The Subject-Matter of Press Publishers’ Related Rights Under Directive 2019/790 on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market

The subject of this paper is the interpretation of the definition of a “press publication” contained in the new Directive 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market. The precise examination of particular aspects of this definition is important because the entities issuing publications defined as “press publications” obtain a new related right under the Directive. Thus, the definition constitutes the basis for constructing a monopoly of press publishers in relation to such forms of exploitation of press publications in the digital environment as reproduction and making available to the public. Therefore, this analysis assesses various problems arising from the interpretation of the above-mentioned definition, which indicates that this definition is far from unambivalent. It should also be emphasized that definitions of both the press and press publications as applied in various national legal systems for the purposes of administrative, civil or criminal law overlap, including in areas that are beyond the sphere of EU coordination. Hence, numerous interpretative issues, both in the EU legal system and in the systems of individual Member States, may be expected to arise in the future.