B 1695
L.N. 234 of 2021
COPYRIGHT ACT
(CAP 415) 
Copyright and Related Rights applicable to Certain Online 
Transmissions of Broadcasting Organisations and Retransmissions  
of Television and Radio Programmes Regulations, 2021
IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 59 of the
Copyright Act, the Minister for  the Economy and Industry has ma de
the following regulations:-
Citation and 
scope.1. (1) The title of these regulations is the Copyright and
Related Rights applicable to Ce rtain Online Transmissions of
Broadcasting Organisations and R etransmissions of Television An d
Radio Programmes Regulations, 2021.
(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose Directive
(EU) 2019/789 of the European Par liament and of the Council of 17
April 2019 laying down rules on th e exercise of copyright and r elated
rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting
organisations and retransmissions of television and radio progr ammes,
and amending Council Directive 93/83/EEC.
Interpretation. 2. In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:
Cap. 415. "Act" means the Copyright Act;
"ancillary online service" means an online service consisting i n
the provision to the public, by or under the control and respon sibility
of a broadcasting organisation, of  television or radio programm es
simultaneously with or for a def ined period of time after their
broadcast by the broadcasting organisation, as well as of any m aterial
which is ancillary to such broadcast;
"cable retransmission" shall have the same meaning as assigned
to it in article 2 of the Act:
Provided that this definition sh all apply regardless of how
the operator of a cable retransmission service obtains the prog ramme-
carrying signals from the broadcasting organisation for the pur pose of
retransmission; 
"direct injection" means a  technical process by which a
broadcasting organisation transm its its programme-carrying sign als to
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an organisation other than a broadcasting organisation, in such  a way
that the programme-carrying signa ls are not accessible to the p ublic
during that transmission;
"managed environment" means an environment in which an
operator of a retransmission serv ice provides a secure retransm ission
to authorised users;
"retransmission" means any si multaneous, unaltered and
unabridged retransmission, other than cable retransmission as d efined
above, intended for reception by the public, of an initial tran smission
from another Member State of te levision or radio programmes
intended for reception by the public, where such initial transm ission is
by wire or over the air including that by satellite, but is not  by online
transmission, provided that: 
(a) the retransmission is carried out by a party other than
the broadcasting organisation which made the initial
transmission or under whose co ntrol and responsibility that
initial transmission was made , regardless of how the party
carrying out the retransmission obtains the programme-carrying
signals from the broadcasting organisation for the purpose of
retransmission; and 
(b) where the retransmission is over an internet access
service as defined in point (2) of the second paragraph of Arti cle
2 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120, it is carried out in a managed
environment. 
Application of 
the "country of 
origin" principle to ancillary 
online services.3. (1) The acts of communication to the public of works or
other protected subject matter, by wire or wireless means, and of
making available to the public of works or other protected subj ect
matter, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members o f the
public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen
by them, occurring whe n providing to the public:
(a) radio programmes; and
(b) television programmes which are:
(i) news and current affairs programmes; or(ii) fully financed own productions of the
broadcasting organisation, 
in an ancillary online service by or under the control and
responsibility of a broadcasting organisation, as well as the a cts
of reproduction of such works or o ther protected subject matter
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which are necessary for the provision of, the access to or the use
of such online service for the same programmes shall, for the
purposes of exercising copyright  and related rights relevant fo r
those acts, be deemed to occur solely in the Member State in
which the broadcasting orga nisation has its principal
establishment:
Provided that paragraph (b) of  this sub-regulation shall not
apply to the broadcasts of sports events and works and other pr otected
subject matter included in them.
(2) (a) When setting the amount of the payment to be made
for the rights to which the country of origin principle, as set  out in sub-
regulation (1) applies, the par ties shall take into account all  aspects of
the ancillary online service, such as features of the service, including
the duration of online availabi lity of the programmes provided in that
service, the audience, and the language versions provided. 
(b)  Sub-regulation (2)(a) shall  not preclude calculation of the
amount of the payment on the basis of the broadcasting organisa tion's
revenues generated by the online service.
(3) The country of origin principle set out in sub-regulation
(1), shall be without prejudice to the contractual freedom of therightholders and broadcasting organisations to agree, in compli ance
with Union law, to limit the e xploitation of such rights, inclu ding those
under article 7 of the Act.
Exercise of the 
rights in retransmission 
by rightholders 
other than broadcasting 
organisations.4. (1) (a)Acts of retransmission of programmes have to be
authorised by the holders of th e exclusive right of communicati on to
the public. 
(b) Rightholders may exercise their right to grant or refuse the
authorisation for a retransmis sion only through a collective
management organisation.
