The Media Council for Self-Regulation received a complaint from the editor-in-chief of RTV Cetinje, Mladen Zadrima, MSc, regarding the unauthorized download of a photo of the city stadium in Cetinje, published on the Pobjeda Portal on April 16, 2026.
In the complaint, the applicant points to, as he states, "the unprofessional behaviour of Pobjeda, which continuously uses the materials of the Cetinje list and, with certain 'refining' or 'processing', markets it as its own". As a direct example, he mentioned a photo of the city stadium in Cetinje, taken by a drone, which was published by Cetinjski list with an extensive report and which was duly signed in that publication.
The complainant states that "Pobjeda took that same photo without permission and called it a private archive", in a text published on April 16, 2026. He requested that the attention of the editorial staff, and especially the signed correspondent of that media, be drawn to the unauthorized use of Cetinjski list's property, with a warning: "This time I addressed you, next time I will be forced to file a lawsuit."
The Media Council for Self-Regulation requested a statement from Portal Pobjeda. In the reply of the editor-in-chief of Portal Pobjeda, Bojan Đurišić, it was stated that the pictures were published "after a colleague sent them, believing that there was consent." The editor pointed out that "there was no intention to belittle the work of colleagues from RTV Cetinje, nor to devalue their content by not clearly indicating the source."
Đurišić also stated that the editorial office insists on the practice of linking the original publication from the portal from which the text originates, as a form of respect for the principle of collegiality, and that in the future "they will pay special attention to respecting the author's content of Cetinje list, so that similar inconveniences do not occur."
The Media Council informed the complainant with the response of the Portal Pobjeda editorial office. The editor-in-chief of RTV Cetinje informed the Council that he was satisfied with the answer, noting: "We are satisfied, but if something similar happens again, we will file a lawsuit for copyright infringement."
The Commission reminds that guideline 11.2 (Originality) of the Code of Journalists of Montenegro prescribes: "A journalist may not use someone else's text, ideas and images without properly citing the author and source."
At the session of the Appeals Commission, after the presentation of all the facts, it was concluded that in this case mediation was successfully conducted and that this case represents an example of successful mediation. Given the above, the Appeals Commission did not consider this appeal further.
Commission for Monitoring and Complaints
Aneta Spaić
Sonja Drobac
Danilo Burzan
Branko Vojičić
Ranko Vujović
