Copyrights protect creative performances. Copyrights can be vested on many types of objects, such as drawings, text, representations, photos, software, house style, music, film, art and the shape of products. Copyright protection also applies on the internet.
Copyright. What is it?
Copyright is the creator’s right to a work that has a unique, original character and bears the personal stamp of the creator. In other words, it must involve working with one’s own intellectual creation. Ideas can be protected if these have been elaborated concretely.
Copyrights can be held by natural persons, undertakings, businesses and institutions. Creators of works can also hold personality rights, such as the right to attribution and a right to oppose modification or degradation of a work.
Licences can be granted or obtained for copyrights, and copyrights may be transferred. Money can be earned by exploiting copyrights in this way, via royalties.
Copyright. How do you acquire it?
You do not need to register copyrights. Copyrights immediately arise when a work is created. Documenting the date of the work and using a copyright notice can help prove when the work was created. Copyright provides protection that lasts for 70 years in principle.
Copyright. What protection does it provide?
If a third party reproduces, edits or publishes the work without the copyright holder’s permission, the right holder can take action against this. This also applies if the personality rights of the author have been infringed. The evidence of derivation usually follows from the taking over of copyright-protected elements of the work. The judge ultimately decides during legal proceedings whether the copyrights have been infringed.
Would you like to know more about copyright?
The lawyers at Dirkzwager regularly advise and litigate in cases concerning copyright, makership and personality rights. We also provide legal assistance during proceedings on copyright infringements. We are also specialised in the transfer of copyrights and the drafting of licence agreements.
Contact our law firm if you have questions about copyright or need immediate advice or legal assistance.
By Joost Becker