FAQ

1. How and where can I protect my copyright work?

Copyright in a work belongs to it author by the mere act of creation of the work (by virtue of Article 9 para. 2 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act) with no formality to be complied with, such as registration or deposit of the work. Any deposit of the work is legally irrelevant for the acquisition of copyright.
A copyright work may be used only with the authorization of the author (in writing). Individual use of a copyright work has to be regulated by a corresponding contract in writing between a rightholder and a user of the subject matter of protection.

2. What is the meaning of disclosure and what of publication?

Disclosure comprises any act of making a work available to the public (publication, display, broadcasting), i.e. relates to the appearance of a copyright work in public, in any form whatsoever (tangible or non-tangible).

Publication is one of the forms of disclosure. This is the process by which a work is put, in a certain number of copies into circulation and thus is made available to the public i.e. relates to the copies of copyright works in material form, making any publication a disclosure, but not vice versa.

3. What is the meaning of the public?

The public means a larger number of persons that are outside the usual circle of persons closely tied with family or other personal relations.

4. What is the meaning of public use of a copyright work?

Public use of a copyright work is considered to be any use of a copyright work that is accessible to the public, or such use in the area that is accessible to members of the public as well as, providing to members of the public access to the work at a time and from a place individually chosen by them (by the Internet).

5. Are the translations made by professional translators and court interpreters copyright works?

Article 6 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act provides for that translations, as basic alterations of a copyright work, being original individual intellectual creations, are protected as independent copyright works. The same Article provides for that translations of official texts in the domain of legislation, administration and judiciary are protected, unless made for the purpose of officially informing the public and disclosed as such.

This means that all the translations of copyright works are always protected as copyright works. However, other translations fulfil, in most cases, the pre-requisites for copyright protection (subjective originality, intellectual creation and individual character). Still, if translations of official texts made for officially informing the public are concerned and if they are disclosed as such (e.g. a translation of the treaty disclosed in «Narodne novine» - the Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia), the translations will share legal destiny of the basic work and will not enjoy copyright protection).

6. Is a synopsis for a yet unfixed audiovisual work a copyright work?

A synopsis i.e. a basic content or a «pre-screenplay» for an audiovisual work yet unfixed is a written copyright work, provided it is original, i.e. subjectively original – meaning that it does not imitate any other known work. The author of the synopsis becomes a copyright holder by the mere act of creation of the synopsis even without disclosure.
In most cases a synopsis and a screenplay are the works of the same author.

7. How to protect a screenplay for an audiovisual work?

A screenplay is a written copyright work and is the subject matter of copyright protection, by the mere act of creation of the work, without having to comply with any formalities.

However, after the creation of an audiovisual work a screenplay becomes part of a co-authors work, within the meaning of Article 11 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act:
“Co-authors of a work are the persons who created the work jointly, and whose contributions cannot be used independently. Co-authors shall have a joint copyright in the created work, so a part of such copyright calculated in proportion to the whole copyright (co-authors part) shall belong to each of them”.

For some types of copyright works such contributions may be of the same sort (e.g. in computer programs), while for other works they are of different sort (e.g. for dramatico-musical or audiovisual works). According to the provisions of Article 116 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, as co-authors of an audiovisual work shall be considered: the principal director, the author of screenplay, the author of dialogue, the principal cameraman, the composer of music specifically created for use in such work, the principal drawer, and the principal animator respectively, if a drawing or animation is essential element of an audiovisual work. It is provided for that other persons may also be co-authors of an audiovisual work (and not only the authors of contributions), if they prove that their copyright works represent essential parts of the audiovisual work.

8. Are standards copyright works and are they protected by copyright?

Standards introduced by the so called private persons are written copyright works of language, if they fulfil the prescribed pre-requisites for copyright works, i.e. if they are individual, intellectual and original creations. Such standards enjoy copyright protection.

However, the standards which have to be applied by someone and which form part of a certain regulation as an official work do not enjoy copyright protection, because they share legal destiny of other official works. The standards which form part of legal regulations and the standards to which particular legal regulation refer to are official works.

 

9. Can the author, who exercises his rights in the system of collective management of rights, authorize individually the use of his work in particular cases?

The reason why particular forms of exploitation of copyright works are managed collectively lies in the fact that, in particular cases, owing to the massive use (public communication of music, public lending, reproduction for private use), necessary contact between the users and authors to ensure on the one hand the author’s authorisation for the use and on the other hand remuneration to the author for such use is impracticable. Therefore, such forms of exploitation are authorized and paid all over the world by associations of authors, which provide to the user legality of use in respect of the whole repertoire represented by the association, and to the author – control over all (or the largest number) uses of his works. In order to enhance legal security many legislations (if not it, then the court practice) in many countries all over the world are introducing the institute comprising the so-called presumed power of attorney of one society in the country for management of the rights for a particular category of rightholders. Such a society represents all the authors in its country, as well as, the authors of other countries on the basis of agreements on reciprocal representation concluded with the corresponding foreign societies.

The above mentioned comprises certain obligations of associations of authors in relation to rightholders and users: the association must represent equally all the rightholders and treat equally all the users in the manner that they provide access to a copyright work and its use to any of them under equal terms. Following the above stated and by virtue of the provisions of the Copyright and Related Rights Act it is concluded that there is always a presumption of collective management of rights, if the right concerned is the right which is provided for as the right which may be managed collectively. If a rightholder did not, in the manner provided by the Act, refuse (refrain from) collective management of rights i.e. did not: 1. expressly, 2. in writing, 3. notify the association not to manage his rights (Article 159 para. 2 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act) he can not manage his right individually from case to case.