Categories of rights covered by the Grant of Rights to Kopiosto

This page lists the categories of rights for works of literary and visual art, sheet music and photographs that are covered by the Grant of Rights to Kopiosto. The categories of rights define the types of use for which Kopiosto may grant licences on behalf of authors, publishers and other copyright holders.

We at Kopiosto represent authors of text and images, as well as photographers and publishers. We grant licences for the use of works based on authorisations received from authors and other copyright holders and by serving as an extended collective licensing organisation in certain areas of use. We also represent foreign authors and publishers based on reciprocal representation agreements concluded with our sister organisations abroad.

An extended collective licence refers to a collective rights management system as defined in the Copyright Act. A copyright organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture may also grant licences for the use of works created by authors and other copyright holders who have not given authorisation to the organisation. According to the extended collective licensing system, authors, holders of related rights and other copyright holders outside the organisation can also receive remunerations from the organisation.

The extended collective licensing system allows users of works to receive a legally certain and extensive licence. In turn, the authors and other copyright holders receive reasonable remuneration for the use of their works. The extended collective licence ensures that works and other subject matter protected by copyright can be used in various ways and in a responsible manner for teaching purposes and in companies, for example. Kopiosto agrees on the content and terms of the licences with representatives of its member organisations.

The majority of Kopiosto’s categories of rights and the rights we manage are within the extended collective licence areas specified by law. As an example, this means that an educational institution, cultural heritage institution or company can acquire a blanket licence from us once the Ministry of Education and Culture has approved Kopiosto as an extended collective licensing organisation in the area of use in question.

The descriptions of each category of rights below state whether we currently license the use of works and whether we act as an extended collective licensing organisation.

GR1 Photocopying

Copying of published works by photocopying or by other similar methods and printing of works made public from digital sources and copying of the prints by photocopying or by other similar methods.

With a category GR1 authorisation, Kopiosto may grant copying licences for the photocopying and printing of works to educational institutions, companies and other organisations. Kopiosto has been granting photocopying licences since the 1980s.

At present, Kopiosto is an extended collective licensing organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in this area of use of works (Copyright Act, section 13).

GR2 Use for education and research

Digital copying of works made public and copying of works published in print into digital format, communicating to the public of these copies for educational and research purposes as well as use of the copies for these purposes.

With a category GR2 authorisation, Kopiosto grants copying licences for the scanning and other digital copying of works as well as for their use for teaching and research purposes. Digital copying refers to things such as copying an image or text from a website, taking a screenshot, downloading or saving a PDF file and taking a photograph of a page of a publication.

Kopiosto at first granted licences for the partial scanning of publications, and it has also been granting licences for digital copying for teaching and research purposes since the 2010s.

At present, Kopiosto is an extended collective licensing organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in this area of use of works (Copyright Act, section 14(1)).

GR3 Internal use of companies and organisations

Digital copying and communicating to the public of works made public for the internal use as well as training and consulting activities of companies, authorities and other organisations.

With a category GR3 authorisation, Kopiosto grants copying licences for the scanning and other digital copying of works and for their internal use in companies and other organisations as well as in training and consultation activities organised by companies and other organisations. Digital copying refers to things such as copying an image or text from a website, taking a screenshot, downloading or saving a PDF file and taking a photograph of a page of a publication.

Kopiosto has been licensing digital copying in companies and public administration for ten years.

At present, Kopiosto is an extended collective licensing organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in this area of use of works (Copyright Act, section 13a).

GR4 Use of an archived newspaper or magazine

The reproduction and communication to the public of a work published in a newspaper or magazine by the publisher in a republication.

With a category GR4 authorisation, Kopiosto may grant licences to newspaper and magazine publishers for the digitisation of a newspaper or magazine published by the publisher and for its online republication by providing the subscribers with digital open access to their issue archive, for example. Kopiosto’s licence covers newspaper and magazine publications released before 1 January 1999. Kopiosto grants the licence to the publisher on behalf of the authors of the newspaper or magazine articles and images.

At present, Kopiosto is an extended collective licensing organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in this area of use of works (Copyright Act, section 25g, subsection 2).

