ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sarkis Knyazyan, Svetlana Mkrtchyan, Anahit Aloyan and Rita Parzyan, Concern Dialog
the Trade Mark Law only owners of registered trade marks have the right to use the letter “R” inside a circle. There are no consequences for not providing notice of trade mark ownership. 2.6 Related Rights Copyrightable images may be registered as a trade mark (eg, logo). If a trade mark consists of or includes a copyrightable object, the copy - right may co-exist with the trade mark. If a trade mark consists of or contains a surname of a well- known person, then that person or their hairs/ successors may oppose the registration of such trade mark. 3. Copyright Ownership, Protection and Rights 3.1 Types of Copyrightable Works In Armenia, copyright is regulated by the Civil Code and the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. Works eligible for copyright protection include but are not limited to literary and scien - tific works, computer programs, painting, sculp - ture, graphics, design and other works of visual and fine arts, scenarios, sketches, librettos, choreographic and pantomimic works, musical works with or without words, audiovisual works (cinematographic, movies, animation, cartoons, advertisements, documentary and other similar works), photographs, architectural works, land - scape designs, maps, topography, derivative works (translations, adaptations, arrangements, transformations, compilations), encyclopaedias, databases, fonts, etc. Industrial designs may also be subject to copyright protection. 3.2 Essential Elements of Copyright Protection A copyrightable subject matter shall be original (ie, be a unique outcome of a creative activity in
the fields of science, literature and art) created by one or more authors, expressed in spoken, written or any other objectively perceivable man - ner, fixed in a tangible medium (including in elec - tronic form), regardless the scope, significance, merits and the purpose of its creation. 3.3 Copyright Authorship According to the Armenian Copyright Law, only individuals (humans) may be considered as authors of copyrightable works. Unless proved otherwise, an author is a person whose name appears on the work or whose name is men - tioned at the moment of making the work public, or in whose name the work is deposited in the relevant collective management organisation, or if it is certified by a notary or any other organisa - tion having relevant authority by the law. Armenian law does not define the term “work made for hire”. However, it regulates the rela - tions between the employer and employee (author). Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, the copyright to any work created by an employee (author), within the scope of their employment duties, or by employer’s orders (instructions), is transferred to (or owned by) the employer. In case of non-employment relations (eg, service contracts), the copyright belongs to the author of the work, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing. Armenian law is silent on whether someone may claim authorship of a work that was not created by a human (eg, by artificial intelligence software, an animal, etc). However, it is highly unlikely that the interpre - tation of the law would allow any human to be considered as an author of such work. If a work is created by multiple authors, such authors are considered as co-authors of that work. In the absence of authorship agreement,
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