COSTA RICA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harry Zurcher, Marco López Volio and Kristel Faith Neurohr, Zurcher, Odio & Raven
• FONOTICA ( Asociación Costarricense de la Industria Fonográfica y Afines ). This is a non- profit organisation and industry trade group representing national and multinational record companies in Costa Rica. FONOTICA is the national agency of the International Stand - ard Recording Code (ISRC) and the affiliate member of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in Costa Rica. 3.7 Copyright Registration Copyrights are protected from their conception. However, it is recommended to register the cop - yright to have complete protection and enforce - able exclusive rights in Costa Rica. Costa Rica has a Copyrights Office that is part of the Costa Rican Public Registry. Individuals, legal entities, trade bodies and foreign applicants can register a copyright. A notarised power of attorney granted by the applicant is required. According to Costa Rican legislation, the use of symbols as notice of copyright ownership is not mandatory. 3.8 Copyright Application Requirements The name of the author with their full qualifi - cations must be provided. If the application is submitted through a representative, they must provide a suitable document accrediting the rep - resentative as such and the name and qualifica - tions of the represented party must be indicated. If the power of attorney is granted abroad, it may be formalised in line with the domestic law of the country where it is granted and must be authen - ticated. If the application is submitted by a publisher, printer, translator, etc, the full name and quali - fications of the author should be indicated and the appropriate document through which the
right was acquired submitted. The title of the work to be registered should be indicated as well as the genre (literary or artistic). A brief descrip - tion of the content of the work (three to five lines) should also be provided. Additionally, whether the work is unpublished or published should be indicated and if applicable, whether the work is collective or collaborative should be indicated. The filing fee is USD5. 3.9 Refusal of Registration Lack of originality or formality issues may lead to a refusal. If the Copyrights Office objects to the application, they will grant a 15 or 30-day term to file a response. In the response, the applicant must try to persuade the Copyrights Office that the application can obtain the relevant protec - tion. 3.10 Related Rights Costa Rican law provides for a copyright to also be protected by trade mark or related rights but it is currently difficult to enforce copyright against previous fraudulent registrations and the criteria used by the Trademark Office is not uniform. 4. Trade Mark Registrations and Applications 4.1 Trade Mark Registration Trade marks in Costa Rica must be registered to have complete protection and enforceable exclusive rights. Very limited rights are acquired by using a trade mark. Rights can be claimed, even for unregistered trade marks, if actual prior use is proven, and the registration of a trade mark grants its owner the right of exclusivity and enforceable rights of
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