Subject of copyright
An author under the copyright law is anyone who has created a
work within the meaning of copyright law. In order for a work to be
classified as works, it must be a manifestation of creative activity of
an individual nature. The work is protected irrespective of its value,
purpose and manner of expression (Article 1 of the Copyright Act).
To be an author, no artistic education, membership in a creative
union or any document confirming being an artist are required. It
does not matter whether the creator is an adult or a child, whether
he creates consciously, wanting a piece to be created, or whether it
happened by chance. The fact of creating a piece decides about
being a creator. A work is a creation of a specific man, a
subjectively new and original result of his activity, having any form
that allows his perception by people other than the creator himself.
The work is to be the result of an independent creative activity, to
be distinguished from other previous results of the creators'
activities, to be unique. The copyright law in Article 8 provides for
the presumption that the author is deemed to be the person whose
name has been shown on copies of the work or whose authorship
has been made public in any other way in connection with the
dissemination of the work.
Subject of copyright
Pursuant to the Act, the subject of copyright is any manifestation of
creative activity of an individual nature, established in any form,
regardless of its value, purpose and manner of expression (work).
Copyright law works automatically - copyright protection begins as
soon as the work is established, without its creator having to fulfill
any formalities. The piece does not have to be finished. In
particular, the subject of copyright are works:
expressed in words, mathematical symbols, graphic signs (literary,
journalistic, scientific, cartographic and computer programs),
plastic,
photographic,
violin makers,
industrial design,
architectural, architectural and urban planning and urban planning,
musical and verbal-musical,
stage, stage and music, choreography and pantomime,
audiovisual (including visual and auditory).
The copyright holders do not apply:
ideas and ideas, unless expressed in original form;
official documents, materials, signs and symbols;
normative acts or their official drafts;
published patent or protection descriptions;
simple press releases;
research ideas and topics, and scientific theories and facts;
art, spatial or musical forms known for a long time;
elements of works devoid of a creative nature, e.g. typical tables,
drawings, lists devoid of the original concept, e.g. alphabetical;
works permanently exhibited on generally accessible roads, streets,
squares or gardens, but not for the same use;
works
displayed
in
publicly
available collections, such as
museums, galleries, exhibition halls, but only in catalogs and
publications published for the promotion of these works, as well as
in reports on current events in the press and television, but within
the limits justified by the purpose of the information;
trademarks used for informational purposes.
Duration of copyright:
Copyright is limited in time and lasts:
throughout the artist's life and 70 years after his death;
if the creator is unknown - 70 years from the date of the first
distribution of the work.
If, under the Act, the copyright is vested in a person other than the
authors:
70 years are counted from the date of dissemination of the work;
when the work has not been disseminated - 70 years from the date
the work was established.
The duration of related rights is different:
50 years with regard to broadcasting of RTV programs (counting
from the year of first broadcasting);
50 years for the preparation and use of phonograms and
videograms (from the year of production).
The right to quote - a legally permissible possibility to quote
excerpts of disseminated works or minor works in the work created
by you without the consent of their creator and without paying
remuneration to him. The right to quote applies to works protected
by proprietary copyrights and restricts them to any use. Works not
covered by proprietary rights may be used freely, provided that the
author is identified.
Fair use - in intellectual property law, restriction of the monopoly of
the owner of copyright or patent rights consisting in allowing the
use of an already disseminated work without the need to obtain his
consent under strictly defined conditions and in strictly defined
situations.