In
copyright law
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
, related rights (or neighbouring rights) are the rights of a
creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, and composition.
Legal definitions
Creative works require a cre ...
not connected with the work's actual author. It is used in opposition to the term "
authors' rights
"Author's rights" is a term frequently used in connection with Intellectual property, laws about intellectual property.
The term is considered as a direct translation of the French language, French term ''droit d’auteur'' (also German language, ...
". ''Neighbouring rights'' is a more literal translation of the original
French ''droits voisins''. Both authors' rights and related rights are
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
s in the sense of English or U.S. law.
Related rights vary much more widely in scope between different countries than authors' rights. The rights of performers, phonogram producers and broadcasting organisations are certainly covered, and are internationally protected by the
signed in 1961.
Within the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, the rights of film producers (as opposed to directors) and database creators are also protected by related rights, and the term is sometimes extended to include the ''
sui generis
''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique".
A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include:
* Biology, for species that do not fit in ...
''
rights in semiconductor topologies and other
industrial design rights
An industrial design right is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of objects that are purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or co ...
. A practical definition is that related rights are copyright-type rights that are not covered by the
Berne Convention
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...
.
International protection of related rights
Apart from the Rome convention, a number of other treaties address the protection of related rights:
* Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms (Geneva Phonograms Convention, 1971)
* Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme–Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite (Brussels Convention, 1974)
*
(IPIC Treaty, 1989)
*
(TRIPS, 1994)
*
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (or WPPT) is an international treaty signed by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization and was adopted in Geneva on 20 December 1996. It came into effect on 20 May 2002. As of ...
(WPPT, 1996)
Apart from the TRIPS Agreement, these treaties cannot truly be described as global: the
Rome Convention had 83 signatories as of 2006, compared with 162 for the Berne Convention.
Relation to authors' rights
Related rights are independent of any authors' rights, as is made clear in the various treaties (Art. 1 Rome; Art. 7.1 Geneva; Art. 1.2 WPPT). Hence a CD recording of a song is concurrently protected by four copyright-type rights:
* Authors' rights of the composer of the music
* Authors' rights of the lyricist
* Performers' rights of the singer and musicians
* Producers' rights of the person or corporation that made the recording
Performers
The protection of performers is perhaps the strongest and most unified of the related rights. A performer (musician, actor, etc.) has an intellectual input in their performance over and above that of the author of the work. As such, many countries grant
moral rights
Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions.
The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work pu ...
to performers as well as the economic rights covered by the
Rome Convention (Arts. 7–9), and the rights of paternity and integrity are required by the WPPT (Art. 5).
Performers' rights should not be confused with
performing rights
Performing rights are the right to perform music in public. It is part of copyright law and demands payment to the music's composer/lyricist and publisher (with the royalties generally split 50/50 between the two). Performances are considered "p ...
, which are the
royalties
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
due to the
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
for a piece of music under copyright in return for the licence (permission) to perform the piece in public. In other words, performers must pay performing rights to composers. Under the Rome Convention (Art. 7), performers have the right to prevent:
* the broadcast or communication to the public of their performance, unless this is made from a legally published recording of the performance;
* the fixation (recording) of their performance;
* the reproduction of a recording of their performance.
The WPPT extends these rights to include the right to license:
* the distribution of recordings of their performance, for sale or other transfer of ownership (Art. 8);
* the rental of recordings of their performances, unless there is a compulsory licence scheme in operation (Art. 9);
* the "making available to the public" of their performances (Art. 10), in effect their publication on the internet.
Article 14 of the Rome Convention set a minimum term for the protection of performers' rights of twenty years from the end of the year in which the performance was made: the TRIPS Agreement (Art. 14.5) has extended this to fifty years. In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, performers' rights last for fifty years from the end of the year of the performance, unless a recording of the performance was published in which case they last for fifty years from the end of the year of publication (Art. 3(100
}
In the United States, there is no federal statutory right in unfixed works such as performances, and no federal exclusive right to record a performance; some states, notably California, have performer rights laws, but as of 1988 these remain untested.
