Hungary follows the continental, droit d’auteur tradition. The Act on Authors’ Rights LXXVI/1999 closely observes requirements of the acquis of the European Union. This Law, among others, specifies the rights attached to transmitting and downloading via the Internet.
The Law stipulates levies on all kinds of equipment used for recording, storing and playing audio-visual content, such as blank cassettes, mobile phones, personal computers and so on. They are determined by the Minister for Justice each year and collected by Artisjus, the Hungarian collecting society. Importers and manufacturers of copy machines and related equipment pay levies to the Hungarian Alliance of Reprographic Rights. Schools and public libraries are exempt from paying this fee.
In 2020, the net copyright income of Artisjus, the Hungarian collecting society, was 14.8 billion HUF, which due to the pandemic is much less than the 18.3 billion HUF in the previous year. From the 14.8 billion, the society paid 15.9 billion to rights’ holders and 2.0 billion to the National Cultural Fund. This latter transfer is regulated by law to finance a programme for young pop-rock talents: the sum corresponds to 25% of the “blank cassette” revenue.
The associations addressing cultural rights management are contained in this table. Focusing on their specific target groups, they address copyright and cultural rights’ protection as legal bodies.
Table 5: Associations addressing cultural rights management
Name | Name in English | Stakeholders | Web address |
ARTISJUS Magyar Szerzői Jogvédő Iroda Egyesület | Society ARTISJUS Hungarian Bureau for the Protection of Authors’ Rights | Composers, lyricists, literary authors, audiovisual artists, film writers, film producers, visual and applied artists, performing artists, phonogram producers | www.artisjus.hu |
Magyar Reprográfiai Szövetség | Hungarian Alliance for Reprographic Rights | Publishers, film producers, designers | www.reprografia.hu |
Művészeti Szakszervezetek Szövetsége Előadóművészi Jogvédő Iroda | Bureau for the Protection of Performers’ Rights | Performing artists | www.eji.hu |
FILMJUS Filmszerzők és Előállítók Szerzői Jogvédő Egyesület | FilmJUS Hungarian Society for the Protection of Audio-Visual Authors’ and Producers’ Rights | Cinematic creators (directors, camera operators), film writers, film producers | www.filmjus.hu |
HUNGART Vizuális művészek Közös Jogkezelő Társasága Egyesület | HUNGART Collecting Society of Hungarian Visual Artists | Visual and applied artists, photographers, architects, industrial designers, creators of creative technical facilities | www.hungart.org |
Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége | Hungarian Recording Industry Association | Phonogram producers | www.mahasz.hu |
Magyar Szak- és Szépirodalmi Szerzők és Kiadók Reprográfiai Egyesülete | Society for the Reprographic Rights of Professional Non-Fiction, Fiction Authors and Publishers | Literary authors, scientific literature authors, book publishers and magazine publishers | www.maszre.hu |
Magyar Irodalmi Szerzői Jogvédő és Jogkezelő Egyesület | Hungarian Literary Copyright Protection and Management Association | Literary authors | https://miszje.hu |
Repropress Magyar Lapkiadók Reprográfiai Egyesülete | Repro press Association for the Reprographic Rights of Publishers | Publishers of periodicals | www.pressjus.hu |
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