Copyright Protection

Methods of civil rights protection are defined in Art. 11 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus. Methods specified in this article may also be used in order to protect a copyright.

The most effective methods for protection are:

•        The declaration of proprietary rights

It is possible as to declare exclusive rights and to set a copyright for a particular work. This method of protection allows you to resolve conflicts of copyrights and to identify the creator of the work and to whom, accordingly, personal non-property rights belong to.

•        The termination of actions that violate rights or could lead to the violation of rights in future

This method may, for example, be seen in the requirement to prohibit the distribution of counterfeit books, computer programs, and other works.

•        Restoration of the situation that existed before the violation of law

For example, the copyright holder is entitled to demand the removal of the changes made to the computer program that were illegal.

•        Indemnification.

So, in particular, it is possible to demand reimbursement of damages if improper use of a computer program outside of a treaty relationship caused the loose of profit. When choosing this method of protection, note that the amount of losses in such cases is difficult to prove.

In addition, the copyright holder can protect himself by taking other measures listed in Art. 989 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus:

Initiation of the seizure of tangible objects that violate the rights and interests of the copyright holder, and those objects that were created (received) as a result of such a violation (claims can be filed to its manufacturer, importer, carrier or other distributor).

Both as an additional measure and as a basic measure, the interested person has the right to demand publication of information on a violation committed by third parties. This publication should include information about the actual copyright holder.

The provision of Article 56 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated May 17, 2011 N 262-З "On Copyright and Related Rights" contains the most common protection method: to collect damages in favor of the copyright holder. In particular, in order to protect his interests the author (another copyright holder) may demand the following:

•        Indemnification;

•        Pecuniary punishment. Its size is determined by the court, taking into account the nature of the violation. The minimum amount is ten base amounts, and the maximum is fifty.

Awarding of damages is an alternative to recovering of damages. In this case, the copyright holder can either recover damages or demand compensation. Simultaneously, the fact that it is not necessary to prove the amount of losses in order to award damages, significantly simplifies the process of proof.

Overall, the current legislation provides a wide range of ways to protect civil rights in general, and copyright in particular. Meanwhile, the choice of a particular method depends on the nature of the violation of rights and belongs to the copyright holder. So, the copyright holder should not only assess correctly the violation, but to choose the optimal method of protection. So that, the process of proving the amount of losses, for example, does not create hindrance to the protecting one’s interests.

We are inviting you to visit our specialized sites on intellectual property: bvpatent.by and trademarks: trademarks.by.