This question was answered by an express principle decision in 2006. The decision was taken on a dispute between a newspaper and a governorship, and in order to resolve a conflict between expert reports.
Principle Decision No. 176
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Decision number | 176 |
| Date of decision | 11/08/2006 |
| Official Gazette | 17/08/2006 - No. 26262 |
| Basis | Law No. 195 Art. 38 |
| Entry into force | Effective from 1 January 2007 |
| Subject | A dispute between a newspaper published in the Bozüyük district and the Bilecik Governorship |
The Board formed a commission of seven experts on the subject and had a report prepared.
The Technical Assessment
According to the report, on the technical side:
- Desktop publishing is not "printing" or printing house work.
- These machines may be used as preparers of pre-press work.
- They may be used in reproducing and distributing internal opinions, views or reports of institutions, schools, private courses, official bodies and workplaces, and in handbills and small-scale reproduction work.
- For a workplace to count as a printing house it must have a printing house press.
The Legal Assessment
According to the report, on the legal side: the expression "printed work" in Art. 2 of the Press Law is to be understood as printing carried out with "printing implements". A printing implement is a printing house machine for reproducing writing, pictures and shapes by printing them, particularly on paper.
The decision also reproduces the definition of a periodical in Art. 5 of General Assembly Decision No. 67: printed matter of any kind printed on proofing presses or duplicating machines, or reproduced on photocopiers and computer printers, cannot be treated as a newspaper or magazine, whatever it is called.
The Text of the Decision
The operative part of the principle decision reads: products, publications and similar works printed or reproduced on machines that are not printing house presses and that are, in the general usage of the places where they are used, described as desktop digital printing machines - easily portable machines under various brands and names containing similar techniques - will not be accepted within the definition of a "periodical" able to have official announcements published, under the relevant articles of Law No. 195 and the Regulation and General Assembly Decisions made under it.
What the Decision Does Accept
Why the Declaration and Qualified Staff Measure?
The decision draws a further distinction. For a desktop digital printing machine acquired for some service at a workplace with no printing activity (a school, a course, a company and so on):
- There is no obligation for the workplace to file a declaration under Printing Houses Law No. 5681.
- No qualified staff employment arises for using this kind of machine.
By contrast, at a genuine printing house the printing work performed on the machines is carried out by qualified people with the knowledge and skill to operate them. The decision bases the distinction on those two measures.
The Practical Consequence
We cover the printing house condition as a whole in the printing house guide and where the printing must be done in the place of printing guide.
Summary
- Under Principle Decision No. 176 of 11/08/2006, no type of desktop digital printing machine counts as a printing house press.
- Products printed on such machines fall outside the definition of a periodical able to have official announcements published.
- The decision has been effective since 1 January 2007.