SESSION OVERVIEW & DETAILS
3. PANEL: Private copying – National systems, global challenges and opportunities
• Format: Moderated round-table preceded by a remote presentation from ARIPO’s Amadu Bah
• Overview: Despite predictions of its decline, private copying continues to represent an important source of revenue for many CMOs and has even gained renewed momentum in some regions of the world. As consumption patterns evolve and new markets emerge, this panel will explore the status of private copying across different countries and regions, and examine the key challenges and opportunities influencing its development.
• Speaker
Amadu Bah – ARIPO
Amadu Bah is the Copyright and Related Rights Officer at the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO). He holds a Diploma and Bachelor’s degree from the University of Sierra Leon and a Master’s degree in Intellectual Property offered by the Africa University in cooperation with ARIPO, WIPO, and the government of Japan. Currently, Mr Bah is studying for an LLM with the University of East London and is very interested in Collective Management of Copyright and Copyright in the digital environment.
• Panel Moderator
Michał Błeszyński – Błeszyński i Partnerzy Radcowie Prawni
Attorney-at-law and managing partner at Błeszyński i Partnerzy Radcowie Prawni. As a legal representative, he has litigated numerous landmark copyright cases before Polish courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union. He served as a member of the Copyright Commission at the Ministry of Culture of Poland for its 8th Term. Previously, he spent many years conducting academic research at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw. In 2023, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ranked him among Poland’s 25 most influential legal professionals.
• Round-table Panelists:
Tilo Gerlach – GVL
Tilo Gerlach is Managing Director of GVL, the German collective management organisation for performers’ rights. GVL was founded in 1959. Tilo Gerlach joined GVL as Legal Counsel in 1996.
Since 2001, he has been the Managing Director representing GVL’s performing artists. Holding a PhD in Law, Tilo Gerlach is also the President of AEPO-ARTIS (The Association of European Performers’ Organisations).
He is a lecturer in Copyright Law at Berlin University, author of several books on copyright, neighboring-rights and right of copyright administration.
Uroš Rožič – AIPA
Uroš Rožič is a Slovenian legal expert specialising in copyright, collective management and audiovisual performers’ rights. He is Head of Legal at AIPA, the Slovenian collective management organisation for authors, performers and film producers of audiovisual works. He also lectures on intellectual property and innovation at Alma Mater Europaea University. He has more than twenty years of professional experience in copyright law, collective management, regulatory affairs and evidence based policy making. His work includes the drafting and implementation of EU copyright legislation, including the DSM and SatCab II Directives, participation in EU funded intellectual property reform projects in the Western Balkans and advisory work on national audiovisual and creative industry strategies. He previously served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, where he coordinated national policies relating to intellectual property and the internal market.
Ferid Lakhdar – ZAIK Society of Authors
Ferid Lakhdar is the Vice President of ZAiKS Society of Authors, as well as an instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, and music producer.
For more than two decades, he has been active on the Polish music scene, creating and producing popular music, production music, and music for children, while collaborating with artists in Poland and abroad. Albums featuring his compositions for young audiences have achieved platinum record status.
He is actively engaged in advocating for creators’ rights in Poland and across Europe, cooperating with organizations including CISAC, CIAM, and ECSA. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Council of the Polish Song Museum in Opole and as a member of the Board of the Culture Hub Poland Foundation.
