I. Introduction
To begin with, I have to write about the less or more important translation problem. The main Polish “copyright” act is the Polish Act of 4 February 1994 on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights – ARNR – (in Polish: ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 24, item 83, consolidated text of 16 May 2006, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 90, item 631, with subsequent amendments. As you can see there is no “copyright” in the title of this act. Due to the fact that the Polish law originates from the Civil law and Roman law, it shares the concept of authors rights being intangible personal/moral and economic rights owned, in general, by the creator of a protected work (the author or co-authors – the holder). This is the concept of the so-called dualism of author’s rights, which originates from the French doctrine of author’s rights that was first introduced and developed by M. Henri Desbois. However, I am going to use the word “copyright” to describe all economic rights attributed to the author or the owner of a protected work (the holder). These economic rights include inter alia the right to copy a work, distribute, etc.

II. The law
– The Act of 4 February 1994 on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights – ARNR – (in Polish: ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych), published in Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 24, item 83, consolidated text of 16 May 2006, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) No. 90, item 631, with subsequent amendments.

III. The subject matter of copyright
According to the provisions of Article 1 of the ARNR The subject matter of copyright is any expression of creative activity having individual character and manifested in any material form, regardless of the value, intended purpose and manner of expression thereof (the work). The case law and the Polish legal doctrine share the view that the immaterial work, under the copyright law should demonstrate all of the following characteristics:
– it must be the result of the activity of man, i.e. the creator of the work, where a manifestation of activity means every manifested result of action,
– it must be a manifestation of creative activity,
– it must have an individual character.
See J. Barta, “Ustawa o prawie autorskim i prawach pokrewnych. Komentarz“, Dom Wydawniczy ABC, Warszawa 2001, p. 68.

To be continued…

See also “Polish case law on copyright“.

Categories: copyright law | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish law | regulations.