Performers rights in the United States of America
The US Copyright Statute does not explicitly recognize a copyright that is vested in the performer for their work. Therefore as a matter of statutory law, a performer, being either an actor, dancer, sportsperson or musician cannot claim a separate copyright.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in
Garcia v. Google however found that the absence of a statutory provision conferring an independent copyright on the performance did not imply that performances were not entitled to a protection. The Court observed that if the originality threshold, as was enunciated by the SCOTUS in
Feist was met, then such original performances be in musical, dramatic or other performances were entitled to copyright, if they were themselves not unauthorized or otherwise infringing. It is important to note that Court did not consider the fact that the ''performance'' of a work was itself a covered right under copyright to be repugnant with the conclusion that performers could enjoy copyright protection.
Despite the recognition of copyrights in performances, the US, for various stated reasons, is still not Party to the Rome Convention. Unlike many other Trade Agreements, the Rome Convention allows for ''reciprocity'' and the failure of the US to ratify the Rome Convention has disentitled various American performers to copyright protection in other jurisdictions. The US does not explicitly recognize the ''related rights'' as a distinct category of copyright protection. As a consequence a host of remedies that would be available under the Copyright Statutes in different jurisdictions are sought through other common law remedies.
Fixation of Live Performances
Remedies for unauthorized fixation of performances are sought under the common law ''right of publicity''. The SCOTUS in
Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co ruled that the Ohio State Legislation gave an individual the right to possess autonomy over the dissemination of their performance. Accordingly the Court held that the unauthorized recording and live telecasting of an individual's "human cannonball" performance was in violation of the right of publicity. It is important to note that this did not imply an unambiguous Performer's Right as the Court found that the unauthorized performance of the Plaintiff's ''entire'' work, in the absence of fair remuneration, was the only situation in which the Performer's "right to publicity" was violated. It therefore remains to be seen whether the fixation of a portion of the performance would violate such a right.
While the source of the right was founded in the law of unfair trade practices, Courts in the United States have found that the doctrine of
Fair Use
Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...
nevertheless applied to the fixation of live performances. Accordingly in Italian Book Company v. ABC it was observed that small portions of live performances that were captured to communicate the ''mood and feel'' of an event were protected as it was fair use of the live performances.
Unauthorized reproduction of fixed performances
It must firstly be noted that in the United States, the
work for hire doctrine disentitles performers who act under a contract of employment from possessing an entitlement to work in which their performance is fixed. Consequently, such performers may not assert a copyright over their performance that is distinct from the copyright in the work that their performance was fixed in. The decision of the Court of Appeal for the 2nd Circuit in Baltimore Orioles, Inc held that the performance of baseball players were not protected as being a distinct copyright and rather, that they were works for hire.
Nevertheless, certain State Governments have enacted statutes that explicitly recognize the right against sales and reproductions of fixed performances that were unauthorized. For example the New York Civil Code was relied upon in Giesking to preserve the rights of a musician against unauthorized reproduction.
Finally, as regard sound recordings, owing to Section 114 owners of copyrights in sound recordings do not have a right to prohibit the performance of their works (except in so far as demanding nominal remuneration for the same). Therefore the performances that are contained in the recording are not protected either. This position has however received staunch criticism.
Unauthorized imitations of live performances
Another issue that merits mention in this context is the unauthorized featuring of popular persons, actors or the characters they have portrayed and voices of popular singers. While no remedy has been found within the statutory copyright regime, remedies have been granted under a common law right. For instance, in Milder v Ford the 9th Circuit observed that she had a "common law property right to her own voice".
Unauthorized recording or transmission of live musical performances
Of further note is the anti-bootlegging provision that was incorporated into the US Copyright Statute by way of amendment in order to ensure consistency with the
TRIPS Agreement
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by nat ...
. This provision, while not recognizing the existence of a copyright, nevertheless proscribes the unauthorized recording or transmission of performances of live musical works in sound recordings or videos, or transmitting such copies.
US regime provides for various kinds of protection of the rights of performers, it however is a complicated regime that is highly dependent on State laws and is far from being harmonized and consolidated like other regimes in Continental Europe.
Performers rights in India
Performer's right has been defined in India as "where a performer appears or engages in any performance, he shall have a right known as the 'performer’s right' in relation to such performance". The term performance has been used to refer to “any visual or acoustic presentation made live by one or more performers”. In relation to the performance, a 'performer' has been sought to include "an actor, singer, musician, dancer, acrobat, juggler, conjurer, snake charmer, a person delivering a lecture or any other person who makes a performance".
Provisions regarding the violation of the Performer's rights as per the 2012 amendment are prescriptive in nature. It lays down the exclusive rights of the performer in relation to the performance. However, once the performer consents to the incorporation of his performance in a cinematograph film he will have no right regarding the incorporated performance. Section 2(q) of the Act which defines a performance states that, in relation to performer's right, a performance must be made 'live'. However, a live performance has not been separately defined.
Judicial approach towards performer’s rights- Cinematograph and entertainment industry
= Indian Performing Rights Society v Eastern India Motion Pictures Association
=
IPRS v EIMPA dealt with whether the work incorporated in the sound track of a cinematograph film vests in the composer of that musical work or whether it became the property of the cinematograph film producers with no copyright subsisting in them, if the composers were engaged under a contract of service. It was held that with respect to the musical work incorporated in the sound track of the film, the copyright in a cinematograph film or a record does not affect the separate copyright in any work in respect of which or a substantial part of which, the film, or as the case may be, the record is made.
However, the film producer acquires, on completion of the cinematograph film, a copyright which gives him the exclusive right ''inter alia'' of performing the work in public i.e. to cause the film in so far as it consists of visual images to be seen in public and in so far as it consists of the acoustic portion including a lyric or a musical work to be heard in public without securing any further permission of the author (composer) of the lyric or a musical work for the performance of the work in public. In other words, a distinct copyright in the aforesaid circumstances comes to vest in the cinematograph film as a whole.
Furthermore, it was observed by Justice Krishna Iyer that while a composer has a copyright in the musical work, the singer has none.
= Fortune Films v Dev Anand
=
In Fortune Films v Dev Anand the Court had to decide whether an artiste's work in the film would be entitled to protection as falling within the definition of a "work" protected by copyright. It was observed by the Court that the artiste's performance does not constitute either an artistic work or a dramatic work as conceptualized under the Act. The Act does not recognize the performance of an actor as constituting a 'work' which is subject to protection under the Copyright Act.
However, the position has changed with the recognition of performer's rights via an amendment in 1994.
= Neha Bhasin v Anand Raj
=
This case addressed the question of what would constitute a ‘''live performance''’ . The Court observed that “Every performance has to be live in the first instance whether it is before an audience or in a studio. If this performance is recorded and thereafter exploited without the permission of the performer, then the performer’s right is infringed.”
= Super Cassettes Industries v Bathla Cassette Industries
=
In this case the issue was whether by performing/singing a song which has already been written down and performed, gives the new singer any exclusive rights over the underlying song. It was held that in such a scenario, the performer himself does not have any rights over the underlying song and hence cannot restrain others from performing that song.
Exclusive rights of performers
The performer has been granted the exclusive rights of making a sound recording or a visual recording of the performance. This right of the performer extends to reproducing the performance in any material form including storing of it in any medium, issuing the copies of the performance to the public, communicating it to the public, selling or giving on commercial rental or offer for sale of any copy of the recording; communicating or broadcasting the performance to the public except where it has already been broadcast.
Acts not infringing the performer's rights
A performer’s right is not infringed by any adaptation or modification which does not constitute copyright violation under section 52. Moreover, any recording, whether in the sound or visual form, done solely for personal use or for teaching or research purposes does not violate performers right. Also, any use of the performance, whether in the form of broadcast, reporting, ''bona fide'' review, teaching or research etc, which is consistent with the fair dealing does not constitute the violation of performers right.
Moral rights of performers
In addition to the exclusive right of exploitation of the performance, the performer has also enjoys certain moral rights. The performer has "the right to be identified as the performer of his performance"; and "to restrain or claim damage in respect of any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performance that would be prejudicial to his reputation".
