Personal and property copyrights
The issue of copyright protection should be approached with the understanding that these rights are divided into personal and property rights. Personal copyrights protect the creator's unlimited, indissoluble, intellectual bond with their work, which manifests itself in the creator's right to, among other things, mark the work with their name or pseudonym, decide on the first publication of the work, and supervise its use.
Moral property rights, on the other hand, allow the author to use and manage the work in various ways, known as fields of exploitation, and thus derive financial benefits from its use. These rights belong to the author, but they are transferable and may be transferred to another entity through an appropriate license or transfer of rights.
Copyright infringement occurs when a work is used beyond the scope of permitted personal use without the creator's permission. It's important to remember that the creator has the right to copyright protection regardless of whether the infringer has derived any financial benefit.
Protection of personal copyrights
Due to the division of copyright into personal and property rights, the legislator has slightly differentiated the protection of each. Therefore, in the Act of 4 February 1994 on Copyright and Related Rights, the protection of personal and property rights was expressed in separate editorial units.
The protection of moral rights is provided for in Article 78 of the aforementioned Act, according to which the author is entitled to the following claims against the entity infringing his moral rights:
1) Claim for cessation of actions infringing the personal copyright of the creator
This right is available both when copyright infringement has already occurred and when there is a mere threat of infringement, i.e., when the author has a reasonable suspicion that such infringement will soon occur. It involves demanding that the infringing entity cease and desist from actions that infringe upon the author's exclusive rights. Therefore, it may involve, for example, demanding that the work be discontinued. From a technical perspective, it is worth noting that a demand to cease and desist from infringing the author's copyright will be addressed to the perpetrator of such infringement, i.e., the person who published the work or part thereof, or the administrator of the website where such content was published. The author may file such a claim at any time, regardless of whether the perpetrator is aware that their actions are illegal or not.
2) Claim for restoration of the lawful status
In the case of this claim, Article 78, Section 1 of the Act provides a "hint" as to how restoration of the lawful status may occur. The legislator explicitly states that this may, in particular, take the form of a public declaration of a specific form and content, which, for example, will indicate the true author of the work. The creator also has the right to demand that other actions be taken to restore the lawful status, for example, by destroying unlawfully made copies of the work or ceasing the sale of items bearing the unlawfully obtained logo belonging to the author.
3) Claim for payment of compensation or for obliging the perpetrator to pay an appropriate sum of money for a social purpose indicated by the creator
If the perpetrator of the infringement is proven guilty, the court may (though is not obligated to) award the author an appropriate sum of money as compensation for the harm suffered. The court may also, but only at the author's express request, require the perpetrator to pay an appropriate sum of money to a specific social cause designated by the author.
Protection of economic copyrights
If the author's economic rights are infringed, they are entitled – similarly to infringement of moral rights – to pursue a claim for cessation of the infringing activity and restoration of the lawful status. Furthermore, in the case of protection of economic rights, two new claims arise:
1) Claim for damages
In this case, the creator has two options: firstly, he can claim compensation for damages under general principles, and then he is obliged to prove:
• damage understood as damage to his legally protected goods and interests,
• the occurrence of an event causing damage,
• the existence of a causal link between the above-mentioned event and the occurrence of damage.
The second option is to claim compensation for damages in the form of a monetary sum equivalent to twice the amount of the remuneration that would have been due to the author had the user been granted appropriate consent to use the work. In this case, it is not necessary to prove the perpetrator's guilt; the mere fact of infringement is sufficient. However, if the perpetrator's guilt is proven, then it is possible to seek payment of three times the remuneration that would have been due to the author had the perpetrator used the work lawfully.
2) Claim for the release of obtained benefits
Such a claim involves remitting the profits gained as a result of copyright infringement to the author. This claim stems from the legislature's position that an act infringing on legally protected values should not generate profit for the perpetrator, as well as making the perpetrator and other potential perpetrators aware that infringing on others' property rights is ultimately unprofitable.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that the action preceding filing any claims with the court against the perpetrator of the infringement should be to issue a summons to cease and desist from these infringements, as a formal requirement of the lawsuit is to submit a statement of an attempt to resolve the dispute out of court.
This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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