Copyright in General

Copyright and rights related to copyright are regulated by the Copyright Act. Copyright means rights held by the author of a work. There is no need to apply for copyright, as it arises automatically upon creation of the work, provided the work is sufficiently original and independent.

The core area of copyright protection is the protection granted to the creator of artistic works. The copyright holder is entitled to control publication, altering, copying and general use of the work for various purposes. Works protected by copyright are created by, among others, authors, painters, photographers, screenwriters, choreographers, composers, lyricists and translators. Today, a commercially significant class of works protected by copyright covers software and databases , for which the effectiveness of copyright protections is, however, more limited in comparison to protection of the more traditional types of works, due to the nature and characteristics of software and databases, [Content and Restrictions of Copyright].

Related rights, on the other hand, protect material that is not protected by copyright as such. Related rights arise in the work of performing artists, producers of sound recordings and producers of visual arts, among others.