[S.38B(b), The Copyright Act, 1957]
Phonogram producers
The term
phonogram
Phonogram may refer to:
* A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention
* ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie
* Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phone ...
is used to refer to any sound recording: under the
Rome Convention, it must be composed exclusively of a sound recording, although some national laws protect film soundtracks with the same measures to the extent that they are not also protected by other rights. The producers of phonograms, that is the person who makes the recording rather than the person who performs, has the right to prevent the direct or indirect reproduction of the recording (Art. 10 Rome Convention, Art. 2 Geneva Phonograms Convention). The WPPT adds the rights to license:
* the distribution of their phonograms, for sale or other transfer of ownership (Art. 12);
* the rental of their phonograms, unless there is a compulsory licence scheme in operation (Art. 13);
* the "making available to the public" of their phonograms (Art. 14), in effect their publication on the internet.
Once a phonogram has been published, the producer cannot prevent its broadcast: an equitable fee for the licence may be either agreed between phonogram producers and broadcasters or imposed by law.
The Rome and Geneva Phonograms Conventions specify a ''maximum'' level of
formality
A formality is an established procedure or set of specific behaviors and utterances, conceptually similar to a ritual although typically secular and less involved. A formality may be as simple as a handshake upon making new acquaintances in Weste ...
required for protection of the phonogram (Art. 11 Rome; Art. 5 Geneva): countries are free to set a lower level, or not to require formalities at all. The maximum conditions are that each copy of the phonogram should be clearly marked with:
* the symbol (P), that is a capital P within a circle; followed by
* the year of first publication;
* the name of the owner or exclusive licensee of the producers' rights;
* for Rome Convention countries only, the name of the person who owns (the licence in) the performers' rights in the country where the recording was made.
Countries signing the WPPT shall not require any formality for the protection of producers' rights.
The Conventions (Art. 14 Rome; Art. 4 Geneva) set a minimum term of protection of producers' rights of twenty years from the end of the year in which the phonogram was first published (or from its creation for unpublished recordings): the TRIPS Agreement (Art. 14.5) extended this minimum to fifty years from the end of the year in which the recording was made. The term of protection in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
is fifty years from the end of the year in which the phonogram was first published, or from the end of the year of its creation for unpublished recordings (Art. 3(2), Directive 93/98/EEC).
For phonograms recorded in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
the situation is more complicated:
* recordings made before 1972-02-15: these are covered by state, not federal, copyright law, although all rights will end on 2067-02-15 at the latest
7 U.S.C. §301(c)
* recordings made between 1972-02-15 and 1977-12-31 and published: ninety-five years from the date of publication
7 U.S.C. §303(a)
* recordings made and published on or after 1978-01-01: ninety-five years after the date of recording if the recording was made "
for hire
''For Hire'' is an Urdu language book written by Asif Hussain Shah, a Pakistani taxi driver, and published in 2010. The book is based on the author's daily experiences and thoughts of his passengers while traveling in the city. The writer points ou ...
", seventy years after the death of the producer otherwise
7 U.S.C. §302(a), (c)
* recordings made on or after 1972-02-15 and unpublished: 120 years after the date of recording if the recording was made "
for hire
''For Hire'' is an Urdu language book written by Asif Hussain Shah, a Pakistani taxi driver, and published in 2010. The book is based on the author's daily experiences and thoughts of his passengers while traveling in the city. The writer points ou ...
", seventy years after the death of the producer otherwise
7 U.S.C. §302(a), (c)
Broadcasting organisations
Article 13 of the Rome Convention specifies that broadcasting organisations shall have the right to prohibit (or license):
* the rebroadcasting of their broadcasts;
* the fixation (recording) of their broadcasts;
* the reproduction of fixations of their broadcasts;
* the communication of their broadcasts to the public in places where an entrance fee is charged.
