| In Principle

Under the amended Construction Law in force from 19 September 2020, in a proceeding seeking legalisation of unlawful construction it will no longer be possible to seek consent to a variance from technical construction regulations, due to the express wording of the new Art. 9(5) of the Construction Law. Investors who had planned to legalise an unpermitted construction while obtaining a variance from technical regulations will not obtain such approval. The same applies to investors who filed a request before 19 September 2020 and were awaiting the minister’s position on the variance.

Poland’s new Public Procurement Law, which enters into force on 1 January 2021, identifies a set of clauses that cannot be included in public contracts. Will Art. 433 of the new act be regarded as a catalogue of abusive clauses? What types of provisions will be prohibited?

Despite its similar function, the general contractor’s retention of a portion of a subcontractor’s fee to secure its own claims cannot be equated with a security deposit. Consequently, the investor is jointly and severally liable for payment of such amounts to the subcontractor.

The guidelines for imposing corporate income tax on limited partnerships and some registered partnerships have now been stated with more specificity. On 16 September 2020 a draft Act Amending the Personal Income Tax Act, the Corporate Income Tax Act, the Act on Flat-Rate Taxation of Certain Income of Natural Persons, and Certain Other Acts (draft no. UD126) was published on the website of Poland’s Government Legislation Centre. The draft and the extensive justification for the proposal provide details of the rules for taxation of limited partnerships from 2021 forward. It should be borne in mind that these rules may change during the course of the legislative process.

When the concept for a video game takes shape, and an unprotected idea becomes a protected form of expression, the developer can consider how best to protect the game or elements of the game against copying by competitors. When thinking about legal protection of a video game, it is natural to refer to copyright law. But that is not the only potential source of protection. It is worth examining whether and to what extent elements of the game can be protected through industrial designs, patents, or perhaps trade secrets.

Several contractors apply together for the award of a public contract. Can they submit a bid bond in the form of a bid bond guarantee that does not name all of the members of the consortium? This issue has been, and remains, the subject of debate in the legal literature and case law. Taking a position in this debate, in its ruling of 31 July 2020 (case no. KIO 1183/20), the National Appeal Chamber stressed that the decisive role is played by the wording of the guarantee itself, which must unequivocally specify the scope of liability of the guarantor (e.g. bank, insurance company, or corporate guarantor) in terms of which entities and subject matter are covered.

For years, film distributors have been fighting against illegal sharing of movies on the internet. The enforcement of rights before the courts is hampered in particular by the functioning of the platforms on which the films are posted, including the users’ relative anonymity. In a recent judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that YouTube and Google are not obliged to turn over data to holders of IP rights allowing them to identify users who have infringed their rights. Which data? More below.

The Ministry of Finance intends to impose corporate income tax on limited partnerships, and on registered partnerships whose shareholders (taxpayers participating in their profits) are not disclosed. These types of partnerships will probably become CIT payers starting from 2021.

Assignment of rights for security is a popular method of securing claims on the Polish market. This is due to the great flexibility of this instrument and the absence of such formalities as registration in court. In short, such assignment consists of transferring to the lender claims held by the borrower against third parties (e.g. receivables for the sale of goods). If the credit is not repaid on a timely basis, the proceeds from the claims assigned for security can be used to satisfy the lender’s claims. But can the rights under a promissory also be assigned in this manner?

The “self-cleaning” procedure set forth in Art. 24(8) of the Public Procurement Law allows a bidder to seek the award of a public contract despite the existence of grounds for exclusion. But what evidence of self-cleaning should a contractor present for the effort to be effective? In the recent ruling of 31 July 2020 (case no. KIO 1248/20), the National Appeal Chamber held that contractors are not only required to show the personnel, organisational and technical measures they have taken to remedy past irregularities, but must also show that these measures will prevent similar violations in the future.

This is one of the most often asked questions. The answer is difficult and equivocal. On one hand, a good idea is half the way to success. On the other hand, ideas are regarded as free and should not be monopolised, but a specific manner or form of expression of an idea can be the subject of copyright protection. However, drawing the line between an unprotected idea and a protected manner of expression is a difficult challenge that depends on the specific factual circumstances. First it must be determined what can be protected in a computer game, and then how these elements can best be protected.

The Supreme Court of Poland has recently issued several rulings on setoff (Civil Code Art. 498), confirming the existing line of case law and the established legal and commercial practice. The regulations on asserting the defence of setoff in civil proceedings have also been amended.