This contribution focuses on the new legislation on the publishing license agreement in the Czech Republic. Given the legislative history and its importance in the copyright obligation area, this type of agreement occupies an essential position. The publishing license agreement is the oldest kind of license agreement. It dates back more than sixty years to earlier of the Czech legislation. Since 1953, it has been embedded in the the copyright law as a special subtype of copyright agreements. After the recent reform of the Czech private law, this legal body underwent a fundamental legislative change consisting of the transfer of this piece of legislation from the copyright law to the New Civil Code in order to unify the duality of the previous license agreement legislation formerly embedded in two legal norms of the Czech legal system. While the license provisions for literary, artistic and scientific works were contained in the copyright law provisions, the legal protection for industrial property objects, including corresponding license provisions, were subject to the commercial code.
In connection with the private law reform, the New Civil Code came into effect on 1 January 2014 and its framework provided the lawmakers with a chance to unify the previously fragmented license agreement legislation into a single legal provision, while at the same time respecting the particularities of the license under copyright law. The unified license agreement legislation for commercial and civil relations in connection with the reform of local private law is newly defined in Sec. 2358 and 2389 of New Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Sb.), while the publishing license agreement provisions are defined in a special provision in Sec. 2384 and 2386 thereof.
The new legislation has adopted the previous legislation from both special acts without any fundamental changes. However, minor changes are introduced to licensing law in the Czech Republic which are further specified in this paper. The issue under review is set in a theoretical framework and simultaneously depicted in a historical context. This paper presents the topic in its complexity by highlighting the overlap of the introduced changes in license agreement legislation with other provisions of the private law.