Frequently Asked Questions about the Committee (EDPPI)

1. How was the Committee established, what is its purpose and who comprises it?

The Committee for the Notification of Online Infringement of Copyright and Related Rights (EDPPI) was established by Law 4481/2017, which introduced Article 66E into Law 2121/1993. According to this provision and the Ministerial Decisions issued by virtue of it, the EDPPI constitutes an administrative authority to which rightholders of copyright and/or related rights can address, under the conditions laid down by law , utilizing an extrajudicial mechanism for the immediate and effective cessation and prevention of infringement of their rights in the digital environment.

Additionally, in the procedure of paragraph 10A of Article 66E regarding the prevention of imminent infringement (live-blocking), an application may also be submitted to the EDPPI by the organizer of sports events regarding potential infringement of their rights, as provided for in sports legislation, and specifically in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 84 and paragraph 2 of Article 84A of Law 2725/1999 (Government Gazette A' 121).

The objective and role of EDPPI is the rapid issuance of special decisions/orders for either removal of illegal content or blocking of access, concerning works protected by copyright and other protected objects, while special procedures (live blocking) are provided for events of national or international broadcasting that are transmitted simultaneously with their occurrence (sports and cultural events (live events)), as well as for audiovisual works according to the provisions of paragraph 10A of Article 66E of Law 2121/1993 and the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision (400772, Government Gazette B' 5186/30.09.2025) (see more in "Legislation").

The Committee is three-member and consists of:

The President of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Copyright Organization (OPI)
A representative of the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission (EETT)
A representative of the Hellenic Personal Data Protection Authority

The members of the Committee are appointed by decision of the Minister of Culture regarding its establishment and composition (see more in "Legislation")

2. What can one achieve through the Committee?

The procedure before the Committee constitutes an administrative procedure, in contrast to recourse before courts, which within a short period of time (at most within 60 days for the basic procedure of paragraph 4 of Article 66E and within 15 days for the live-blocking procedure of paragraph 10A) allows any applicant who appeals before it regarding the illegal distribution of their works or other protected objects or sports or cultural events on the internet to achieve (if their application is submitted admissibly and the conditions of the law are met) the immediate removal or blocking of access depending on the circumstances and without being deprived of their right of recourse to the courts. However, if they to the courts before submitting an application to the Committee or during the examination of their case by the Committee, their application is archived.

3. Who can submit an application to the Committee?

Anyone whose copyright or related rights are infringed on the internet (e.g., creators, performers-artists, publishers, radio and television organizations, collective management organizations or collective protection organizations for the rightholders they represent, etc.), as well as the universal or specific successor thereof. In addition, in the procedure of paragraph 10A, organizers of sports events have been explicitly included as applicants. Organizers do not have copyright or related rights under Law 2121/1993. However, they can also address the Committee in the event that large-scale infringement of their rights provided in sports legislation is imminent on the internet, specifically in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 84 and paragraph 2 of Article 84A of Law 2725/1999 (Government Gazette A' 121).

Additionally, rightholders can submit an application in case of infringement of copyright and/or related rights through the offering of products or services on the internet, either through advertising or promotion.

4. In what cases can someone resort to the Committee?

Rights holders can submit an application to the Committee in any case of infringement of intellectual property rights and/or related rights on the internet under the conditions laid down in Article 66E of Law 2121/1993.

For the procedure of paragraph 4, the infringement must have already taken place, while in the procedure of paragraph 10A, an imminent and large-scale infringement is prevented. In this latter procedure, provided that the conditions of this specific provision are cumulatively met, organizers of sports events can also submit an application to the Committee provided they hold the rights to which they claim the imminent infringement. However, this procedure does not apply to infringements of copyright and/or related rights, or the rights of organizers of sports events that are committed or may be committed by end users.

Additionally, rights holders may address the Committee for the issuance of a supplementary act according to subparagraph 9 of paragraph 10A, that is, if after the issuance of the Committee's decision and its execution, there is a violation or threat of any technical means of repeating the infringement of the content to which it concerns. Furthermore, rightholders can submit an application to the Committee in cases where large-scale infringement of rights is imminent regarding events of national or international broadcasting that are to be transmitted simultaneously with their occurrence (live events) (paragraph 10A), namely regarding sports events and cultural events. Also, this procedure concerns audiovisual works, specifically when they are to be transmitted or presented or made available to the public, where and when it chooses (on demand) according to the specific provisions in Joint Ministerial Decision 400772 (Government Gazette B' 5186/30.09.2025).

Furthermore, the Committee may act - upon submission of a relevant application - in the case of a violation of its previous decision, as well as in the case of a repetition of the infringement of the rights concerning the content to which it referred. In this case, the Committee issues a supplementary relevant act, provided that the information submitted - supplementary elements by the rightsholder, which is submitted without the payment of a new fee for the examination of the case – makes the above probable (10(A)(2)(b)).

