Exceptions and limitations
Exceptions and limitations to copyright present such uses of work, that are justified by the public interest and laid down in Copyright Act, when author's permission is not required. The scope of exception and limitations was substantially extended by introducing new cases:
• illustration for teaching in a school, other place than school but under its responsibility or within in digital and distance learning (e-learning) only for non-commercial purpose.
• use of work to preserve cultural heritage by museums, libraries, archives.
• use of out-of-commerce works for which no collective management organization performs collective licencing, only by museums, libraries, archives and only for non-commercial purpose.
• data mining for research purposes by specifically defined entities like museums, libraries, archives, and research organizations.
Online platforms
As the online content-sharing service providers perform an act of communication to the public or of making available to the public when they give the public access to copyright-protected works or other protected subject matter uploaded by their users. Consequently, online content-sharing service providers should obtain an authorisation, including via a licensing agreement, from the relevant rightholders.
In the event of unauthorized act of communication to the public, the providers bear a strict liability. Liberation is possible only in cases of making their best efforts in accordance with high industry standards of professional diligence.
License fee
One of the major aims of the amendments is to bring the license fees closer to potential and actual economic value of work, so that the fees are proportional to the author's creative share in the work, considering other circumstances of the case (e.g., market practices, actual use of work). A new statutory right was introduced: author is entitled to get additional compensation although the license fee was proportional to author’s creative share in the evaluated work, but later proved to be quite clearly inconsistent with the revenue achieved through the actual use of the work. All circumstances should be considered, e.g., relevant revenues (including those from advertising), author's contribution, specificities, and remuneration practices in the sector, etc. The author may exercise its right for additional compensation at the earliest three years after the publication of the work. To be able to calculate the additional remuneration, author is entitled to require information on exploiting of the license. The right to additional compensation does not arise in case of computer program, public licenses and licenses granted by collective management bodies.
Although license fee can still be agreed as a single lump sum payment, the Slovak legislator emphasis that such remuneration setting should not be a default general rule. In this context, the amendments introduced the cases in which this may happen.