The Polish Supreme Court in its resolution of 21 October 2003 case file I KZP 18/03 held that the license agreement is essentially the contractual relationship, which on the one hand determines the permissions granted to the licensee, on the other hand it creates the obligation to pay (the right to remuneration) to authorized party, i.e. a licensor. Therefore, the provision “against the terms and conditions of authorization” that is used in Article 116 of the Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights – ARNR – (in Polish: ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych) of 4 February 1994, published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 24, item 83, consolidated text of 16 May 2006, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No 90, item 631 with subsequent amendment, refers only to the right or permission to distribute the work, that was granted the licensee.

Article 116. 1. Whoever, without authorization or against its terms and conditions, disseminates other persons’ work, artistic performance, phonogram, videogram or broadcast in the original or derivative
version shall be liable to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to 2 years.
2. If the offender commits the act specified in paragraph 1 above in order to gain material benefits,
he/she shall be liable to imprisonment for up to 3 years.
3. If the offender commits the offence specified in paragraph 1 above a regular source of income or organizes or manages a criminal activity as specified in paragraph 1, he/she shall be liable to imprisonment for 6 months to 5 years.
4. If the offender of the act specified in paragraph 1 above acts unintentionally, he/she shall be liable to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to one year.

The Court ruled that the provision “against the terms and conditions of authorization” does not apply to obligations under the license agreement (the right to remuneration or the obligation to provide financial statements). This understanding of the concept of the authorization also refers the statutory license that existed before the amdendments to the ARNR, but with the difference that the source of “authorization” was not provided in a contract but only by statute.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.