Article 14 of the Rome Convention sets a minimum term for the protection of broadcasters' rights of twenty years from the end of the year in which the broadcast was first made, confirmed by the TRIPS Agreement (Art. 14.5). However, the Rome Convention is limited to broadcasts intended for the public
rt. 3(f) the Brussels Convention closes this loophole by providing for protection of satellite broadcasts not intended for direct public reception. In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, broadcasters' rights last for fifty years from the end of the year the broadcast was first made (Art. 3(4), Directive 93/98/EEC).
Film producers
Directive 2006/115/EC and
Directive 2001/29/EC
The Copyright and Information Society Directive 20012001/29 is a directive in European Union law that was enacted to implement the WIPO Copyright Treaty and to harmonise aspects of copyright law across Europe, such as copyright exceptions. Th ...
provide rights to producers of the first fixation ("master copy") of a film or other audiovisual work under
European Union law
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...
. These rights, similar to the rights of phonogram producers, are especially important in Europe, where the producer is not usually the initial owner of the copyright in the film itself. Film producers have the right to prevent:
* the direct or indirect reproduction of the film (either the master copy or copies thereof) (Art. 2, Directive 2001/29/EC);
* the distribution of the film (or copies thereof) to the public for sale (Art. 9, Directive 92/100/EEC);
* the "making available to the public" of the film (Art 3, Directive 2001/29/EC).
These rights last for fifty years from the end of the year the film was first published or otherwise made available to the public, or for fifty years from the end of the year the master copy was made if the film is not released (Art. 3(3), Directive 93/98/EEC).
Database creators
Directive 96/9/EC creates a ''
sui generis
''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique".
A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include:
* Biology, for species that do not fit in ...
'' protection in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
for
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...
s that do not meet the criterion of originality for copyright protection. This is particularly important for databases that aim to be complete, as these lack the element of selection that might qualify them for protection as "compilations" under Article 2.5 of the Berne Convention (although their arrangement can still be considered creative). It is specifically intended to protect "the investment of considerable human, technical and financial resources" in creating databases (para. 7 of the preamble), whereas the copyright laws of many Member States specifically exclude effort and labour from the criteria for copyright protection. To qualify, the database must show "qualitatively and/or quantitatively a substantial investment in either the obtaining, verification or presentation of the contents"
rt. 7(1) Their creators have the right "to prevent extraction and/or re-utilization of the whole or of a substantial part, evaluated qualitatively and/or quantitatively, of the contents of that database." This is taken to include the repeated extraction of insubstantial parts of the contents if this conflicts with the normal exploitation of the database or unreasonably prejudices the legitimate interests of the creator of the database
rt. 7(5)
Database rights last for fifteen years from ''completion'' of the database (the point when the criterion of substantial investment is fulfilled), or from *the date when the database is publicly available, whichever is later. The protection period runs until 31 December of the year when it expires. If there is a "substantial change" in the database that qualifies as a "substantial new investment", a new protection period is granted (Art. 10).
Photographers
Each new technology for creative work has led to debate over what protection should be accorded to such works, as has been the case most recently for
software copyright Software copyright is the application of copyright in law to machine-readable software. While many of the legal principles and policy debates concerning software copyright have close parallels in other domains of copyright law, there are a number o ...
and
database rights
A database right is a '' sui generis'' property right, comparable to but distinct from copyright, that exists to recognise the investment that is made in compiling a database, even when this does not involve the "creative" aspect that is reflect ...
. Similar debates occurred over the copyright protection of photographs. The
Berne Convention
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...
allows a shorter period of protection than for other works (twenty-five years from creation rather than fifty years ''post mortem auctoris'', Art. 7.4), and many countries apply a different period of copyright protection to photographs than to other works. An alternative approach, adopted notably by
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, has been to offer full copyright protection to photographs that are clearly "artistic works" and protect all photographs, whatever their creative value, by a shorter ''
sui generis
''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique".
A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include:
* Biology, for species that do not fit in ...
