SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Helena Rönqvist, Magnus Jonson, Vilma Slättegård and Anna Karlsson, Magnusson Law
3.3 Authorship and Ownership Authorship and Ownership
fine) and security measures such as seizure and for- feiture of infringing goods. A holder of registered intellectual property rights may file an “application for action” with the Swedish Cus- toms, requesting that suspected infringing goods being imported, exported, or in transit through Swe- den be detained. The Swedish Customs may also act on its own initiative to intercept goods suspected of infringing intellectual property rights. Swedish intellectual property legislation imposes crim- inal liability for infringement committed intentionally or through gross negligence. Depending on the serious- ness of the offence, sanctions may include fines or imprisonment. Criminal charges may be brought by the public prosecutor, provided that prosecution is deemed to be in the public interest. 3. Copyright 3.1 Legal Framework and Copyrightable Works Copyright protection may arise in respect of original works falling within recognised categories, including literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as sound recordings, films, broadcasts and com- puter programs. Neighbouring rights, such as those afforded to performing artists and databases, are also recognised. The enumeration of protected categories is not exhaustive, and protection may extend to other forms of intellectual creative output. Applied art may likewise qualify for copyright protection, provided that the work attains the requisite degree of originality. 3.2 Requirements for Copyright Protection Copyright protection arises automatically, without reg- istration, when a work is created and is original. For a work to be considered original, it must be the result of the creator’s own intellectual creation and reflect a degree of creativity. It is not required that the work be unique or of high artistic merit; even simple works may qualify for protection if they are the product of the creator’s own creative choices.
The author of a work is the natural person who has created it. Under Swedish copyright law, only natural persons can be original authors, meaning that nei- ther legal entities nor AI can hold original authorship. Where a work is created jointly by two or more per- sons, and their respective contributions cannot be distinguished as independent works, the authors hold the copyright jointly (joint authorship). Employer Rights The employer may acquire rights to works created by employees through express or implied terms of the employment contract, or through established cus- tom within the relevant industry. An important statu- tory exception applies to computer programs: unless otherwise agreed, the copyright in a computer pro- gram created by an employee as part of his or her employment duties or following instructions from the employer is automatically transferred to the employer. For works created by independent contractors or con- sultants, copyright remains with the creator unless the parties have agreed otherwise by contract. It is there- fore advisable to address the allocation of copyright expressly in any engagement agreement. 3.4 Scope of Rights and Moral Rights Economic Rights The copyright owner holds the exclusive right to exploit the work by making copies of it (the right of reproduction) and by making it available to the public (the right of communication). The right of communica- tion encompasses several forms, including the public performance of the work, the distribution of copies to the public, and the making available of the work to the public by digital transmission (eg, on-demand streaming or downloading). These economic rights may be assigned or licensed, in whole or in part, to Swedish copyright law recognises moral rights (Sw. ideella rättigheter ), which are personal to the author. The two principal moral rights are: (i) the right of attri- bution (paternity right), ie, the right to be identified as the author of the work in accordance with good prac- tice; and (ii) the right of integrity, ie, the right to object third parties. Moral Rights
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