Theory and practice of intellectual property
№ 1 / 2018

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

PDF (Ukrainian)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33731/12018.155985

Published      2018-02-27

Protection of copyright for the name of the literary work

Iryna Petrenko
Ukraine

Abstract
Judicial practice in Ukraine and other countries. The author spends a lot of time and creative effort to create a work title, because the name is the first thing that reader encounters when deciding whether to read the work now, or postpone it. There are many cases when works of different authors have the same name but absolutely different content. In addition, creative or well-known titles of different works are used as a identifying names identifying for goods or services on the market. The issue of protecting the title of a work and protecting the rights on the title of the work is not something new, but still relevant. Further research is required on issues related to the capability of titles of works, identifying signs of the originality of the work’s title, in the context of both national legislation and law enforcement practice and legislation as well as law enforcement practice in other countries of the world. The French Intellectual Property Code protects the title of a work as an object of copyright, which is clearly written out in the Code. In Ukraine, the protection of the title of a work as an object of copyright is directly enshrined in the Law. At the same time, to recognize it as an object of copyright, the title must meet certain conditions: presence in the title of the work of author’s creative element; existence of an objective form of the title of the work; the title must be a part of the work; the title of the work must be creative; the ability of the title of the work to be used independently. The article deals with individual cases of foreign practice and analyzes known cases in Ukraine related to the protection of rights of the title of the work, as an original part that can be protected as an object of copyright. Analysis of national and foreign law enforcement practices makes it possible to assert that not in every case use of an original work’s title, as a designation of goods or services, can be recognized as a copyright infringement. The current legislation of Ukraine provides wide opportunities for protection of titles of works, as objects of copyright. At the same time, there is a need for methodological refinement of the research to determine the features by which the titles of works can be considered as objects of copyright protection.

Keywords: judicial practice, author, literary work, object of copyright, signs of originality