(2) Where a rightholder has not transferred the management of
the right referred to in paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (1) to  a
collective management organisat ion, the collective management
organisation which manages right s of the same category for Malt a, for
which the operator of a retransmission service seeks to clear r ights for
a retransmission shall be deemed t o have the right to grant or refuse
the authorisation for a retra nsmission for that rightholder: 
Provided that, where more than  one collective management
organisation manages rights of t hat category for the territory of Malta,
it shall be for the Member State for the territory of which the  operator
of a retransmission service seeks to clear rights for a retrans mission to
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decide which collective management organisation or organisation s
have the right to grant or refuse the authorisation for a retransmission.
(3) A rightholder shall have t he same rights and obligations
resulting from an agreement between an operator of a retransmis sion
service and a collective management organisation or organisatio ns that
act pursuant to sub-regulation (2) as rightholders who have man dated
that collective management organisation or organisations:
Provided that the rightholder  shall also be able to claim
those rights within a period of three (3) years from the date o f the
retransmission which includes his or her work or other protected
subject matter.
Exercise of the 
rights in retransmission 
by broadcasting 
organisations.5. (1) Regulation 4 does not apply to the rights in
retransmission exercised by a broadcasting organisation in resp ect of
its own transmission, irrespective of whether the rights concer ned are
its own or have been transferred to it by other rightholders.
(2) Where broadcasting organisations and the operators of
retransmission services enter into negotiations regarding autho risation
for retransmission under these regulations, thos e negotiations are to be
conducted in good faith.
Mediation.
Cap. 474.6. (1) Where no agreement is concluded between the
collective management organisation and the operator of a
retransmission service, or betw een the operator of a retransmis sion
service and the broadcasting organisation regarding authorisati on for
retransmission of broadcasts, ei ther party may, unless otherwis e agreed
to by all parties, call upon the assistance of one or more medi ators
appointed by Malta Mediation Centre in accordance with the
procedure stipulated under the Mediation Act. The task of the m ediator
shall be to provide assistance with negotiation. The mediator s hall act
impartially and with confidentia lity and shall facilitate the d iscussion
between the parties to find ways and means and draw up proposals, in
order for the parties to seek a nd resolve their differences. Th e
mediators shall nonetheless not take decisions for the parties.
(2) Mediations falling within t he remit of these regulations
shall only be conducted on a voluntary basis. 
Cap. 474.(3) When calling upon the assistance of one or more mediators
appointed by the Malta Mediation Centre and thereafter entering  into
mediation proceedings, such proceedings shall be conducted inaccordance with the procedures and formalities stipulated under  t h e
Mediation Act. 
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(4) Mediation shall only commence and proceed on condition
that before the commencement of the mediation process, the part ies
sign beforehand and submit to the Malta Mediation Centre, a sta tement
declaring that they are fully aw are and cognisant of the implic ations of
the Act and these regulations:
Cap. 474.Provided that this also implies that disclosure may have to
be permitted in accordance wit h article 27 of the Mediation Act. 
(5) Subject to the formalities required under this regulation, i f
a proposal is formally submitted to the parties by the mediator  and the
parties do not register their obj ection thereto in writing with  t h e
mediator and the other party, within three (3) months from the
electronic notification of such proposal, then in accordance wi th
Council Directive 93/83/EEC such  proposal shall be assumed to b e
binding upon all the parties. 
Transmission of 
programmes 
through direct injection.7. When a broadcasting organisation transmits by direct
injection its programme-carryi ng signals to a signal distributor,
without the broadcasting organisation itself simultaneously
transmitting those pr ogramme-carrying signa ls directly to the p ublic,
and the signal distributor trans mits those programme-carrying s ignals
to the public, the broadcasting organisation and the signal distributor
shall be deemed to be participa ting in a single act of communic ation to
the public in respect of which they shall obtain authorisation from
rightholders.
Transitory 
provision.8. Agreements on the exercise of copyright and related rights
relevant for the acts of communi cation to the public of works o r other
protected subject matter, by wire  or wireless means, and the ma king
available to the public of work s or other protected subject mat ter, by
wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the publi c may
access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by t hem,
occurring in the course of provi sion of an ancillary online ser vice as
well as for the acts of reproduction which are necessary for th e
provision of, the access to or the use of such online service w hich are
in force on 7 June 2021 shall be subject to regulation 3 as fro m 7 June
2023 if they expire a fter that date:
Provided that authorisations obtained for the acts of
communication to the public falli ng under regulation 7 which ar e in
force on 7 June 2021 shall be subject to regulation 7 as from 7 June
2025 if they expire after that date.
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Ippubblikat mid-Dipartiment tal-Informazzjoni (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta — Published by the Department of Information (doi.gov.mt) — Valletta
Mitbugħ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern fuq karta riċiklata — Printed at the Government Printing Press on recycled paper
Prezz/Price
€0.54
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