ASSIGNMENT OF COPYRIGHT

Pursuant to the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 ('LIAW'), any intellectual and artistic product that bears the character of its author and falls within the categories of scientific and literary works, musical works, works of fine arts, or cinematographic works is deemed a work. All rights in such work are referred to as 'copyright'.

As a rule, the copyright belongs to the person who created the work, and there is no mandatory registration requirement in any registry for this right to arise. However, registration and certification procedures are of material importance in terms of proving the claim of authorship.

The authority to exercise the economic rights regarding the work belongs exclusively to the author. The economic rights of the author encompass the right of exploitation, the right of adaptation, the right of reproduction, the right of distribution, the right of public performance, and the right of communication to the public by devices permitting the transmission of signs, sounds, and/or images. In accordance with Article 48 et seq. of the LIAW, the author is entitled to transfer these economic rights to others. Contracts concerning the transfer of economic rights generally appear under the title of 'Copyright Assignment Agreement'.

It is a statutory condition that contracts and dispositions regarding economic rights be made in writing, and the rights subject to the contract be specified individually. Persons wishing to acquire the authority to exercise an economic right from the author must execute a written contract explicitly covering the specific rights they intend to take over. According to a recent decision of the Court of Cassation, in the event that a general phrase such as 'the transfer of all kinds of exploitation rights' is used in a contract, followed by the individual enumeration of only some of the economic rights defined by law, the contract shall be deemed valid solely with respect to those specifically enumerated rights.

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