Or “author’s right” describes the rights of the creators over their “creative works”. You can include here the rights resulting from creation of writings (books, newspaper article), music, paintings, photographs, sculptures, films, computer programs, maps, technical designs. The enumeration is not exhaustive.
On the “no” list, copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such.
The rights in “CopyRIGHT”
Can be divided in two: economic rights (to claim a financial reward for the use by third parties) and moral rights (covers the non-pecuniary interests of the author – to claim authorship, for example).
The copyright needs registration for protection?
Copyright protection is provided by law, without registration formalities – an internationally fact for all states party to the Berne Convention. Most countries have in place a system (not as effective as the ones in trademark registration matters) where the authors can “register” on their own volition (not mandatory for protection) their work (in Romania, for example, the Authority is called “ORDA”).
Having in mind that ownership or creation can be disputed, such optional registration can solve the question “who was the author?”
The © symbol
Simply emphasizes that the work is protected by copyright. There’s no legal requirement to use the symbol as a formality on copyright protection.
Our services
Exploitation of the economic rights – “license”
To “license” third parties means to authorize them to use and/or exploit your creative work. The specific conditions are to be negotiated and signed under a “licensing agreement”.
We can provide legal advice to each step needed to reach that end. You will need to have expert advice when negotiating to other experts in negotiations.
How about mobile apps?
The mobile apps are included in “types of software” – subject to copyright protection, by law, without the need for registration.
As mentioned above, the voluntary registration can also solve disputes of ownership or creation.
Act when you have any suspicion on infringement of your copyright
As soon as you learn of such infringement you should seek our expert advice for the assessment of your situation.
There are several steps to be considered before taking legal action. So time is of the essence.
If the reproduction of your work is indeed an infringement of your copyright we will need to act on collecting evidence, on finding the identity of the guilty party, etc. in order to seek extrajudicial remedy and, if the circumstances requires, to seek legal action before the Courts (to ask for monetary compensation and to prevent the continuation of the infringement).
Alternative dispute resolution can be also of use. We can help assisting in mediation procedures.
Copyright piracy as a criminal offence can also lead to prosecution. We can help filing and documenting complaints with the relevant authorities (the police/the public prosecutor).
Word of advice
Combining the copyright protection with the protection that covers trademarks and designs, for example, can substantiate your intellectual property rights in the matter of enforcement.
We can help with the “architecture of your castle of legal rights”. Seek our advice for further details.
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