Copyright law

Copyright law serves the purpose of protecting works of literature, science and art against unauthorised duplication, distribution, publication or distortion. In addition to the classical fields of copyright protection mentioned in the definition above, the protection of databases, photographs and phonograms has gained considerable significance in the last years due to the so-called "ergänzender urheberrechtlicher Leistungsschutz" [accomplishment-related protection].

In contrast to other fields of intangible property rights where claims are supported by rights resulting from registration, the legal status always needs to be clarified first in copyright matters. Therefore, irrespective of whether the client is an author or an alleged infringer, the first step will always be to clarify whether the subject matter in question really qualifies as a work in terms of copyright law. This may prove rather difficult in practice: examples of works that we examined for applicability of copyright protection in the last few years include the concept for a TV show, an idea for a board game, a designer chair, the website for a medical practice, a company logo, an architect's plan for a house, a carpet pattern, a detailed personal ad, background graphics for a PowerPoint presentation and the interior of a shop.

This shows the recurring theme in our copyright advisory work: comprehension is the essence of successfully solving a copyright case. We therefore see it as our duty to understand the work and its uniqueness, so we can then "translate" the idea behind the work of art into the legal concept for the opposing party or the courts.

In the past two years, we have conducted more than 70 copyright cases before diverse German courts. Besides the problems mentioned above, also authors' claims for damages and licensing following unauthorised use of their works play a central role in this field.

Please contact Mrs Göpfert for all copyright-related questions (goepfert@lex.tm).