'' related right. This focuses the debate on those photographs that still have value at the end of the ''sui generis'' protection (no-one would bother to try to protect photographs without value), which are the photographs most likely original. However it also means that photographs are subject to a higher test of originality than other works of art, with copyright being reserved only for those the courts felt to be particularly meritorious, in contravention of the spirit (if not the letter) of the Berne Convention. The ''sui generis'' protections are found at § 72, UrhG for Germany (50 years) and Arts. 87–92, Legge 22 aprile 1941 n. 633 for Italy (20 years). The different treatment of photographs and other artistic works was eliminated by
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
Directive 93/98/EEC
Directive may refer to:
* Directive (European Union), a legislative act of the European Union
* Directive (programming), a computer language construct that specifies how a compiler should process input
* "Directive" (poem), a poem by Robert Frost
...
(Art. 6), which states that the only applicable criterion for copyright protection is that the photograph be "original in the sense that they are the author's own intellectual creation", a lower criterion than used until then, but equivalent to the criterion used for other copyright works. The ''sui generis'' protection may be retained for photographs that do not meet this criterion (e.g., photographs taken automatically such as for a passport).
Designers
Design rights fall between copyright and
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
law: they are sometimes considered to be
industrial property
Industrial property is one of two subsets of intellectual property (the other being copyright), it takes a range of forms, including patents for inventions, industrial designs (aesthetic creations related to the appearance of industrial product ...
and sometimes a related right to copyright. The Berne Convention requires the protection of "applied art", but allows a shorter protection period of twenty-five years after creation. Although it requires protection to the same minimum standards as for copyright, the Convention does not require that the protection be called "copyright", a fact used by many countries to protect applied art and certain artistic designs by a related design right. In countries where applied art can be protected by normal copyright term (e.g.,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
), an extremely high level of originality and creativity is demanded.
Insofar as designs are considered to be industrial property, their international protection falls under the
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on 20 March 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties. It established a Union for the protection of industrial property. The convention is c ...
.
Semiconductor designers
A common ''sui generis'' design right protects the design or
topography
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...
of
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
materials, particularly
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
s. These are protected internationally by the
IPIC Treaty of 1989, (see
Integrated circuit layout design protection
Layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits are a field in the protection of intellectual property.
In United States intellectual property law, a "mask work" is a two or three-dimensional layout or topography of an integrated circuit ...
), and in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
by
Directive 87/54/EEC. The reproduction of a protected topography is prohibited, as is the import of infringing materials (Art. 5). Protected topographies may be identified by a capital T in a variety of forms, including T* (Art. 9). The exclusive rights of the designer last for ten years from the first commercial exploitation, or for fifteen years from the first creation for topographies that are not exploited (Art. 7).
References and notes
# Although "neighbouring rights" is the term more commonly used in translations, "related rights" is the term used in original
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
documents: e.g., the
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 or the
European Union directive
A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. Directives first have to be enacted into national law by member states before thei ...
on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property.
Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations(from
WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
)
# Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms
Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme–Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite# Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits
(from
WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
)
WIPO Performers and Phonograms Treaty(from
WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
)
# Source:
WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
.
Directive 2006/116/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights (codified version).It replaced directive 93/98/EEC.
# 17 U.S.C. Chapter 3: Duration of Copyright
Directive 2006/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property (codified version).It replaced directive 92/100/EEC.
Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information societyDirective 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databasesof 1965-09-09.
of 1941-04-22.
# This fact is used by many
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
countries to explain the lack of protection of
moral rights
Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions.
The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work pu ...
in their copyright laws: the rights are protected by other statutes or by common law
tort
A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...
s such as
defamation
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
,
passing off
Passing off is a common law tort which can be used to enforce unregistered trade mark rights. The tort of passing off protects the goodwill of a trader from misrepresentation.
The law of passing off prevents one trader from misrepresenting go ...
and
malicious falsehood Malicious falsehood or injurious falsehood is a tort. It is a lie that was uttered with malice, that is, the utterer knew it was false or would cause damage or harm.
Malicious falsehood is a false statement made maliciously that causes damage to t ...
.
# Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Council Directive 87/54/EEC of 16 December 1986 on the legal protection of topographies of semiconductor products#
;Specific
{{DEFAULTSORT:Related Rights
Copyright law
Legal terminology