Article 1 - Name – Legal Status – Registered Office

1. The “Hellenic Copyright Organization”, established by article 69 of Law 2121/93 “Copyright, Related Rights and Cultural Issues” (Official Journal A' 25) is a Legal Entity of Private Law, with registered in Athens and supervised by the Minister of Culture.
2. This Organization is hereafter referred to as “HCO”.

Article 2 - Purposes

The HCO’s purposes are the following:

1. Protecting the intellectual authors and the rightholders of related rights.
2. Taking steps for the implementation of Law 2121/93 and the related contract issues of and in particular:
   • Submitting recommendations to the Ministry of Culture regarding the legality of the statement and the Regulation of Collecting Societies and other elements provided in paragraphs 4 and 5 of law 2121/93.
   • Submitting a semi-annual recommendation to the Ministry of Culture on issues pertaining to the supervision of Collecting Societies.
   • Undertaking law preparatory work on matters pertaining to copyright and related rights, in collaboration with the Legal Counselor’s Office and the Legislative Co-ordination Office of the Ministry of Culture.
   • Representing Greece before the competent international organizations and the Institutions of the European Community.
   • Organizing all kinds of seminars for the purpose of training and informing judges, lawyers, administrative personnel, authors, rightholders of related rights and students on matters pertaining to copyright and related rights.
   • Providing information on matters pertaining to copyright and related rights.

Article 3 - Composition - Operation – Responsibilitiesof the Board of Directors

1. The administration of HCO is carried out by a five-member Board of Directors (BoD). The members of the BoD must possess a Greek University degree, mostly in Legal and Financial Sciences, and have special knowledge or expertise on copyright matters.
2. The BoD of the HCO is appointed by resolution of the Minister of Culture for a three-year term of office. The same resolution also appoints the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman of the BoD. The term of the members of the BoD can be renewed.
3. The position of Secretary of the BoD will be held by an employee of HCO, who will be appointed along with his substitute by resolution of the Chairman of the BoD.
4. The BoD will be assembled following an invitation by its Chairman, holding a regular meeting once a month and in special occasions, if requested by the Chairman or the majority of its members. In the latter case, the Chairman should convene the members of the BoD within five days from the written notification of the majority’s petition. The notification must also include the issues of the agenda.
5. The BoD is in quorum when at least three of its members, including the Chairman or Deputy-Chairman of the BoD, are present. The decisions are made with an absolute majority of the members present and, in case of equal votes, the vote of the Chairman shall prevail.
6. The Director of HCO shall act as Reporter.
7. The records of the BoD are signed by the Chairman, the members and the Secretary.
8. The BoD has the following responsibilities:
   1. It decides on the annual budget and its necessary amendments and submits it for approval to the Minister of Culture, by October 15th of each year at the latest.
   2. It prepares the annual balance sheet and report of HCO and submits them to the Minister of Culture by the end of February of each year at the latest.
   3. It appoints HCO's personnel to specific positions under article 13 of this Presidential Decree. The salary of the personnel is determined under the provisions of Law 1505/84 (Official Journal A' 194), as this was supplemented by Law 1810/88 (A’ 223).
   4. Following a recommendation of HCO’s Director, the BoD assigns studies, researches and projects that are related to the fulfillment of HCO’s purposes to organizations, special scientists or legal entities, with a works contract under the provisions on task assignment applicable each time.
   5. It approves the travels of the Chairman and the members of the BoD, as well as the travels of HCO’s personnel, either domestic or abroad. In regard to travel expenses, the provisions applicable for travel expenses of public servants can be applied.
   6. By resolution, it can assign the exercise of a specific responsibility or responsibilities to one of its members for a limited time period.
   7. It can assign to the Deputy-Chairman or other members of the BoD or the Director, the exercise of some of the Chairman’s responsibilities, in writing, following the recommendation of the BoD’s Chairman.
9. "In regard to the personnel of the Hellenic Copyright Organization under the capacity of a lawyer, the provisions applicable for lawyers’ fixed fee can be applied".

Article 4 - Responsibilities of the BoD’s Chairman

The Chairman of the BoD has the following responsibilities:

1. He represents HCO, both judicially and extrajudicially, he binds it with his signature and, by his action, he can assign, according to each case, the representation to a BoD member or the Director of HCO.
2. He convenes the HCO's BoD, presides over the meetings and determines the issues of the agenda, taking under consideration paragraph 5 of the previous article.
3. In case the Chairman is absent or unavailable, he is substituted by the Deputy-Chairman.

Article 5 - Director

1. HCO’s Director is appointed by resolution of the Minister of Culture to serve a three-year term, which can be renewed by proposal of HCO's BoD. He must possess a University degree, a acknowledged PhD degree and special knowledge or expertise in copyright issues.
2. The responsibilities of HCO’s Director are the following:
   1. He is in charge of the scientific and administrative management of HCO.
   2. He supervises the Services and the employees of HCO and takes steps for their smooth and efficient operation.
   3. He implements the BoD’s resolutions.
   4. He exercises all the responsibilities provided for in this Presidential Decree or assigned to him by the BoD.

Article 6 - HCO Funds

1. For the beginning of its operation, HCO is subsidized with a special lump sum from the state budget of the Ministry of Culture amounting to twenty million (20,000,000) drachmas. "The Hellenic Copyright Organization can also be subsidized by the credit accounts of the Ministry of Culture or by the proceeds of the LOTTO and PRO-TO lotteries.
2. HCO’s resources derive from:
   1. (Omitted as not applicable).
   2. Grants – subsidies from the European Community and the International Organizations.
   3. Donations, endowments.
   4. Private sponsoring and any sort of contributions made by natural persons or legal entities.
   5. Revenues deriving from the provision of services.

Article 7 - Financial Year

Each financial year starts on January 1st and ends on December 31st of each calendar year. A financial year is the time period within which certain actions pertaining to the management of HCO’s financial resources, materials and other assets, have taken place. Exceptionally, the first financial year begins from the publication of this Presidential Decree in the Official Gazette and ends on 31.12.1994.