Music Industry Piracy Roundtable in Serbia

On May 27, 2010, a roundtable on piracy in the music industry was held at the Serbian Intellectual Property Office’s recently opened center for intellectual property information and education.

The participants said that Serbia has adequate IP legislation, harmonized with EU regulations, and that state authorities have a legal basis to act decisively in suppressing piracy. The participants also stated that an additional training of judges in this field is needed, as well as a stronger cooperation among government bodies having the authority in the area of intellectual property rights protection.

The participants emphasized that piracy can only be suppressed by joint efforts of state authorities and the private sector, which is directly affected by piracy, and underlined the fact that reducing piracy by just one percent opens up the possibility of 1200 new jobs.

Mikailo Tijanic, the head the Serbia’s Ministry of Interior’s Department for the Suppression of IP Crime, stated that Serbia, with the 70 percent piracy rate and the downward trend in the last few years, is approaching the piracy rates of some EU countries.

Vlado Georgijev, one of the most popular singers in Serbia, who was also present at the roundtable, mentioned that pirated disks are often sold in legal shops and that broadcasters emit music using illegal discs and MP3 files downloaded from the illegal servers.

This roundtable was the first in a series of events that the center for IP information and education is planning to organize in order to educate the public and raise awareness about the importance of IP protection.

For more information, please contact Jelena Jankovic at our Balkan Regional Office.

Source: Serbian IPO