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HCO Scientific Conference – School of Law of the University of Athens “Copyright & Artificial Intelligence”

The scientific event organized by the Hellenic Copyright Organization (HCO) in cooperation with the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in the framework of their Memorandum of Cooperation, was held on April 23, 2024 with great success.

The HCO, closely following all developments at EU and global level in the field of copyright and related rights, has chosen as the theme of this event the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on copyright, participating with this initiative in the celebration of World Intellectual Property Day 2024.

The event was welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Culture, Mr. Christos Dimas, who highlighted the dominant role of HCO and the state’s constant concern to ensure the rights of creators and rightholders, as well as to promote creativity and culture.

The President of the Board of Directors of the HCO, Mr. P. Tsiris, delivered a welcome address, noting the continued presence of the HCO and its response to the challenges and concerns of creators and rightholders.

Ms. Maria – Daphne Papadopoulou, Deputy Director of the HCO, demonstrated the new landscape that is emerging, especially at EU level with the upcoming enactment of the AI ACT in the light of copyright and related rights, and outlined the different ways in which the HCO can contribute to addressing the new needs and challenges that AI creates in copyright.

Mr. S. Vlahopoulos, Professor of the School of Law of the University of Athens highlighted the multidimensional nature of the issues raised by the ever-increasing use of AI tools, while Mr. K. Christodoulou, Professor of the School of Law of the University of Athens emphasized the importance of the cooperation between the School and the HCO and the impact of their collaborative actions.

During the first session, the HCO hosted distinguished officials and executives of leading EU institutions and bodies. In particular, Mr. Krzysztof Nichczynski on behalf of the Policy Office of theCopyright Unit, DG Connect of the European Commission, discussed the developments in the EU framework and the interconnection of the AI issue with Directive 2019/790 and, in particular, thetext and data mining regulations.

Subsequently, Mr. Aubert Antoine, IP Digital Specialist of the European Observatory on Infringements of IP Rights of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) presented the burning issue of finding solutions and models for exercising the right of opposition or licensing of datasets for “training” AI tools.

Finally, Mr. Burak Özgen, General Counsel of GESAC discussed the next steps in the crucial field of collective rights management.

During the second session, Mr. P. Tsiavos, Director of Development and Innovation at the Onassis Foundation, presented all aspects of regulatory reform on a multidisciplinary level using concrete examples of artistic expression, and Mr. Th. Chiou, Lawyer and Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Greece, addressed the more specific but crucial issue of considering the creation mandate as a creative or non-contribution.

Finally, Mr. Panagiotis Varvatsoulis, Forensic Expert, focused on the critical issue of copyright and related rights infringements and the use of AI tools in the emerging field of digital forensics as an important tool in the fight against piracy.

You can see the programme of the event here.

The presentations of the speakers are available below.

Krzysztof Nichczynski

Antoine Aubert

Burak Ozgen

Prodromos Tsiavos

Theodoros Chiou

Panagiotis Varvatsoulis