists in this table were: Kelmend Hapçiu – Kosovalive, Krenare Sogojeva Dermaku – Commissioner for Information and Privacy, Ylli Zekaj – Kosovo Institute of Justice and Blerta Iberdemaj – Kallxo.com.
Challenges for the protection of copyright in Kosovo were presented at the roundtable. Hapçiu from Kosovalive spoke about the importance of preserving copyright.
Challenges for the protection of copyright in Kosovo were presented at the roundtable. Hapçiu from Kosovalive spoke about the importance of preserving copyright.
The roundtable discussed technology development and how we are now in a period where reliability and privacy will be questioned. There was also talk of new technologies being developed such as Web 3.0. According to the panelists this kind of technology development can be dangerous and we need to be prepared.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Information and Privacy, Sogojeva also spoke about the misuse of personal data that is happening in Kosovo and the challenges of journalists to access official documents.
Whereas, Zekaj from the Kosovo Institute of Justice, spoke about the court consequences in case of copyright infringement, and talked about the monitoring that this institution does in court proceedings.
Various examples of how copyright is currently being managed and how challenging copyright is in Kosovo were provided by Kallxo.com Legal Officer Blerta Iberdemaj.
Recommendations that emerged from the discussion of this roundtable:
- Judges need to be trained and prepared on this topic (copyright issues in journalism) in order to be more guaranteed that the procedure goes according to the law.
- Prosecutors should have adequate training and be familiar with these topics (copyright issues in journalism) in order to ensure that the procedure goes according to law.
- Prosecutorial and judicial councils at the academy of law to provide training for judges and prosecutors on these issues.
- Adequate training and practice for young journalists to be provided, in order to avoid mistakes made by journalists themselves at the beginning of their career.
The project “Strengthening Independent Media and Promoting the Security of Journalists in Kosovo” is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth and Development of the United Kingdom through the British Embassy in Pristina and Albany Associates.
