Coalition for Media Freedom and ANEM: Protecting Copyrights Must Not Be an Obstacle to Timely Information Dissemination

The footage, which has been reported by numerous media outlets, shows an incident outside the RTS building in which a member of the gendarmerie struck an off-duty police officer, while students gathered at a protest were accused of assaulting the officer.

The media that received these warnings are professional outlets reporting in accordance with the Journalists’ Code of Serbia and in the public interest. The published footage, which had already been available on social media at the time of publication, was presented solely for informational purposes – to ensure that the citizens of Serbia are accurately, timely, and objectively informed about events that have garnered significant public attention and led to accusations against students for an alleged assault on a police officer, and to prevent the spread of misinformation.

In the context of reporting on such an important and sensitive event, it is clear that the public interest in publishing content that contributes to clarifying the circumstances outweighs other considerations. Additionally, we emphasize the necessity of balancing the legitimate rights of copyright holders with the citizens' right to truthful and timely information on matters of public interest.

According to the Copyright and Related Rights Law, the law recognizes exceptions that allow for the use of copyrighted works without the author's permission for the purpose of reporting on current events. It is on this basis that professional media have decided to publish the footage.

The media express their willingness to retroactively credit the author’s name if it was unknown at the time of publication and to emphasize that it is a copyrighted work, thereby ensuring full respect for the moral rights of the author.

We invite Mr. Stanković to engage in dialogue and open discussion with media representatives, with the hope of resolving the situation peacefully, without entering into legal proceedings. The Coalition for Media Freedom and ANEM believe that cooperation and understanding between content creators and the media is in the interest of society as a whole, particularly in the aim of preserving professional, responsible, and free information dissemination.

The Coalition for Media Freedom and the Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM)

The Coalition for Media Freedom consists of: the Media Association, the Online Media Association (AOM), the Independent Journalists’ Association of Vojvodina (NDNV), the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (NUNS), the Business Association of Local and Independent Media “Local Press,” the Slavko Ćuruvija Foundation, and GS KUM Nezavisnost