Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 1 / 2025

ISSN (Print) 2308-0361
ISSN (Online) 2519-2744

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/12025.324973

Submitted     2025-01-06
Accepted      2025-01-17
Published      2025-03-18

Copyright exceptions and limitations on freedom of panorama in Ukraine and in the world

Maksym Naumko
PhD student of the Intellectual Property Scientific Research Institute of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0734-0235

Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of the provisions of legislation of almost all countries of the world which provide for exceptions and limitations to copyright in respect of freedom of panorama. The study of the legislative provisions made it possible to determine the approaches to establishing exceptions and limitations to the freedom of panorama in different countries and regions of the world in the context of: types of works subject to freedom of panorama; nature of permitted use under freedom of panorama; possibility of using works under freedom of panorama for commercial purposes, etc.

The article argues that having provisions allowing for freedom of panorama in a national copyright law is a global trend. Moreover, it is most common for such provisions not to restrict commercial uses. These global trends are even more visible on regional level in the European Union, in Europe in general and in Americas. Absence of freedom of panorama provisions or restricting it to non-commercial uses is somewhat more common in Asia, Africa and Oceania but is not a prevailing trend there as well.

Taking into account the identified global and regional trends, the author analyzes the relevant provision of the new Law of Ukraine “On copyright and related rights” on freedom of panorama copyright exception. The author questions whether the legislator’s choice to use the wording “making a graphic work representing the work” as a base of the freedom of panorama exception wording is warranted considering that it is mostly used mostly in the legislation of countries whose legal systems are based on English law bur is increasingly rare in continental Europe. The author also questions whether the restriction of the freedom of panorama to use cases that “do not have an independent economic meaning” is in line with approaches used globally and by countries members of the European Union in particular.

The study substantiates the expediency of amending the freedom of panorama wording in the Ukrainian copyright law to remove the restriction on uses that have an independent economic meaning or to at least replace it with a much more common restriction on commercial uses.

Keywords: copyright, exceptions and limitations, free use, freedom of panorama

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