The Culture Committee deliberated on the Draft Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights for the II reading, introduced by Vakhtang Bachiashvili, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Government.

As previously noted, the deliberation of the Draft Law has been postponed from the III to the II reading due to the remarks made by internet providers regarding their role and participation in the law’s enforcement.

According to the reporter, the initial edition of the Draft Law envisaged the mandatory adherence for all service providers to the “notification-reception” principle for the prevention of the violation of copyrights and neighbouring rights; however, the intermediate service providers are capable of fulfilling the said obligations only if they represent not only the information distributor but also its hosting.

The breach of the “notification-reception” by not all intermediate service providers, but only the hosting only, is recognized as a violation under the Law.

According to him, the amendments to the Law of Georgia “On Copyright and Related Rights” provide an additional mechanism for copyright and related-rights holders, allowing them—without the involvement of an administrative body and based on a relevant court decision—to notify the intermediary service provider directly. On the basis of such notification, the intermediary service provider will be required to remove the information or restrict access to it on electronic resources.