SERBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Stevan Pajović, Tamara Simić Pajović, Medo Zornić and Jelena Stoljiljković, T-S Legal
3.9 Collective Management and Licensing Collective management organisations (CMOs) play a central role in the Serbian copyright landscape, par- ticularly for the management of rights that are difficult to enforce individually, such as music broadcasting or public performance. These organisations operate under a licence from the Intellectual Property Office and are responsible for collecting royalties from users and distributing them to right holders. The tariffs for the use of protected works are generally established through negotiations between the CMOs and repre- sentative associations of users. If a voluntary agreement on tariffs cannot be reached, the law provides for a mediation process, while the final determination regarding the tariff is made by the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia. This ensures that the fees remain reasonable and reflect the economic value of the use while prevent- ing monopolistic pricing. The legal framework also includes mandatory collective management for certain rights, such as the right to remuneration for private copying, the broadcasting of phonograms, and cable retransmission, where individual licensing is not prac- tically feasible. Disputes regarding the distribution of collected royal- ties or the application of tariffs are typically resolved before the civil courts. These organisations are required to operate with a high degree of transparen- cy, providing regular reports on their financial activities and distribution criteria. This collective system pro- vides a streamlined licensing solution for businesses, such as broadcasters and hospitality venues, allowing them to legally use vast catalogues of creative content through a single agreement. 4. Industrial Designs and Trade Dress 4.1 Legal Framework and Protectable Subject Matter The legal framework for the protection of industrial design in the Republic of Serbia is regulated by the Law on Legal Protection of Industrial Design (Offi- cial Gazette of the RS, No 104/2009, 45/2015, and 44/2018 – amendment adopted through another law).
Under this Law, an industrial design is defined as the three-dimensional or two-dimensional appearance of the whole product or a part of it, determined by its vis- ual characteristics. These characteristics particularly include lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/ or materials of the product itself or its ornamentation, as well as their combination. In essence, industrial design refers exclusively to the external, aesthetic appearance of a product, rather than its technical functionality or the way it operates. Accordingly, the subject matter of protection may cover a wide range of products, including packaging, furniture, clothing, automobiles, and similar goods, provided that the protection relates solely to their visual appearance and not to technical solutions or functional characteristics. 4.2 Requirements for Protection In most countries, including the Republic of Serbia, industrial design is protected through registration with the competent Intellectual Property Office. The registration procedure involves filing an application, submitting representations and a description of the design, as well as paying the relevant administrative fee. In order for a design to be successfully registered, it must meet certain legal requirements, primarily nov- elty and individual character. Novelty means that an identical industrial design has not been made available to the public before the date of filing the application for its protection, or that there is no earlier filed application for an identical design that later became publicly available. Individual character exists when the design produces a different overall impression on the informed user compared to any other design that was made avail- able to the public before the filing date or the recog- nised priority date. This criterion also depends on the degree of freedom the designer had in creating the design. Other conditions for protection include that the design must not be contrary to law or morality in its disclosure
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