Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 1 / 2026

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

PDF (Ukrainian)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/tpip.2026.1.3

Submitted     2026-01-12
Accepted      2026-02-12
Published      2026-03-12

Copyright in work created by an employee in accordance with the legislation of EU Member States

Valentyna Trotska
Ph.D. (Law),
Head of the sector of the disposal of copyright and related rights of the Copyright and Related Rights Department,
Intellectual Property Scientific Research Institute of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-1877

Abstract
The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the laws of EU Member States on the economic rights to works created by employees. The article examines the parties to the employment relationship: the employee, who is also the author, and the employer, and considers their different categories. Discrepancies were found in the norms of States describing the conditions for the transfer of economic rights by an employee and their acquisition by an employer. It has been established that the acquisition of economic rights by the employer may be carried out either automatically based of the law or under the contract (employment or civil law contracts), unless otherwise provided. In the event of the non-use or insufficient use of the works by the employer, the economic rights acquired by the employer may be transferred to the employee after a certain period of time (two or five years). The article pays particular attention to the issue of the remuneration for the employee’s work (salary), as well as the results of his creative activity, which provides for the payment of appropriate and proportional remuneration.

Keywords: copyright, economic rights, labour relations, contracts, salary, author’s remuneration, laws of EU Member States

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