COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Maricruz Villanea Villegas, Roberto Arguello, Edna Lopez and Leyla Harper-Dominique, IDEAS IP
3.4 Scope of Rights and Moral Rights Economic rights under Article 16 cover all forms of use, including reproduction, translation, adaptation, public communication, making available on demand, distribution, broadcasting and importation of unau- thorised copies. Each use is independent; authorisa- tion for one does not imply authorisation for another. Authors of original artworks and manuscripts also hold an inalienable resale royalty right ( droit de suit e) of 5% under Article 151, passing to heirs for 50 years after the author’s death. Moral rights are personal, inalienable, non-waivable and perpetual under Article 13. They include the right to keep the work unpublished, to claim authorship, to oppose modifications damaging the author’s honour or reputation and to withdraw the work on payment of compensation. The rights to keep a work unpublished and to withdraw it may be contractually limited; the rights to claim authorship and to oppose damaging modifications cannot. Upon the author’s death, moral rights pass to the spouse, then descendants, then ascendants, for the full term of protection; if no heirs exist, the Ministry of Culture takes over their defence. 3.5 Term of Protection and Termination The general term is the life of the author plus 70 years, calculated from 31 December of the year of death. For collaborative works, the term runs from the death of the last surviving co-author. Collective works and encyclopaedias are protected for 70 years from first publication. Anonymous or pseudonymous works receive 70 years from publication, reverting to the standard rule if the author’s identity becomes known. Government bodies have 25 years from publication; public entities whose core activity is copyright receive 50 years. Neighbouring rights for performers and phonogram producers run for 70 years from first authorised pub- lication. If an author dies with no heirs, the rights pass immediately to the public domain under Article 66 – not to the state. There is no US-style statutory termination right. The main statutory mechanisms are:
Industrial designs are governed by a separate regime under Law No 6867. However, a design with sufficient artistic character and originality may also qualify for copyright protection as a work of applied art; dual protection is possible though the design registration route is more common for purely functional or com- mercial designs. 3.2 Requirements for Copyright Protection The sole requirement for copyright protection is originality. There is no fixation requirement, though in practice works should be in tangible form to facilitate proof of their existence. Protection is automatic upon creation under Article 101; no registration, notice or deposit is required. Voluntary registration at the National Copyright Reg- istry has only declaratory effect under Article 102 – it creates a public record of title, date and ownership that shifts the burden of proof to challengers. Regis- tration for commercially significant works is recom- mended. 3.3 Authorship and Ownership Authorship belongs to the natural person or persons who create the work. A collaborative work ( obra en colaboración ) is produced by two or more authors whose contributions form an indivisible whole; co- authors are co-owners in equal shares and must decide on exploitation jointly. A collective work ( obra colectiv a), produced by many contributors without individual attribution, belongs to the natural or legal person who took the initiative to produce and publish it. Under Article 40, commissioned works vest their pat- rimonial rights in the commissioning party; the author retains moral rights regardless. The same applies to salaried employees – patrimonial rights vest in the employer for works created in the course of employ- ment. For independent contractors not covered by a commission arrangement, patrimonial rights may remain with the contractor absent a written assign- ment. Clients are advised to include express writ- ten assignments of patrimonial rights in all contrac- tor agreements, as moral rights are inalienable and remain with the creator regardless of contract.
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