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Archive for: copyrightable subject matter

Copyright law, case II CKN 1289/00

December 26th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Supreme Court – Civil Chamber in its judgment of 15 November 2002 case file II CKN 1289/00, published in the Supreme Court’s Bulletin of 2003, No 6, p. 7, the Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the Civil Chamber (in Polish: Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego Izba Cywilna) of 2004, No 3, item 44, p. 66, held that the development of a grid of entries, and a method how to define the composition of difficult entries (lexemes/lemmas) are the manifestation of creative activity of the authors of the Polish language dictionary within the meaning of article 1 of the Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Cinematography, case I KZ 538/95

November 20th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Polish Supreme Court in a resolution of 21 May 1996, case file I KZ 538/95, gave an interpretation of the provisions of articles 3(2) and 4(1) pt 1 of the Act on Cinematography – AOC – (in Polish: ustawa o kinematografii) of 30 June 2005, Journal of Laws (Dziennik Ustaw) of 2005, No. 132, item 1111.

Article 3
2. The cinematography covers the movie creativity, movies production, movies services, distribution and dissemination of movies, including activities of cinemas, popularization of movies culture, the promotion of Polish movies art and the collection, preservation and dissemination of movies stocks.

The Court ruled that “making a copy on any media” is deemed as “movies production” only if it represents the final stage of movie production, when it’s the act that leads to the production of a movie, but it isn’t such an act if it is simply based on “making a copy of a movie”.

Categories: copyrightable subject matter | Polish Act on Cinematography | Polish Supreme Court.

Copyright law, case FSK 2253/04

October 18th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Supreme Administrative Court in a judgment of 13 October 2005 case file FSK 2253/04, published in electronic database LEX, under the no. 173097, ruled that whether a given subject is deemed as a copyrightable work, is not determined by the will of the contracting parties, but by the findings of facts. Created computer programs cannot be considered as copyrighted works, if the activities of their creator do not have the characteristics of originality and individuality.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Categories: Art. 1 ARNR | copyright law | copyrightable subject matter | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish Supreme Administrative Court.

Copyright law, case IV CKN 458/00

July 26th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Supreme Court – Civil Chamber in its judgment of 26 September 2001 case file IV CKN 458/00, published in the electronic database Legalis, held that questions included in the so-called “question bank” that is used in the test driving exams are deemed as public materials within the meaning of article 4(2) of the Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights and, therefore, they are not afforded the copyright protection. The Court held that the official documentary material is what comes from the office or another state institution, or concerns an official matter or what was created as the result of the application of the official procedure.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Copyright law, case II. 1K. 1092/32

May 18th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Supreme Court in a judgment of 8 November 1932, case file II. 1K. 1092/32, published in Zb. Orz. 1933/I poz. 7., ruled that a collection of posters or advertisements, calendars, catalogues, railway timetables, cookbooks, patterns, forms – all may be subject to copyright law, if the form of their design, layout or explanations have independent and individual character.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Categories: copyright law | copyrightable subject matter | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish law | Polish Supreme Court.

Copyright law, case I ACr 453/95

April 26th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Appellate Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 5 July 1995, case file I ACr 453/95, unpublished, held that on the grounds of the copyright law one has to oppose the actions of a creative nature against the technical operation and actions. The result of the latter is verifiable and repeatable, and its accomplishment only requires specific knowledge and efficiency. It is possible to predict a specific result of such actions. The feature of creativity, and thus the work itself, is the individual recognition and uniqueness of the accomplished result, in other words, the objective novelty, originality, autonomous creation, the creator’s personality projection as reflected in the work, whose effect is unpredictable, as the final result of the creative work (at least some elements).

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Categories: Art. 1 ARNR | copyright law | copyrightable subject matter | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish Appeallate Court.

Copyright law, case I PKN 196/98

March 21st, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Supreme Court in its judgment of 26 June 1998 case file I PKN 196/98, published in the Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the Chamber of Administrative, Labour and Social Insurance (in Polish: Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyższego Izba Administracyjna, Pracy i Ubezpieczeń Społecznych) of 1999, No 14, item 454, ruled that if the performance of the duties that are originating from the employment relationship has to rely on the creative activity of an employee then it depends on the will of the parties to whom the author’s economic rights will be attributed. If the ownership of these rights is undefined in the employment contract, it means that within the limits of the employment contract and consistent intention of the parties, the author’s economic rights to these works are acquired by the employer in the moment of their acceptance (article 12(1) f the Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights).

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Copyright law, I SA/Lu 408/98

February 26th, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 30 June 1999, case file I SA/Lu 408/98 held that the result of creative activity, original one, characterized by individuality is the protected work. The result of a work which is determined by a described object or phenomenon, complex functions or goals, which is one of the results originating from the possible options that could be reached/solved by people (specialists) making the same task, is not the protected work. The copyright protection does not extend also to creative process, creative method or technique used in creating the work.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.

Categories: Art. 1 ARNR | copyright law | copyrightable subject matter | Polish Act on Authors Rights and Neighbouring Rights | Polish Supreme Administrative Court.

Copyright law, case I ACa 2/96

February 22nd, 2005, Tomasz Rychlicki

The Appellate Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 2 October 1996, case file I ACa 2/96, held that the protection of author’s rights is attributed to the creator of a creative work and can be directed against anyone who infringes on these rights. This is an absolute protection, that is totally independent of whether there existed any contractual relationship between the creator and the infringer. The use of works without permission constitutes an infringement of author’s rights/copyrights.

See also “Polish regulations on copyright” and “Polish case law on copyright“.