Everyone comes into contact with copyright law every day without realizing it. Listening to the radio also touches on the author's right to public broadcasting. Copyright is based on the work and thus refers not only to Picasso's artwork, but also to a wide range of text, image and sound expressions. This extends to the protection of software or the link collection as a database. The possible forms of expression of copyrighted works are thus very diverse.
At the same time, copyright arises without registration or entry – not even a copyright notice is necessary. The famous © has no meaning in Germany. Of course, this is where the danger lies in overlooking a copyright.
Copyrights are not only an important part of the work for publishers, film producers or record companies. Product photography in your own catalog of goods is subject to copyright protection, so you always have to be careful to get exactly the rights you need from the photographer, and on the other hand, you can also use copyright law to show potential imitators the limits.
Basis of copyright
Copyright law is a branch of law that regulates the protection of intellectual property. It protects the creative achievements of individuals that are published in the form of works of literature, art, music, film, photography, etc.
Copyright law gives the creator of a work the exclusive right to use and distribute the work. This means that only the creator or persons authorized by the creator may use the work. This includes, for example, the right to copy, distribute or publish the work.
Copyright also protects the rights of use of a work, i.e. the author has the right to grant or refuse permission to use his work, whether or not this is done in return for payment.
Contracts for rights of use
If it is a third party who intends to exploit the protected intellectual property, and not the creator him or herself, then the creator should have a contract governing the rights of use.
It is generally advisable to conclude a contract for the use of rights if you wish to acquire the right to use a work. A contract for the use of rights governs the conditions for the use of a work and may, for example, contain the following points:
- The way in which the work may be used (e.g. publication, reproduction, distribution)
- The duration of use (e.g. for a definite period or an indefinite period)
- The fees to be paid for the use of the work
- The rights and obligations of the user and the author
- A license agreement is usually binding and may be enforceable.
This topic is often overlooked in the case of commissioned productions. For example, if you hire a photographer, the client does not automatically have the right to do anything with the pictures. Without an explicit agreement, rights are only transferred to the extent necessary for the purpose of the contract. Otherwise, the rights remain with the photographer. If you commission something, e.g. the creation of a work by a service provider, you should therefore always keep an eye on the rights of use to prevent the service provider from retaining the right to use the work created by him in whole or in part.
Furthermore, private individuals are often the target
We not only deal with copyright issues in the area of commercially used photographs, IT contracts and in advising media companies. In recent years, the area of copyright infringement prosecution by oer against private individuals has also steadily gained ground.
Starting with the campaigns of the music industry, at that time often represented by Rasch Rechtsanwälte from Hamburg, and later increasingly followed by film rights holders, subscribers of broadband Internet connections saw and see themselves exposed to warnings with substantial claims for damages. In this area, parents are surprisingly often held liable for their children and are then the ones who have to deal with the warning letters.
The fight of the rights holders against the file-sharing networks is still exciting today, even from a legal and technical point of view, and is subject to constant new trends from the courts, which we will of course continue to monitor.