COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harry Zurcher, Marco López Volio and Kristel Faith Neurohr, Zurcher, Odio & Raven
The commissioner will be the holder of the econom - ic rights in the work, but the authors will retain their moral rights. Likewise, when the author is a salaried employee, the holder of the economic rights will be the employer. There have not been any cases of works created by non-humans in Costa Rica at the present time. If the law does not contemplate it, these circum - stances would be determined by jurisprudence or on a case-by-case basis. The publisher will exercise all the rights and be subject to all the obligations of the author. Where the latter decides to reveal their identity, they will automatically regain the exercise of their rights. Acts lawfully per - formed by the publisher will continue to be valid and to produce effects after the disclosure of the author. The publisher will also be liable for any unlawful acts they may have committed. The protection will last for 70 years from the publication. The rights will be reg - istered in the name of the publisher unless the pseu - donym is registered. If the work is posthumous, the rights will be registered in the name of the successors in title of the author, after that quality has been proved. The phonogram will be registered in the producer’s name. The radio or television programme will be reg - istered in the name of the broadcasting organisation. A work produced by two or more authors, acting in common, and in which the participation of each of them cannot be dissociated, constitutes an indivis - ible whole. The authors of a work of joint authorship are co-owners of the copyright in the work. However, individual exploits or percentages may be established in agreement with all the authors. 3.4 Copyright Rights Rights granted to copyright owners consist of fac - ulties that demand an initiative, or decision, on the part of the author (such as disclosure, repentance or retraction, and access to the work) and seek respect for the work, in the face of unlawful conduct by third parties (claiming authorship and integrity of the work), according to the Costa Rican Copyright and Relat - ed Rights Law. It applies to the transmission mortis causa, in principle, of the economic right, or the exer - cise of the moral right. However, with regard to the moral right, there is no change of ownership with the death of the author. However, the right to withdraw
the work from circulation, with prior compensation to the injured parties, is extinguished with the death of the author. In Costa Rica, independently of the economic rights, even after their transmission, the author retains a very personal, inalienable, unrenounceable and perpetual moral right over the work. It includes the right to keep the work unpublished, to defer, by will, its publication and reproduction for a period of up to 50 years after their death, to claim authorship of the work, to oppose any deformation, mutilation or other modification of the work or any attack on it that would be prejudicial to their honour or reputation, and to withdraw the work from circulation, subject to compensation to those harmed by their action. The various forms of use are independent of each oth - er, so that authorisation to fix the work or production does not induce authorisation to perform or broadcast it, and vice versa. 3.5 Term of Protection and Termination Copyright will be permanent during a copyright own - er’s lifetime. After their death, the copyright will be held for 70 years by those who have legitimately acquired it. In cases involving a deceased estate, there will be no legal succession in favour of any State entity, so copyright ownership will immediately pass into the public domain. 3.6 Collective Rights Management Systems Articles 111 and 132 of the Copyright and Related Rights Law provide for the possibility that authors and holders of related rights, in defence of their rights, act through representative organisations. Furthermore, Title IX of the Regulation of the Cop - yright and related Rights Law expands upon these legal provisions with regard to so-called Collective Management Societies, which, according to Article 48 of the Copyright and related Rights Law “are pri - vate legal entities whose sole and exclusive purpose is not profit or gain, but rather to protect the patrimonial rights of the holders of copyright and related rights, both national and foreign, recognised by the Law and international treaties ratified by the country; as well as to collect, on their behalf, and deliver the economic
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