Copyright levies are the 21st century response to the advent of technological methods that facilitate the making of private copies of copyright-protected works. With these new technologies gradually enabling easier and increasingly exact copying of almost every form of creative work – the printed word, paintings, music, video, etc. – the authors have become unable to prevent or control private copying behaviour and thus enforce their ownership rights. Obtaining compensation for private copying directly from users also has become almost impossible.

Under Greek intellectual property law, there is a fundamental distinction between copyright and industrial property. Copyright law regulates the protection of incorporeal assets, which may have a nancial value and are incident on their creator’s personality. This branch of law regulates the creators’ protection and the rights recognized to them with respect to their work.