Furthermore, the Committee may act - upon submission of a relevant application - in the case of a violation of its previous decision, as well as in the case of a repetition of the infringement of the rights concerning the content to which it referred. In this case, the Committee issues a supplementary relevant act, provided that the information submitted — supplementary elements by the rightsholder, which is submitted without the payment of a new fee for the examination of the case — makes the above probable (10(A)(2)(b)).

Finally, in the procedure of paragraph 10A, the rightsholder may address the competent monitoring service of EETT, so that an access blocking order is issued in case of transfer of illegal transmission or presentation or on-demand provision to the public of works or objects of protection or sports or cultural events to other resource locators (URLs), and especially to other internet protocol addresses (IP addresses) and/or domain names, which are included in a previous decision of the Committee.

For this case, provided that an order has been issued by the above service and the rightholders wish to maintain its validity, they must submit a request to the Committee within five working days from its issuance and pay the relevant fee. The Committee, following a recommendation by EETT and taking into account especially the elements submitted by the rightholders and the order of the competent monitoring service of EETT, issues a supplementary act to its initial decision.

5. Are there any prerequisites to resort to the Committee?

Advance payment of the examination fee per case
Use of the pre-formatted application posted on this website
Use of the pre-formatted Excsl file posted on this website (request.xlsx)
Attachment of every document mentioned in the application as mandatory, as well as any other information/element suitable for proving the right and active legitimation, as well as files proving the infringement that has occurred or is imminent on the internet (indicatively screenshots and others)
FFor the procedure of paragraph 4, prior use of any corresponding notice and takedown procedure (notice & take down), which, while completed within a reasonable time, has not been successful

6. What are the examination fees?

The examination fee distinguishes as follows:

A. For the submission of an application under the procedure of paragraph 4 of Article 66E of Law 2121/1993, the fees, based on the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision, are as follows:

€300, if the application includes 1 domain name
€500, if the application includes 2 to 5 domain names
€700, if the application includes 6 to 10 domain names
€1,000, if the application includes 11 to 50 domain names
€1,000, if the application concerns blocking access to internet protocol addresses (IP addresses) used for transmitting content by continuous data streaming. Each such application cannot concern more than fifty (50) internet protocol addresses.

The above prices do not include VAT.

B. For the submission of an application under the procedure of paragraph 10A of Article 66E of Law 2121/1993, the fees, based on the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision, are as follows:

€400, if the application includes 1 domain name or 1 internet protocol address (IP address) or 1 uniform resource locator (URL)
€700, if the application includes 2 to 5 URLs or domain names or IP addresses
€1,200, if the application includes 6 to 10 URLs or domain names or IP addresses
€1,500, if the application includes 11 to 50 URLs or domain names or IP addresses
€1,500, if the application concerns the blocking of access to IP addresses used for transmitting content by continuous data streaming (live-streaming)

Please note that each such application cannot concern more than 50 URLs or domain names or IP addresses cumulatively.

€7,000 in the case where the blocking of access for a maximum duration of 12 months is requested

C. For the issuance of a supplementary act to maintain the validity of the order of the EETT monitoring service, and for the examination of the relevant application of item (e) of subparagraph 2 of paragraph 10A of Article 66E of Law 2121/1993 according to the above:

€300

The above amounts do not include VAT.

In all cases, the fee is paid in advance, and the relevant payment receipt from the National Bank (SWIFT code (BIC) ETHNGRAA) must be sent to the Committee crediting OPI's account with IBAN GR8101101510000015129605323.

7. What are the consequences of non-compliance with a Committee decision?

By decision of the Committee, a fine of €500-€1,000 may be imposed for each day of non-compliance.

8. Is there a possibility of appeal against the decisions of the Committee?

Yes.

Against the decisions of EDPPI under paragraphs 4 and 9 of Article 66E, an appeal may be filed before the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal within a 60-day deadline from their notification.

Both the deadline for filing the appeal and the filing itself do not suspend the execution of the Committee's decision.

Against the decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal, an application for annulment may be filed before the Council of State according to relevant provisions.

For the decisions under paragraph 10A, it is provided that those mentioned in the Committee's decision may appeal against it before the Athens Administrative Court of Appeal within 10 days from the notification of the decision to them.

The deadline for filing the appeal and the filing itself do not suspend the execution of the Committee's decision.

In case of non-filing of an appeal within the above deadline or in case the appeal is rejected, the access blocking ordered by the Committee's decision becomes final.

In case the appeal is successful due to the Court's finding that the conditions provided in this special procedure (live blocking) were not met, the rightsholder who requested the issuance of the Committee's decision owes compensation to the administrator or owner of the domain names or internet protocol addresses who filed the appeal and who was affected by the Committee's decision.

See the infographic with the procedure for reporting copyright infringements on the internet as referred to in paragraph 4 of Article 66E of Law 2121/1993.