Türkiye’s Digital Copyright Bill under parliamentary review: key takeaways for digital platforms and rightsholders

On 10 December 2025, the Digital Copyright Bill (“Bill”) was submitted to the Presidency of the Turkish Parliament.

The Bill was prepared to provide safeguards against copyright infringements in digital environments which the existing legislative framework has not been able to address effectively. It seeks to clarify the responsibilities of digital platforms, protect the economic and moral rights of content creators, ensure access to public-interest content, and maintain an adequate balance between freedom of expression and the public interest.

Some of the key aspects introduced by the Bill are summarised below:

Licensing requirement for making digital news content available. The Bill provides that the making available of digital news content by search engines, algorithms, or similar digital platforms is subject to conclusion of a licensing service agreement. The Bill does not regulate the parties to, or the detailed structure of, this licensing relationship, which is expected to be clarified through secondary legislation.

Payment of author’s share. At least 30% of the revenue arising from platform agreements (which appear to refer to the licensing agreements mentioned above) shall be distributed to reporters, writers, and photo and video journalists as an author’s share. If the parties fail to reach an agreement on the licensing terms, the Copyright Monitoring Board shall be authorised to pursue conciliation or to determine an equitable royalty fee.

Obligations for digital platforms. Digital platforms and services that enable users to upload, store or share content on the internet are defined as “intermediary service providers”. The intermediary service providers with a daily average of more than 250,000 unique users, or whose annual gross revenue exceeds a threshold to be determined by the Copyright Monitoring and Board, shall be subject to the specific obligations summarised below:

1. Establishment of an automated content recognition system capable of identifying copyright infringement;
2. Preventing the upload of, and removing or disabling access to, infringing content on the platform;
3. Sharing revenue generated from the content used on the platform with the rights holders;
4. Carrying out licensing negotiations on reasonable and non-discriminative terms;
5. Promptly assessing copyright infringement notifications submitted by authors, removing or disabling access to infringing content, and reinstating content in the absence of a court order or a decision of the Copyright Monitoring Authority;
6. Clearly setting out user rights for the platform and providing accessible mechanisms for objection;
7. Submitting transparency reports to the Copyright Monitoring Board on copyright infringements, the effectiveness of automated content recognition systems, and revenue sharing arrangements.

Intermediary service providers falling below the specified thresholds are nevertheless required to comply with obligations regarding notifications and determining the method to remove content as provided above.

Fair use. Turkish Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works already provides for certain exceptions permitting the use of works without authorisation. However, it does not expressly define the concept of fair use. The Bill classifies the following activities as falling within the scope of fair use: education and scientific research, criticism, commentary and parody, news reporting, archiving and preservation, and accessibility for persons with disabilities as falling within the scope of fair use. In these cases, the limited and purpose-appropriate use of a work is permitted without the consent of the copyright holder. The exceptions set out in the Bill are generally aligned with fair use-related approaches under European Union legislation.

Establishment of the Copyright Monitoring Authority. The Bill provides for the establishment of the Copyright Monitoring Authority, which shall be vested with administrative and financial autonomy, together with an affiliated board (“Board”), for the purposes of protecting and supervising digital copyright and resolving related disputes. The Board will consist of seven members who are experts in their field, independent and impartial.

The Board shall be empowered to resolve upon applications relating to digital copyright infringements, monitor compliance of intermediary service providers with their obligations under the Bill and take necessary administrative measures, establish a national digital registration system for works, guide licensing procedures between rights holders and platforms, and play a conciliatory role in resolving disputes.

Copyright Dispute Arbitration Commission. The Bill also provides for the establishment, within the Board, of a five-member Copyright Disputes Arbitration Commission tasked with conducting expedited and technical assessments of allegations of digital copyright infringement. The opinions issued following applications submitted to this Commission shall be binding in nature.

Sanctions. The intermediary service providers may be subject to administrative monetary fines ranging from 1% to 5% of their annual revenue generated in Türkiye if they fail to comply with their obligations. In cases of repeated infringements or gross negligence, this rate may be increased up to 10%.

As of mid-February 2026, the Bill remains under consideration by the relevant parliamentary committees. Given that digital copyright regimes have been comprehensively updated in recent years in many jurisdictions, particularly across the European Union, the Bill may be regarded as an important preliminary step towards aligning Türkiye’s copyright legislation with European standards. If enacted, the practical impact of the Bill is expected to be shaped largely by secondary legislation and decisions of the Board.