Introduction
In Article 27 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is stated that “Everyone has the right to freely participate in the community’s cultural life, enjoy the arts, and benefit from scientific advances. Everyone has the right to have their moral and material interests protected as a result of any scientific, literary, or creative work of which they are the creator.” In this regard, copyright arises as a phenomenon that requires states to protect through legal rules. One of the key roles of Project Management Turkey is being aware of the legal regulations.
Copyright is a legal word that refers to authors’ and artists’ rights over their works of literature and art. Although comprehensive lists of works protected by copyright are rarely found in legislation worldwide, it is reasonable to assume that copyright protection covers literary, musical, and artistic works, sound recordings, movies, computer programs, broadcasts, cable programs, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings. The author, or the person who develops the work, is the proprietor of copyright. The copyright owner is allowed exclusive rights to reproduce the material and the right to perform or show the work to the public, if applicable and relevant. Copyright allows the owner to restrict others from replicating or communicating their work without permission and sell these rights to others.
Ideas, concepts, styles, and techniques are not protected by copyright. Copyright, for example, cannot protect an idea for a book or film, but it may protect a film’s script or even a storyboard.
The Code of Intellectual and Artistic Works numbered 5846 governs copyright protection in Turkish law (“CIAW”).
Definition of Work
As previously said, there is no comprehensive list of works covered by copyright that can be based on legislation, but it can be presented in broad terms. These works into four categories by the CIAW: scientific and literary works, computer programs and databases, works of art, and musical works. Novels, stories, poems, scripts, dances, scientific pictures, maps, plans, projects, sketches, illustrations, architectural models, and town-planning designs are examples of scientific and literary works.
Copyright can be applied to any computer program and database. Ideas or principles providing the basis of an element of computer programs and databases, on the other hand, are not considered works and hence are not protected by copyright. Copyrighted works of art include watercolor and oil paintings, any form of a picture, patterns, engravings, ornamentations, calligraphy works, sculptures, handiworks, fashion and textile designs, photography works, and comics.
Author’s Definition
The author is the person who developed the work in the framework of copyright protection. If a work made by the combined efforts of multiple persons can be divided into pieces, each of the people who created the work is considered the author of the segment he created. Otherwise, the work’s author is the union of those who made it (i.e., if the work cannot be divided into discrete pieces). Technical assistance or assistance with details offered during the creation of the work does not confer authorship on individuals who provided these services.
The writers of copyrighted works are almost always genuine individuals. A legal entity can also be the author of a work and apply to the Directorate General of Copyright (“Directorate”) for copyright registration on the condition that employees working under a contract of employment within its body create the relevant work while performing the labor they were assigned to.
If a work is done based on a contract by a real person or a legal entity, there is no authorship but just right ownership over the generated work. As a result, the work owner cannot file for arbitrary copyright registration in this circumstance because there is no copyright to register. On the other hand, financial rights are held and exploited by individuals who have taken over these rights. To put it another way, the lack of copyright has no bearing on the use or application of proprietary rights.
Copyright Issuance and Registration
Copyright protection is provided to works covered by CIAW from the moment they are created. There is no need or necessity to register the work with official authority, and the applicable work does not need to be certified for copyright protection. However, Turkish law permits some legal actions to be conducted to protect the copyright over the relevant work and give convenience for determining the right ownership over the work.
To begin, a copyright owner has the option of registering their rights at their choice. The goal of such a registration is to establish documentation of rightful ownership of the work. This approach, copyright registration, is a declaration-based procedure that does not serve as a copyright establisher. This method does not allow for the registration of ideas. When ideas are embedded in a copyright-protected form of work, however, such works can be registered.
The Directorate must receive an application for the registration of a copyright. An official document containing the details of the copyright owner and the work that has been registered is delivered to the applicant upon submission of an application for the above-mentioned arbitrary registration. If the work recorded arbitrarily becomes the subject of a dispute, the Directorate submits a copy of the aforementioned official document to the relevant court upon the request of the court to hear the case. However, it is important to note that this document does not offer the copyright owner any rights; rather, it serves as documentation of the existence of copyright.
In addition to the methods described above, the copyright owner can go through a procedure with a notary public. In this instance, the work’s creator should draft a statement declaring that they created the relevant work and possess its copyright, which a notary public can certify. A notary public can also prepare such a document based on the copyright owner’s spoken declarations as an alternative. Nonetheless, the document certified or produced by a notary public in this alternative, like the official document submitted upon the application for arbitrary registration, does not award any rights to the copyright owner but merely proves the existence of copyright.
Rights of the Author
In Turkish law, a work’s author’s copyright applies to the entire work and an element of it. In this regard, the author can exercise his copyright in topics about both the entire work and parts of it, based on his own wishes and desires. The right to define the style of work and whether or not it will be published, as well as the date of publication, is the most important right within the scope of copyright. Only the author of a work can disclose information about a work that has not been partially or completely advertised or introduced with outlines. The author of work also has the right to prevent his work from being published in any form in advance. Any agreement entered into with the intent of relinquishing such a privilege is considered null and void.
