The Copyright and Related Rights Act of 4 February 1994, and amendments adopted on 9 June 2000 in order to make the Act compatible with EU law, are the basic Polish legal acts on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights. It has been amended many times, particularly in connection with Poland’s membership of the European Union and the need to implement EU copyright directives.
A major recent change was the implementation of the EU Digital Single Market Directive. The amendment introduced, among other issues, remuneration for creators from online exploitation of audiovisual works on streaming services. According to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the amendment entered into force on 20 September 2024 and responded to long-standing demands of film and audiovisual creators for internet royalties.
The Copyright and Related Rights Act provides the legal basis to levy fees on blank tapes and copying/reprographic machines. The system of reprographic fees, commonly referred to as the “blank media levy”, remained one of the most debated copyright issues. In 2025, the Ministry launched public consultations on updating the list of devices and media covered by the levy, arguing that the previous list was technologically outdated and still included devices such as VHS recorders, MP3 players, fax machines and DVD recorders. In April 2026, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage signed the amendment to the regulation on reprographic fees. According to the Ministry, this was the first update of the regulation in 15 years and was intended to adapt the compensation system for private copying to contemporary digital technologies.
After 2023, copyright policy increasingly focused on artificial intelligence, online distribution, streaming platforms, collective rights management and the protection of creators’ income. In September 2024, after a ten-year break, the Ministry restored the Copyright Law Forum as a platform for dialogue with creators, performers, publishers, producers, collective management organisations and other stakeholders. The 2024 and 2025 editions addressed, among other topics, the impact of artificial intelligence on copyright regulation and collective management of copyright and related rights.
During the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2025, copyright and artificial intelligence became one of the key cultural policy topics. The Ministry organised expert discussions on the impact of AI on copyright, media and creative sectors, including issues such as disinformation, digital competences and the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the digital environment.
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