TGC Corporate Lawyers Legal review – August 2024

Newsletter – changes in regulations and interesting decisions. August 2024

1. Business facilitation – access to contractor information

The government has adopted a draft amendment to the law on the provision and exchange of business information.

Thanks to the new regulations entrepreneurs will be able to make more accurate business decisions. The proposed solutions also aim to improve the relationship between entrepreneurs and business information bureaus.

The changes are due to come into force in 2024. In principle, the law will take effect 30 days after publication, but the draft contains two transitional provisions.

Read the article by our expert and learn more about the changes

2. A revolution in Polish copyright law? The Sejm passed an amendment to the law

The Sejm adopted the Senate’s revisions to the amended Law on Copyright and Related Rights. The Act is a long-awaited (and much-delayed) implementation of the SATCAB II and DSM Directives.

Press publishers with remuneration

The amendments added by the Senate introduce a procedure for determining the remuneration due to the publisher by the service provider (entity providing services by electronic means), or in fact big techs such as Meta, Google or Microsoft.

Artists in a winning position

An important change introduced by the amendment is the addition of new fields of use in points 5) and 6) of Article 70(2¹) of the Copyright and Related Rights Law. Until now, the Internet and streaming services have not been an area of use of audiovisual works for which authors and performers are entitled to remuneration.

Find out more: read the article by our expert, Piotr Dudek

3. The AI Act comes into effect

On 1 August, one of the most eagerly awaited pieces of European legislation came into force – the AI Act. After almost three years of work, the European Union has finally seen the world’s first comprehensive legislation on artificial intelligence. The law takes the form of a regulation, which means that its provisions are directly applicable in all Member States.

The most important area regulated by the new regulation and its backbone is the classification of artificial intelligence systems according to the level of risk associated with their use. The AI Act distinguishes four categories of AI systems based on the risks they may pose to fundamental rights and freedoms.

Entry into force of the AI Act

Given the extended scope of the new regulation, it will be implemented in stages.

From 1 August 2024, the new regulation officially came into effect. However, most of its provisions will not apply until August 2026 (24 months after its entry into force).

Our expert, Piotr Dudek, writes more about the new regulations here.

4. Electronic Communications Act announced

The Act – Electronic Communications Law (PKE) was signed by the President on 9 August and announced in the Journal of Laws. This act introduces changes aimed at improving the operation of the telecommunications market and providing better consumer protection.

Moreover, the new legislation introduces two European directives into Polish law and contains important rules and changes such as, for example, the elimination of doubtful charges, the introduction of the AML service or the obligation for operators to inform consumers about the terms of the contract, so that they can make their choice in an informed manner.

You can read the text of the new Act here (available in Polish only).

5. Controversy over the Whistleblower Protection Act

Some lawyers are of the opinion that the Polish Act on the Whistleblower Protection does not meet the requirements of the EU Directive. Others, on the other hand, emphasise that under the Directive, employers should neither accept notifications alone, nor should they clarify them.

Meanwhile, Piotr Kryczek, Counsel at TGC Corporate Lawyers, in a comment to PulsHR.pl explains: If notifications were to be made entirely outside the employer’s knowledge and control, the division of notifications into internal and external would lose its meaning. Moreover, the directive encourages problems to be reported to the employer in the first instance to ensure that violations of the law are quickly responded to and effectively resolved.

Whistleblower protection – see how we can help!

Want to learn more? Join our free webinar: Whistleblower protection – implementation of the new Act

Date: 10 September, 11:00-12:00

Prefer live meetings? Sign up for HR Breakfast: Implementation of the whistleblower protection legislation

Date and place: 5 September 2024, 9:30 – 11:00, Hrubieszowska 2, Warsaw

The number of participants is limited.

6. Webinar: ESG in your company – last call!

We invite companies that are subject to non-financial reporting obligations, as well as those that need to start it because their clients, partners or financial institutions require it, and all companies that seriously think about sustainability to watch the recording of our ESG webinar.

Learn more, watch the webinar recording.

Check also: ESG – sustainability advisory services