NOTICE TO USERS - Alignment of the ISS system with international and European standardization rules

The Institute for Standardization of Serbia is undertaking further alignment of its general acts, terms of use and electronic services with the evolving rules on licensing and the protection of standards content in international and European standardization.

The immediate reason for this alignment is ISO Council Resolution 9/2026, which establishes the basic principles to be applied by ISO members in their licensing terms and distribution systems. The Resolution does not prescribe a single contractual model or detailed rules to be directly applied to users. Rather, it establishes a common framework: the content of ISO publications is to be used on the basis of a licence; the scope and limitations of use are to be clearly defined; appropriate copyright protection is to be ensured; and a contractual basis is to be established for verifying compliance with the licence terms. National standards bodies implement these principles in accordance with their respective legal systems, markets and existing distribution models.

The alignment also builds on the existing ISO framework concerning copyright and distribution, including ISO POCOSA, as well as the relevant rules of European standardization. CEN-CENELEC Guide 10:2024 regulates the distribution, sale, copyright and licensing of CEN and CENELEC content, including structured data and modern digital methods of using standards.

For the Institute’s users, it is particularly important to note that the licensing principle is not new. The Institute has been applying this principle since the adoption of the Rulebook on Intellectual Property in 2017, which already regulated individual, group and network use of electronic publications, copyright protection, technological protection measures, and the conditions under which content may be reproduced or otherwise used. The existing system is now being further refined from a legal and terminological perspective and adapted to the modern digital environment.

The need for this alignment arises in particular from the digital transformation of standardization. A standard is no longer merely a printed document or a PDF file. The development of machine-readable and structured content, SMART standards, software applications, databases, automated systems, and solutions based on artificial intelligence and machine learning is opening up new ways of using content for which traditional distribution models were not designed. Consequently, ISO and other standards organizations continue to develop licensing models for new digital products and methods of using standards content.

In this context, the Institute’s Governing Board adopted amendments and supplements to the Rulebook on Intellectual Property and the Decision on the Fees for Standards, Related Documents and Other Publications, as well as the Fees for Services Provided by the Institute for Standardization of Serbia in the Performance of Standardization Activities.

The amendments provide more precise definitions of the concepts of licence, licensee and end-user licence agreement, as well as individual, group and network use of electronic publications and the additional rights required for certain forms of digital integration and use of content.

For the majority of users, these amendments do not change the existing method of purchasing and customary use of standards, nor do they change the existing prices of standards. At the same time, the Institute is expanding access options by introducing the possibility of one-day online access to a single standard, alongside the existing models of time-limited access.

In the coming period, the Institute will carry out technical and terminological alignment of its online store, web portal and other electronic services with the amended acts. As before, users will have access to information about the publication and its terms of use before making a purchase, with a clearer presentation of the type of licence and the rights it covers.

Consequently, during the transition period, some services may temporarily display inconsistent terminology in certain places. We kindly ask users for their understanding and a little patience while all parts of the system are being aligned.

For any questions concerning the use of standards, types of licences, access conditions or the need for additional usage rights, users may contact the Institute. For example, if users wish to publish parts of a standard in other materials or incorporate standards content into software or automated solutions, they may contact the Institute to determine the additional rights required.

The aim of these changes is to make the existing system clearer, legally more precise and ready for new digital ways of using standards, while maintaining continuity for users and preserving the established ways of working with which they are already familiar. We kindly ask for your understanding and a little patience while the alignment of all services is completed.