GR5 Use in libraries, archives and museums

The reproduction and making available to the public of a work included in the collections of a library, an archive or a museum, including in a way which enables members of the public to access the work from a place and at a time chosen by themselves.

With a category GR5 authorisation, Kopiosto may grant a licence to certain archives, libraries open to the public and museums for making a copy of a work in their collections and communicating it to the public.

For example, Kopiosto may grant a licence to the National Library of Finland on behalf of the authors and publishers for the digitisation of commercially available or out-of-commerce newspapers and periodicals, sheet music, posters, brochures or similar publications that are part of the National Library’s collections. The National Library could also make the materials available to the public online or in the premises of an archive or museum.

At present, Kopiosto is an extended collective licensing organisation approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture in this area of use of works (Copyright Act, sections 16d and 16g). Approvals issued by Kopiosto pertain to newspapers and periodicals; sheet music and song lyrics; works of visual art and photographs included in literary works; works of literary and visual art and photographs included in brochures, posters and similar ephemera; and the rights of publishers.

GR6 Public lending remunerations, visual artists and photographers

The right to collect remuneration from the public lending right scheme for visual works and photography copyright holders.

With a category GR6 authorisation, Kopiosto negotiates public lending remunerations and remunerations for the library use of e-materials on behalf of visual artists and photographers and pays these remunerations to them. Kopiosto pays public lending remunerations for physical books borrowed from public libraries and university libraries. As of 2023, remunerations are also paid for the library use of e-books and e-audiobooks. Public lending remunerations and remunerations for the library use of e-materials are paid from the budgeted funds of the Finnish state.

Kopiosto has been approved as an organisation tasked with managing public lending remunerations on behalf of visual artists and photographers, as referred to in the Copyright Act.

GR7 Private copying

The right to receive, hold and distribute the private copying levy in accordance with copyright legislation and other corresponding remunerations.

Compensation for private copying is a legislated remuneration to authors and other copyright holders for allowing anyone to copy the works legally for their private use. The compensation for private copying is paid from the budgeted funds of the Finnish state.

At present, compensation for private copying is only paid for the private copying of music and audiovisual works. If remunerations were to be paid for the private copying of publications based on a decision by the ministry, Kopiosto could, based on category GR7, receive and distribute remunerations to authors, photographers and publishers.

GR8 Use of a work included in a newspaper or magazine publication

The reproduction and making available to the public of a work included in a newspaper, magazine or periodical publication, including in a way which enables members of the public to access the work from a place and at a time chosen by themselves.

With a category GR8 authorisation, Kopiosto may grant a licence for the copying or other reproduction of works, such as articles or images, included in a newspaper or magazine publication, as well as for their communication to the public online or via social media platforms, for example. Kopiosto may grant a licence to parties such as technology or media monitoring companies for the use of the content of newspapers and periodicals or for training artificial intelligence applications. Category GR8 covers both the related rights of newspaper and magazine publishers and the copyrights and other related rights to works included in newspaper and magazine publications.

Kopiosto has applied to the Ministry of Education and Culture for an approval of its right to act as an extended collective licensing organisation in this area of use of works with regard to the related rights of publishers. At the moment, Kopiosto is not yet granting licences based on this category of rights.

GR9 Use in online content sharing services

Communication to the public of a literary and visual work and photograph or parts thereof that a user has saved in an online content sharing service as defined in chapter 6 a of the Finnish Copyright Act.

Online content sharing services refer to, for example, various social media platforms, such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. On these platforms, private individuals share copyrighted content created by other people, such as images, newspaper and magazine articles, song lyrics and poems. An amendment to the Copyright Act that entered into force in April 2023 requires platform providers to obtain authorisation from authors and holders of related rights for private individuals to transmit works protected by copyright or related rights for non-commercial purposes on their platforms.

With a category GR9 authorisation, Kopiosto may grant a licence to online content sharing services for this type of use of works on behalf of the authors and copyright holders it represents. Kopiosto is exploring the possibility of granting such licences to online content sharing services. The Copyright Act does not include a section related to online content sharing services that would allow Kopiosto or another organisation to act as an extended collective licensing organisation.

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