scholarly journals "Originality" and "Reproduction" in Copyright Law with Special Reference to Photographs

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Louis Harms
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Central Point ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Personal Use ◽  
Commercial Value ◽  
High Degree

Turning to lessons from foreign jurisdictions, this note explores from a copyright perspective the fact that photographs are produced mechanically and more often than not without any effort or mental input. A minute number are taken for anything but personal use and in the digital age photographs tend to have a high degree of mobility and are also ephemeral and without any commercial value. It is accordingly difficult to justify in general terms copyright protection for photographs. Two of the main legal issues in this context are the criteria for originality and the meaning of the reproduction of a photograph.  These two issues form the central point of discussion in this contribution.

Eliminating ‘Aesthetics’ from Copyright Law: The Aftermath of Cofemel

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koray Güven
Keyword(s):  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Applied Art ◽  
Copyright Laws ◽  
The One ◽  
Works Of Applied Art ◽  
Functionality Doctrine ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The recent Cofemel judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union extended the European Union’s (EU) originality criterion (i.e. the author’s own intellectual creation) to the realm of works of applied art. The Court excluded ‘aesthetically significant visual effect’ as a condition of copyright protection. It was condemned as subjective and incompatible with the EU originality criterion. The decision may signal a shift in several national copyright laws, under which requirements relating to ‘aesthetics’ are laid down as a condition to acquire protection. This article will demonstrate that the ‘aesthetics criterion’, as it emerged historically and has been employed in national copyright laws, is associated with a different meaning than it conveys at first glance. The aesthetics criterion designates the elbow room remaining to the author after functional constraints have been taken into account, and thus represents a form of the functionality doctrine in the domain of copyright law. However, to some extent it also excludes – though not uniformly – commonplace designs from the scope of copyright protection. Against this background, this article suggests that the aesthetics criterion can arguably be reconciled with the EU originality criterion. The aesthetics criterion represents a balance struck between the need for copyright protection in the field of applied arts, on the one hand, and competition, on the other. In order not to upset this careful balance, a robust application of the EU originality criterion is advocated, precluding protection not only to functionality, but also to commonplace creations.

時尚設計著作權可分離性論戰──以美國Star Athletica案為核心

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 215-281
Author(s):  
許炳華 許炳華
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Apparel Industry ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Single Test ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Difficult Area

美國著作權法之概念上分離自1954年起即引發時尚業及司法實務之混亂，在著作權法之範疇，將美感與實用放在一起總是引發違和之感覺，實用性物品之可著作性為今日著作權法最艱難的爭議之一，「可分離性」原則即被用以處理上開疑難，然而該等原則描述容易，適用卻是困難，而多種現存之概念上分離的標準，使得著作權對於實用性物品之保護成為著作權法中最困難之領域，單一之標準容或降低司法實務間之緊張關係，而得以提供穩定之先例及可預測之結果。美國聯邦最高法院在最近之Star Athletica, L. L. C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc.案即被認為有釐清上開難題之機會，Star Athletica案提出可分離性之新途徑，著作權法並未定義可分離性，Star Athletica案可謂司法意欲填補該等模糊空間最新之嘗試，然而仍被批評所提出之標準缺乏明確性及清晰之指引，多數意見僅僅對法條加以釋義，且對於功能性之理論視若無睹。不過，Star Athletica案亦被認為對於時尚及配件產業，可謂恩賜，如果寬鬆地適用Star Athletica案最高法院所提出之新標準，有可能具備藝術特徵之實用性物品獲得著作權保護之機會將大增。 Conceptual separability in U. S. copyright law has been causing confusion in the fashion industry amongst American since 1954. In copyright law, the marriage of beauty and utility often proves fraught. One of the most difficult issues arising under the Copyright Act today is the copyrightability of useful articles. Seperability doctrine is used to deal with the issues. The doctrine has been easy to state but difficult to apply. The numerous existing tests for conceptual separability have made copyright protection of useful articles an exceedingly difficult area of copyright law. A single test for conceptual separability would alleviate conflict and tension with the judicial system, which would provide firm precedent and predictable outcomes. In Star Athletica, L. L. C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc., the U. S. Supreme Court had an opportunity to clarify the issues. In Star Athletica case, the Supreme Court recently unveiled a new approach to separability. The Copyright Act does not define separability, and Star Athletica is the latest judicial effort to try to fill that void. But the reasoning of Star Athletica still lacks clarity. The majority did little more than paraphrase the statue, and downplayed the functionality concern. Even so, Star Athletica decision is predictrd to be a boon to the fashion and apparel industry.

Turkey's Public Diplomacy and Digital Communication Tools

2019 ◽  
pp. 205-225
Author(s):  
Oğuz Göksu
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
Digital Communication ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
International Community ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Public ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects

In this chapter, the functional and pragmatic aspects of public diplomacy in Turkey are emphasized. The chapter tries to determine which values of Turkey are highlighted in the public diplomacy perspective. In general terms, it has been argued that the digital communication is an ideological understanding of public diplomacy practices or that the understanding that national interests are held in the forefront is heavy. In this study, two questions were asked in order to establish Turkey's public diplomacy perspective. The first question is What are the messages of Turkey to international community and foreign people in the digital age? The second question is How does Turkey communicate its message to the international community and foreign people in digital age and what tools do they use in this process? The answers to these questions were sought in general. The identified research questions were searched by digital applications, institutions' use of new media, and speech of person of government.

Computer-generated Works under the CDPA 1988

2021 ◽  
pp. 177-195
Author(s):  
Jyh-An Lee
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Copyright Protection ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
Human Creativity ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right ◽  
Joint Authorship

Copyright protection in some commonwealth jurisdictions extends to computer-generated works. Although many scholars deem the right over computer-generated works to be a neighbouring right, it is still not clear under what circumstances a work is a computer-generated work. With the increasing application of artificial intelligence (AI), the copyright controversies associated with computer-generated works have become even more complicated. This chapter focuses on policy and legal issues surrounding the output of AI and copyright protection of computer-generated work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988 in the UK. The CDPA approach to computer-generated work deviates from the mainstream international copyright practices, where human creativity is essential for authorship and copyright protection. From a policy perspective, it is important to explore whether this deviation can be justified. This chapter also investigates authorship issues concerning computer-generated works based on case law and its application, in particular who the person making the necessary arrangements is, and what the necessary arrangements in the AI environment are. Other issues relevant to computer-generated work, such as copyright term and joint authorship will be analysed as well.

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