Copyright law
Copyright is part of the intellectual property law as a branch of the civil law. Copyright law is a system of legal regulations governing, regulating and protecting the relationships that occur upon or with regard to the creation and use of scientific, literary, artistic and other works resulting from intellectual endeavor. According to article 3(1) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, any literary, artistic and scientific work resulting from creative endeavor and expressed by any mode and in any objective form shall be the object of copyright such as:
- literary works, including works of scientific and technical literature, publicism and computer software;
- musical works;
- performing art works – dramatic or dramatico-musical works, entertainments in dumb show, choreography, etc.;
- films and other audiovisual material;
- works of fine art, including works of applied art, design and crafts;
- realised architectural works and applied development plans;
- photographic works and works created in a way analogical to photography;
- approved architectural designs, approved spatial development designs, maps, sketches, plans and others related to architecture, spatial development, geography, topography, museum research and any other area of science and technology;
- graphic design of printed editions;
- cadaster maps and state topographic maps.
The following shall also be considered objects of copyright:
- translations and adaptations of existing works and folklore;
- arrangements of musical works and folklore;
- periodicals, encyclopedias, collected works, anthologies, bibliographies, databases and other similar objects that include two or more works or products.
Parts of works and preliminary drawings, plans, etc. may also be objects of copyright.
Radostin Vasilev Law Firm offers you legal defence under administrative and criminal proceedings related to violations of copyrights, tortuous copyright claims under article 95 et seq. of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, as well as with regard to criminal proceedings under article 172a of the Criminal Code. Furthermore, we provide the following services in this area:
- Registration and protection of Bulgarian, European and international trademark;
- Legal defence and assistance with regard to artistic ownership in the field of science, literature and art;
- Legal consultations on copyright and neighbouring rights;
- Overall legal assistance in relation to industrial design;
- Legal support for the creation, use and protection of inventions;
- License trading with industrial and intellectual ownership;
- Consultations on geographic designations;
- Checkups of similar elements and characteristics of intellectual property;
- Procedural representation before competent courts, Patent Office and before all relevant institutions with regard to intellectual property.