When a work is to be published, the author has the right to choose the work’s title and/or name. Furthermore, if the relevant work is a work of fine art, the author’s name or signature must be visible on all copies of the work. In such circumstances, it must additionally be demonstrated on the copy that the relevant work of art is a copy of the original. No abbreviations, supplements, adjustments to the work or changes to the author’s name can be made without permission.
If the original version of the work is in the lawful ownership of a third party, the work’s creator has the right to request temporary use of the original version. The owner of the original version of the work may use his right to dispose of it according to the terms of the author’s agreement. On the other hand, the proprietor cannot modify or delete the work and hence cannot infringe on the author’s rights.
The CIAW also governs the author’s financial rights concerning copyright. Within the framework of CIAW, financial rights encompass five separate rights. The right to adapt is the first of these. Adapting a work and, as a result, any advantage deriving from such an adaptation comes under the author’s copyright, according to Article 21 of the CIAW. Second, the author is the sole owner of the right to reproduce a work in any form, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently. The right of distribution is the third financial right within this scope. In this regard, the author owns the unique right to rent, lend, sell, or distribute original copies of a work in any method or manner. Fourth, the author owns the right to exploit a work by reciting, playing, acting, or showing it in public places, either directly or through the use of equipment that enables the transmission of signs, sounds, or images. Finally, the author has the sole right to transmit the original version of a work or copies of it to the public via wired or wireless media.
If the original version of the work is in the lawful ownership of a third party, the work’s creator has the right to request temporary use of the original version. The owner of the original version of the work may use his right to dispose of it according to the terms of the author’s agreement. On the other hand, the proprietor cannot modify or delete the work and hence cannot infringe on the author’s rights.
The CIAW also governs the author’s financial rights concerning copyright. Within the framework of CIAW, financial rights encompass five separate rights. The right to adapt is the first of these. Adapting a work and, as a result, any advantage deriving from such an adaptation comes under the author’s copyright, according to Article 21 of the CIAW. Second, the author is the sole owner of the right to reproduce a work in any form, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently. The right of distribution is the third financial right within this scope. In this regard, the author owns the unique right to rent, lend, sell, or distribute original copies of a work in any method or manner. Fourth, the author owns the right to exploit a work by reciting, playing, acting, or showing it in public places, either directly or through the use of equipment that enables the transmission of signs, sounds, or images. Finally, the author has the exclusive right to communicate the original version of a work or its copies to the public by broadcasting through organizations that broadcast by wire or wireless means such as radio and television, satellite or cable, or by devices that enable the transmission of signs, sounds, and/or images, including digital transmission, or by rebroadcasting through other broadcasting organizations that obtain the work from such broadcasts.
Copyright Protection Term
In Turkish law, copyright is protected for the duration of the author’s life and 70 years after the owner’s death. Works that have become public after their owner’s death are protected for 70 years, beginning on the date of death.
When the author is a legal body, the term begins on the date of publication of the work and ends 70 years afterward. If the work’s author is indefinite, the term of protection begins on the date of publication of the work and ends 70 years later. In any case, the protection period does not begin until the work is shared with the public.
Financial rights owned by the author expire when the copyright protection term expires. As a result, works whose protection period has passed can be freely used without obtaining the author’s approval or authorization.
Copyright infringement
In the event of a copyright violation, the CIAW specifies what the author can ask a court for.
First, the author might ask the court to determine if the conduct in issue infringes on the copyright in question. If the actions in question are judged to infringe on the author’s copyright, the author may request that the actions causing the likely or existing infringement to be stopped. The author might also ask the court for an interlocutory injunction to prevent his copyright from being infringed upon. In addition to these rights, the author has the right to be compensated for both monetary and intangible losses. Those who have infringed on copyright are required to indemnify the copyright owners under the relevant provisions of the CIAW. The copyright owner may seek additional compensation for intangible damages, particularly if the copyright’s reputation has been harmed due to the infringer’s conduct.
The copyright-infringing products, as well as the devices, machines, and tools that have been and/or are used to create them can be confiscated in such a way that the confiscation does not prevent the creation of other products that are unrelated to the infringement in question. Furthermore, the author has the option of asking the court to grant him ownership of the confiscated goods.
The court may also decide to take steps to prevent future infringements. Deformation of confiscated products, gadgets, equipment, and tools, erasing of signs on these materials, or, if necessary for copyright protection, destruction of these things are all examples of these procedures.
Finally, the author may seek the copyright infringement court ruling published in daily newspapers or other comparable media and communicate the court decision to individuals affected.
CIAW oversees the criminal components of copyright infringements in addition to civil actions and cases that can be brought against people who violate copyrights.
To begin with, anyone who, without the written consent of the right holders, adapts, performs, reproduces, changes, distributes, communicates to the public by devices enabling the transmission of signs, sounds, or images, or publishes a work, performance, or production, puts up for sale, sells, distributes, buys for commercial purposes, imports or exports, possesses or stores for non-private use any works adapted or reproduced unlawfully is sent to prison.
Other types of copyright infringements, such as claiming the title of another person’s work as one’s own, citing from work without citing the source, making a public declaration about the content of a work without the permission of the copyright owner, and giving a wrong, incomplete, or misleading reference about work, are punishable by imprisonment and judicial fines. Project Management Turkey starts with following the legal rules and pretending to be stolen rights.
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