GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Thomas Nägele, Steffen Henn, Anke Hofmann and Serpil Dilbaz, SZA Schilling, Zutt & Anschütz
• photographic works; • cinematographic works; and • illustrations of a scientific or technical nature. In addition to this non-exclusive list, German copy - right law protects translations and other adaptations of a work, collective works and databases (see Sec - tion 3, 4 CA). Industrial designs may be protected by copyright law if the industrial designs are an individual creation by the author. 3.2 Essential Elements of Copyright Protection In order to be protectable, the work must be the author’s own intellectual creation. This is the case if the work reflects the author’s personality and its free and creative choices. The work must not be fixed in a tangible medium and no copyright symbol (©) is necessary. 3.3 Copyright Authorship According to Section 7 CA, the author is the person who creates the work. The work must be an origi - nal product of a human being’s own intellectual effort (also called “personal touch”). German copyright law does not recognise the “work made for hire” doctrine. Even when an employee cre - ates a work in the course of their employment, the company will not become the author of the copyright. Joint authorship arises when two or more individuals collaboratively and substantially contribute to the cre - ation of a single work without their shares being sepa - rately exploitable. The right to publish and exploit the work then belongs to the co-authors jointly; changes to the work are only permitted with the consent of the co-authors. 3.4 Copyright Rights Copyright protects the author in their intellectual and personal relationships with the work and in respect of the use of the work. The CA divides the scope of copyright into three subsections: moral, exploitation and other rights of authors. In principle, all of them persist throughout the term of a copyright.
Section 12 et seqq. CA states as moral rights the pub - lication right, the right to be recognised as the author and the distortion right. Economic rights are listed in Section 15 et seqq. CA and grant the copyright owner several exclusive rights to economic exploitation of the copyright. These rights include reproduction, dis - tribution, exhibition as well as all forms of communi - cating the work to the public in non-physical form, especially via the internet. 3.5 Term of Protection and Termination In Germany, copyright generally expires 70 years after the author’s death. After the author’s death, these rights are typically transferred to heirs or other speci - fied beneficiaries for the remainder of the 70-year term. 3.6 Collective Rights Management Systems In Germany, collective rights management for copy - right works is primarily organised by collective man - agement organisations (CMOs), often referred to as collecting societies ( Verwertungsgesellschaften or VG). These organisations administer and enforce the copyrights of authors and other right-holders collec - tively. They typically cover various sectors, including music, publishing, visual arts, and more. In particular, these collecting societies collect royalties on behalf of their members for the use of their works, negotiate and enter into licence agreements with users of copyrighted works. Furthermore, they moni - tor how the works are being used, identify potential infringements, and take legal action when necessary to protect the rights of their members. 3.7 Copyright Registration There is no necessity or possibility to register a copy - right as such in Germany. There is no “copyright reg - ister” in Germany. A “copyright office” does not exist either. 3.8 Copyright Application Requirements
See 3.7 Copyright Registration . 3.9 Refusal of Registration See 3.7 Copyright Registration .
140 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook