Literary and artistic property law

Areas of expertise > Literary and artistic property law

Bouchara & Avocats is specialized in intellectual property law and assists its clients in both literary and artistic property law and in
industrial property law.

See the following area of expertise

What is literary and artistic property?

Literary and artistic property, another branch of intellectual property along with industrial property, applies to works of the mind.

Literary and artistic property includes both copyright and related rights.

Thus, literary and artistic property allows for the protection of works of the mind which are forms of creation that are considered original as they express the personality of their author.

The author of a work of the mind benefits from a protection on this last one and for this purpose, indeed the copyright confers him patrimonial and extrapatrimonial rights which allow him to protect himself against a counterfeit of his work and in particular a literary plagiarism or an artistic plagiarism.

Also, the author is granted the following rights:

Property rights

They allow the author to decide on the conditions of exploitation of his work and in particular the following classical prerogatives:
– The right of reproduction;
– The right of representation;
– The right of resale.

Extrapatrimonial rights

They allow the author to defend his personality and in particular :
– The right of disclosure;
– The right of withdrawal;
– The right to the respect of the name and its quality (authorship of the work);
– The right to respect of the work.

Property rights

They allow the author to decide on the conditions of exploitation of his work and in particular the following classical prerogatives:
– The right of reproduction
– The right of representation
– The right of resale

Extrapatrimonial rights

They allow the author to defend his personality and in particular :
– The right of disclosure
– The right of withdrawal
– The right to the respect of the name and its quality (authorship of the work)
– The right to respect of the work

How to protect a literary and artistic work?

Unlike industrial property, where rights are protected by filing with the relevant offices, literary and artistic works are not subject to any formalities in France.

Thus, a literary and artistic work is protectable as soon as it is created and only because of this creation.

However, not all creations are subject to copyright and ideas are not appropriable and are therefore free to be used.

Therefore, in order to be protected and to invoke rights against a third party, the author must prove not only the originality of the work, but also the ownership of his rights on the work, by proving the creation and the date of creation of the work.

It is therefore strongly advised in the field of literary and artistic property to always proceed with a probationary deposit which will allow, if need be, within the framework of an infringement action, to prove that the author has indeed created the work at a precise date.

In addition, it is recommended to call upon lawyers or advisors in literary and artistic property to organize the transfer of rights between the authors and the companies that exploit the works, in particular, in order to organize the transfer of the copyrights of the employees and of the copyrights of the freelancers who work with the company from time to time.

Bouchara & Avocats and its lawyers specialized in literary and artistic property assist and advise you in the protection of your literary and artistic works and in litigation in literary and artistic property.

How
protect
a work
literary
and artistic ?

Unlike industrial property, where rights are protected by filing with the relevant offices, literary and artistic works are not subject to any formalities in France.

Thus, a literary and artistic work is protectable as soon as it is created and only because of this creation.

However, not all creations are copyrightable and ideas are not appropriable and are therefore free to be used.

Therefore, in order to be protected and to invoke rights against a third party, the author must prove not only the originality of the work, but also the ownership of his rights on the work, by proving the creation and the date of creation of the work.

It is thus strongly advised in the field of literary and artistic property to always proceed with a probationary deposit which will allow, if need be, within the framework of an infringement action, to prove that the author has indeed created the work at a precise date.

In addition, it is recommended to call upon lawyers or advisors in literary and artistic property to organize the transfer of rights between the authors and the companies that exploit the works, in particular, in order to organize the transfer of the copyrights of the employees and of the copyrights of the freelancers who work with the company from time to time.

Bouchara & Avocats and its lawyers specialized in literary and artistic property assist and advise you in the protection of your literary and artistic works and in litigation in literary and artistic property.

Typology of literary and artistic property

Copyright protects creations on the condition that they are original, regardless of their genre, form of expression, merit and purpose.

Also, many forms can be protected under copyright, subject to originality, and in particular :

Music

Literature

Works
audiovisual

Creations
graphics

Arts
graphics

Pure Art

Applied art

Photography

Works
advertising

Websites

Software

This typology of copyright does not constitute an exhaustive list and our firm specialized in literary and artistic property will assist you in determining whether your work is eligible for copyright protection and can be validly invoked in an infringement action against a third party.