Czas ochrony autorskich praw majątkowych do utworu jako przedmiotu prawa autorskiego

Abstract

This article refers to a very important topic concerning the subject matter of copyright protection and the duration of this protection form the historical point of view. At the beginning it is an analysis of two basic theories concerning copyright law system and its legal consequences in the fi eld of Polish and German law. Then the authors consider the work as a subject matter of copyright, which is defi ned by legislator as all manifestation of creative activity of individual nature, established in any form, irrespective of its value, designation or manner of expression. Within this topic the necessary conditions to establish the author’s work are represented. In this article the Authors examine the duration of copyright protection in the historical conception. The author’s economic rights shall expire generally after the lapse of seventy years from the death of the author. But there are a lot of exceptions, for instance in the case of joint works– from the death of the coauthor who has survived the others or in the case of an audio–visual work – from the death of the last of the following: the main director, the author of screenplay, author of dialogues, composer of music written for the audio–visual work.