Software Registration

A computer program is an object of copyright. In Belarus, copyright for a computer program arises in the act of its creation and does not require any compliance.

On the one hand, this is good for the authors, since it does not require any financial expenses and time spending for registration. On the other hand, due to the specifics of a computer program and the features of its publication and use, in practice such a situation plays a mean trick upon an author when he/she wants prove the fact of copyright on a specific program.

As a rule, a computer program is not some kind of permanent and finished object (such as a published literary creation). In practice, a computer program is constantly being improved. For example, a computer program with an unchanged name, version 1.0, may be different from version 2.0. It can even have a different team of program builders.

Therefore, it is difficult to identify a computer program by name (for example, in agreements), since it is not clear which version of a program is meant, and what source code is used in this computer program, and it is very important how to prove that the computer program on a specific date had a specific source code. When a computer program is published on CD or DVD, this problem is largely dismantled. However, nowadays, almost all computer programs are installed remotely on smartphones, computers and servers; and at any time it can be updated, that subsequently makes it very difficult to establish a date of creating a computer program with a specific version of the source code.

To eliminate this problem, patent offices around the world, including the National Center of Intellectual Property of the Republic of Belarus (abbreviated as NCIP) offer a service for registering a computer program. The NCIP accepts the obligation to store a copy of the computer program with the indication of its authors and copyright holders, as well as the year of its creation. Such a service allows the owner and author of a computer program to obtain independent evidence of the creation of a computer program.

Belarusian owners of computer programs can use the registration services not only of the NCIP, but also, for example, the United States Copyright Office.

The computer program was first registered in November 1961 by the United States Copyright Office as the subject of copyright. A little later, the Office began to register computer programs on an ongoing basis, providing the authors with an additional protective tool.

For more than half a century, authors of computer programs around the world have turned to this authoritative organization for this service in order to obtain independent proof of the fact of creating a computer program and the exclusive right to this copyright object.

The registration of computer programs is carried out by depositing (transmitting and storing) the source text and issuing a Certificate of Registration with the necessary information, and no less important, with the date of registration of the computer program.

After obtaining the Certificate, the copyright holder will be able to prove that the computer program for a specific date already belonged to him in case of violation of his rights.

If you need a detailed investigation, you can compare the listing of registered programs with a listing of plagiarism.

When entering the international market with a software product, it is advisable to take care of providing the evidence necessary in case of unauthorized borrowing and initiation of proceedings in court.

Our company works with the United States Copyright Office and helps authors and other copyright holders to register their works in order to provide evidence and give, if necessary, legal protection of the work, including in courts.

Deadlines

It takes 6 months from the date of filing an application for registration of a computer program until entering it into the Copyright Office database and issuing the Certificate in electronic form. Completion of the original Certificate and sending it to the addressee takes the same amount of time. However, a work is considered registered from the moment it is received by the Bureau. In case of filing an application through the electronic system, the registration date of the object will coincide with the filing date, which will then be subsequently indicated in the Certificate.

Objects of Registration

In the US Copyright Office, you can register software products and associated copyright objects:

·         Computer program

·         Derivative computer program

·         Software application

·         HTML

·         Virtual reality environment

·         Video game

·         Object Code

·         Screen shot

·         CD-ROM

·         Web site

·         The blog

·         User guide

·         Database

·         Chip topology

Registration of copyright is available for all the elements embodied in a computer program. However, one must understand that ideas, program logic, algorithms, systems, methods, concepts will not be protected by copyright. This means that the author, registering a computer program, protects it from those who duplicate the code, but not from those who write different code to achieve the same or similar result.

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