Copyrihgt

A work
Copyright deals with the protection of the exclusive right of the maker to publish or to reproduce his original work. A work is copyright protected work if it concerns objects with ‘an own original character’ and ‘bear the imprint of the maker’. According to the current legal standards it must concern a work that has not been derived from another work and the work must be the result of creative human labor and therewith of creative choices.

Requirement
The requirement that the work must posse 'an own original character' means, in short, that the shape should not be taken from that of another work. The requirement that the work must 'bear the personal imprint' of the author means that there must be a shape that is the result of creative human labor and of creative choices, and thus the result of the human mind. Excluded is any kind of shape that is so banal or trivial, that there is not any kind of creative work detectable.

Kinds of Works
Regarding Copyright protected works one often thinks in particular of books, plays and works of music and art. However nowadays modern communication and production resources are determining the copyright landscape, e.g. the Internet, websites, television transmissions but also everyday products such as furniture, wallpaper, clothing etc.

Existence
A special characteristic of copyright is that it exists upon creation. In other words, there is no requirement of registration or any other condition that must be met to require protection under the Copyright Act. This is also a disadvantage because is not always apparent to third parties that a work is protected. Actions against copyright infringements often focus on the question whether the alleged infringer was aware of the older work and particular attention is paid to the ‘overall impressions’ of the works and the characteristic elements of the works in question. It is often a complicated legal matter in which the legal opinions differ.

Transfer
One is often not aware that a deed of transfer is required for a transfer of copyrights. Such a deed has no special form, but must be sufficiently clear. Payment of an invoice of a third party that has produced a work for you, e.g. a website or a new corporate style, is not sufficient to become the entitled party to the copyrights.

Other Intellectual Properties