COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harry Zurcher, Marco López Volio and Kristel Faith Neurohr, Zurcher, Odio & Raven
mon field, so that the work becomes worthy of protection. The same applies to the originality of the title of the work, when it cannot be confused with another work of the same genre, another previously published work, or another work with - in the common field. 3.3 Copyright Authorship In principle, authorship is vested in the natural person, who carries out the intellectual creation. However, it is important to remember that the work can be carried out individually or in col - laboration. On the other hand, ownership must always be related to the economic right. From authorship, the natural person, the creator, acquires the original ownership of their work. The commissioner will be the holder of the eco - nomic rights over the work, but the authors will retain their moral rights over it. Likewise, when the author is a salaried employee, the holder of the economic rights will be the employer. There have not been cases of works that were not cre - ated by a human in Costa Rica at the present time. If the law does not contemplate it, these circumstances would be determined by jurispru - dence 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 performed 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 pseudonym is registered. If the work is posthu - mous, 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 name of the producer. The radio or television programme will be registered in the name of the broadcasting organisation. A work produced by two or more authors, act - ing in common, and in which the participation of each of them cannot be dissociated, constitutes an indivisible whole. The authors of a work of joint authorship are co-owners of the copyright in the work. However, individual exploits or per - centages may be established in agreement with all the authors. 3.4 Copyright Rights Rights granted to copyright owners consist of faculties 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 related 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 extin - guished 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, unrenounce - able 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
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