Reproduction rules for euro banknotes

The rules for the reproduction of euro banknotes are laid down in Decision of the European Central Bank of 19 April 2013 on the denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (recast) (ECB/2013/10) (OJ L 118, 30.4.2013), as amended by Decision (EU) 2020/2090 of the European Central Bank of 4 December 2020 amending Decision ECB/2013/10 on the denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (ECB/2020/60) (OJ L 423, 15.12.2020) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Decision ECB/2013/10’).

In accordance with Decision ECB/2013/10, the denominations and specifications of euro banknotes are specified in Article 1:

1. Euro banknotes of the first series shall include seven denominations of euro banknotes in the range of 5 euro to 500 euro. Euro banknotes of the second series shall include six denominations in the range of 5 to 200 euro. Euro banknotes shall depict the theme “Ages and styles of Europe” with the following basic specifications:

2. The seven denominations in the euro banknote series shall bear the representation of gateways and windows on the front side (recto) and bridges on the reverse side (verso). All seven denominations shall be typical of the different European artistic periods referred to above. Other elements of the designs shall include:
   1. the symbol of the European Union;
   2. the name of the currency in the Roman and Greek alphabets and, additionally, for the second series of euro banknotes, the name of the currency in the Cyrillic alphabet;
   3. the initials of the ECB in the European Union’s official language variants:
      1. for the first series of euro banknotes, the initials of the ECB shall be limited to the following five official language variants: BCE, ECB, EZB, EKT and EKP;
      2. for the second series of euro banknotes: (1) for the denominations of euro 5, euro 10, and euro 20, the initials of the ECB shall be limited to the following nine official language variants: BCE, ECB, ЕЦБ, EZB, EKP, EKT, EKB, BĊE and EBC; (2) for the denominations of euro 50, euro 100, and euro 200, the initials of the ECB shall be limited to the following ten official language variants: BCE, ECB, ЕЦБ, EZB, EKP, EKT, ESB, EKB, BĊE and EBC;
   4. the © symbol which indicates that the copyright belongs to the ECB; and
   5. the signature of the President of the ECB.

Article 2(3) of Decision ECB/2013/10 defines the cases of permissible reproduction of euro banknotes without the prior approval of the European Central Bank as follows:

(a) one-sided reproductions of a euro banknote as specified in Article 1, provided that the size of the reproduction is equal to or greater than 125% of both the length and width, or equal to or less than 75% of both the length and the width of the respective euro banknote as specified in Article 1; or

(b) two-sided reproductions of a euro banknote as specified in Article 1, provided that the size of the reproduction is equal to or greater than 200% of both the length and width or equal to or less than 50% of both the length and width of the respective euro banknote as specified in Article 1; or

(c) reproductions of individual design elements of a euro banknote as specified in Article 1, provided that such a design element is not depicted on a background resembling a banknote; or

(d) one-sided reproductions depicting a part of the front side or reverse side of a euro banknote, provided that such a part is smaller than one third of the original front side or reverse side of the euro banknote as specified in Article 1; or

(e) reproductions made of a material clearly different from paper, which looks and feels distinctly different from the material used for banknotes; or

(f) intangible reproductions made available electronically on websites, by wire or wireless means or by any other means that allow members of the public to access these intangible reproductions from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, provided that:

• the word SPECIMEN (sample) (or its equivalent in another official language of the European Union) is incorporated diagonally across the reproduction in Arial font or a font similar to Arial font,
• the resolution of the electronic reproduction in its 100% size does not exceed 72 dots per inch (dpi),
• the length of the word SPECIMEN (or its equivalent in another official language of the European Union) is at least 75% of the length of the reproduction,
• the height of the word SPECIMEN (or its equivalent in another official language of the European Union) is at least 15% of the width of the reproduction, and
• the word SPECIMEN (or its equivalent in another official language of the European Union) is displayed in a non-transparent (opaque) colour contrasting with the dominant colour of the respective euro banknote as specified in Article 1.

Photos of euro banknotes may be requested from the European Central Bank

RULES FOR THE USE OF THE DESIGN OF EURO COINS

The euro coins have a common side and a national side. The common side is the same for all euro area countries and the national side varies depending on the issuing country.

The Croatian National Bank, as the holder of the exclusive right of the use of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coin (hereinafter referred to as ‘the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coin’), has all rights to the protection against infringement in accordance with the Act on the Introduction of the Euro as the Official Currency in the Republic of Croatia (OG 57/2022 and 88/2022; hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) and the act governing copyright and related rights.

The rules for the use of all or part of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coins are laid down in the Act.

Any use of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coin requires the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank, which is issued in an administrative procedure. The cases of permissible use of all or part of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coins without the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank are defined in Article 35, paragraph (3) of the Act.

The rules for the use of the design of the common side of the euro coins are laid down in the Communication from the Commission on copyright protection of the common face design of the euro coins (2011/C 41/03) (OJ C 41, 10.2.2011) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Communication’). The holder of the copyright on the design of the common face of the euro coin for the territory of the Republic of Croatia is the Croatian National Bank. The cases of permissible use of all or part of the design of the common face design of the euro coins is defined in point 2 of the Communication.

Consequently, the use of all or part of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coins as well as of all or part of the design of the common side of the euro coins without the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank is only permitted in the following cases:

• on photographs, drawings, pictures, films and other reproductions in two-dimensional form and in flat form (without relief) provided they are in faithful likeness of the design of the common side/the Croatian national side of the euro coins and are used in ways that do not deform, mutilate or otherwise undermine the design of the common side/the Croatian national side of the euro coins,
• on reproductions with relief on objects other than coins, medals and tokens or any similar object which might be confused with the euro coin,
• on tokens made in soft materials or made in plastic, provided the size is at least 50% greater or smaller than the actual size of the corresponding euro coin.

RULES FOR THE USE OF THE DESIGN OF KUNA CASH

The Croatian National Bank, as the holder of the exclusive right of the use of designs used on kuna cash (hereinafter referred to as the ‘design used on kuna cash’), has all rights to the protection against infringement in accordance with the Act and the act governing copyright and related rights.

The rules for the use of the design used on kuna cash are laid down in Article 36 of the Act.

Any use of the design used on kuna cash requires the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank, which is issued in an administrative procedure.

Article 36, paragraphs (3) and (4) of the Act defines the cases of permissible use of all or part of the design used on the kuna coin and on the kuna banknote (hereinafter referred to as ‘kuna cash’) without the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank as follows:

a) the use of all or part of the design used on the kuna banknote without the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank is only permitted in the following cases:

1. on one-sided reproductions, provided they are equal to or larger than 125%, or equal to or smaller than 75% of the actual length and width of the kuna banknote,

2. on double-sided reproductions, provided they are equal to or larger than 200%, or equal to or smaller than 50% of the actual length and width of the kuna banknote,

3. on certain reproductions of parts of the design used on the kuna banknote, provided they are not on a background similar to the real kuna banknote,

4. on single-sided reproductions showing a part of the design of the front or back of the kuna banknote, provided that such part is less than one third of the front or back of the real kuna banknote,

5. on reproductions made of a material which is clearly different from paper and which looks and feels particularly different from the material used for real kuna banknotes,

6. on intangible reproductions made available to the public in electronic form on websites, by wireless or wired means of communication, in a way making the intangible reproductions accessible to the public at any individually selected location and at any individually selected time, provided that the following conditions are met:

a) the word SPECIMEN or SAMPLE is printed transversely on the obverse side and the reverse side over the sample of the design used on the kuna banknote in a clearly legible font,

b) the resolution of the electronically reproduced design used on the kuna banknote in its 100% size does not exceed 72 dots per inch (dpi),

c) the length of the word SPECIMEN or SAMPLE covers at least 75% of the length of the reproduced design used on the kuna banknote,

d) the length of the word SPECIMEN or SAMPLE covers at least 15% of the width of the reproduced design used on the kuna banknote, and

e) the word SPECIMEN or SAMPLE is shown in a non-transparent (opaque) colour that contrasts with the predominant colour of the real kuna banknote;

b) the use of all or part of the design used on the kuna coin without the prior approval of the Croatian National Bank is only permitted in the following cases:

1. on photographs, drawings, pictures, films and other reproductions in two-dimensional form and in flat form (without relief) provided they are in faithful likeness of the design that is used on the kuna coin and are used in ways that do not deform, mutilate or otherwise undermine the design used on the kuna coin,

2. on reproductions with relief on objects other than coins, medals and tokens or any similar object which might be confused with the kuna coin,

3. on tokens made in soft materials or made in plastic, provided the size is at least 50% greater or smaller than the actual size of the corresponding kuna coin.

APPLICATION FORMS FOR THE PRIOR APPROVAL ISSUED IN AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE

The application form for the prior approval of the use of the design of the national side of euro coins

The application form for the prior approval of the use of the design of kuna cash

The application can be submitted electronically to the e-mail address hrncc@hnb.hr or sent by post, presented personally in writing or as a verbal statement for the record to the following address:

Hrvatska narodna banka
Direkcija nacionalnih centara za borbu protiv krivotvorenja, analizu novčanica i analizu kovanog novca
Trg hrvatskih velikana 3
p. p. 859
10000 Zagreb

Link to the photos of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coins by author Mr. Božidar Bengez.

For downloading and use of the photos of the design of the Croatian national side of the euro coins by author Mr. Božidar Bengez, please contact hrncc@hnb.hr.

The protection of copyright on photographs is governed by the Copyright and Related Rights Act (OG 111/2021).