Nice financial penalties
September 4th, 2008, Tomasz RychlickiPenalties for a total of more than $ 1.2 million Polish złoty were imposed by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) on The Association of Authors (ZAiKS) and the Polish Filmmakers Association (APF) because of their agreement “to eliminate competition between them”.
In December 2005, at the request of the Board of Press Editors, UOKiK has began antitrust proceedings against ZAiKS and SFP. The decision to penalise those two organisations was issued on 29 August.
UOKiK has found that since 2003, ZAiKS and SFP, seeking to guarantee itself the highest profits, have operated under the unlawful antitrust agreement. SFP and ZAiKS concluded an agreement which established a uniform, rigid rates for the use of audiovisual works (such as DVD movies) and refused to negotiate them - announced Malgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel (the President of UOKiK) at a press conference in Warsaw.
The decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, DOK - 6/2008 of 29 August 2008, and the official press release are available at www.uokik.gov.pl website in Polish language.