This web page is summarizing the basic principles of Copyright law in the Czech Republic, where Copyright law is regulated by Act No. 121/2000 Coll., on copyright and rights related to copyright. In other countries within the EU, Copyright law may differ in some aspects. In countries outside the EU such as Great Britain or the USA, Copyright law is built upon different principles and the diversity may be even deeper.
Copyright is the complex of rights of the author to his copyrighted work. The author acquires these rights automatically at the moment he creates and publishes his author’s work.
Copyright law protects only works of authorship! The following also fall under copyright protection:
- Artistic performance
- An audio recording
- An audio-visual recording
- Radio and television broadcasts
- Databases (including a special right for the creator of the database, independent of copyright protection)
A mere principle, thought or idea is not protected by copyright, BUT their creative expression (e.g. detective story) is protected.
Exceptions to copyright protection
Certain works would qualify for protection under copyright law based upon their nature but are exempted from it for the reasons of public interest. These are, for example:
- Official works (e.g. legislation, judicial and administrative decisions, municipal chronicles, state symbols)
- Creations of traditional folk culture (if the true name of the author is not generally known)
Using of author’s works
One of the rights of authors is the ability to decide how their works are used – they can grant licences to use them. The manner of permitted use of the author’s work in that case is defined by the license agreement. The author may eventually decide to publish his work under a public license, such as Creative Commons, which is currently one of the most widely used.
When licensing a work, the author must make clear whether he has the right to dispose of the work:
- Has the author already granted an exclusive license to someone?
- Does the author have the right to dispose of the work?
- If the work has more than one author, the consent of all co-authors is required.
- Employee works: unless otherwise stated, the employer has the property rights to works created in the employment relationship.
- For works created on commission, it depends on the terms set out in the agreement. The same applies to works created within the framework of a project.
- In some cases, the property rights to the works are held by collective managers.
Related legislation: