According to the by-laws of the Ministry of Culture, copyright and neighbouring rights come under the remit of the Ministry of Culture. With respect to the by-laws the Ministry shall co-ordinate and organise activities pertaining to copyright and neighbouring rights in accordance with the Copyright Act (CA). The CA was passed in 1992 and has thus been in force for more than 10 years.

The aforementioned act constitutes the main source document for the Ministry’s copyright-related activities, which consist of analysing copyright problems, drafting proposals in order to insure the development of the respective field, exercising state supervision in cases provided by law and preparing respective draft acts. In addition substantial efforts have also been made for a longer period to follow international development of copyright and neighbouring rights – for example, within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, applying for membership in the World Trade Organisation (1999) and, of course, activity regarding membership of the European Union. Our aim is not to stand aside from processes directly affecting life in Estonia. Therefore, we will actively continue to participate in the work of the different decision-making levels of the EU in the field of copyright and neighbouring rights in the future.

In order to better and more extensively co-ordinate copyright matters, a committee of copyright experts was set up at the Ministry of Culture in 1999. The tasks of the committee proceed from the CA. The most important tasks are to monitor compliance with the level of protection of copyright and neighbouring rights with the international obligations assumed by the Republic of Estonia, as well as to analyse the practice of implementation of copyright legislation, make proposals to the Government of the Republic for amendment of copyright legislation, and accession to international agreements. The tasks also include resolving, at the request of the parties, disputes related to copyright and neighbouring rights by way of conciliation of the parties. The committee shall provide an overview of compliance with the level of protection of copyright and related rights in Estonia with the international obligations assumed by the state and the practice of implementation of copyright legislation to the Government of the Republic twice a year and, if necessary, make proposals for the improvement of activities in this field.

In addition to representatives of the other government agencies concerned, the committee is also made up of co-operation partners from several associations and unions representing authors and owners of copyright related rights i.e. collective management organisations (Estonian Authors´ Society, Estonian Association of Record Producers, Estonian Performers´ Association) and organisations mostly engaged in the fight against piracy (Estonian Organisation of Copyright Protection, BSA Estonian Committee).