Civil Code of Russian Federation. Part Four. Chapter 70. Copyright.
Article 1255. Copyright
1. Intellectual rights in works of science, literature, and art are considered as copyright rights.
2. The following rights belong to the author of a work:
1) the exclusive right in the work;
2) authorship right;
3) the right of the author in his name;
4) inviolability of the work;
5) the right to make the work public.
3. In cases provided by the present Code, other rights belong to the author of the work along with the rights indicated in Paragraph 2 of the present Article, including the right to demand remuneration for the use of an employee’s work, withdrawal right, droit de suite, and the right of access to works of art.
Article 1256. Validity of the Exclusive Right in Works of Science, Literature, and Art within the Territory of the Russian Federation
1. The exclusive right in works of science, literature, and art shall extend:
1) to works made public within the territory of the Russian Federation or not made public but existing in some objective form within the territory of the Russian Federation and shall be recognized for authors (or their legal successors) regardless of their citizenship;
2) to works made public outside the territory of the Russian Federation or not made public but existing in some objective form outside the territory of the Russian Federation and shall be recognized for authors who are citizens of the Russian Federation (or their legal successors);
3) to works made public outside the territory of the Russian Federation or not made public but existing in some objective form outside the territory of the Russian Federation and shall be recognized, in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation, within the territory of the Russian Federation for authors (or their legal successors) who are citizens of other states and persons without citizenship.
2. A work also shall be considered first made public by publication in the Russian Federation if, within thirty days after the date of first publication outside the territory of the Russian Federation, it was published within the territory of the Russian Federation.
3. In the grant of protection to a work within the territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation, the author of the work or other initial rightholder shall be determined according to the law of the country within the territory of which the legal fact took place that served as the basis for obtaining copyright.
4. Provision of protection to works within the territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation shall be done with respect to works that have not entered the public domain in the country of origin of the work as the result of the expiration of the term of validity of the exclusive right in these works established in such country and have not entered into the public domain in the Russian Federation as the result of the expiration of the term established in the present Code for the validity of the exclusive right thereto.
In the grant of protection for works in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation the term of validity of the exclusive right in these works within the territory of the Russian Federation may not exceed the term of validity of the exclusive right established in the country of origin of the work.
Article 1257. Author of a Work
The author of a work of science, literature, or art is the person by whose creative labor the work was made. The person indicated as the author on the original or other copy of a work shall be considered its author, unless proved otherwise.
Article 1259. Objects of Copyright
1. The objects of copyright are works of science, literature, and art regardless of the value and purpose of the work as well as of the mode of its expression:
- literary works;
- dramatic and musical-dramatic works, screenplay works;
- choreographic works and pantomimes;
- musical works with or without text;
- audiovisual works;
- works of painting, sculpture, graphics, design, graphic stories, comics, and other works of figurative art;
- works of decorative-applied and stage-set art;
- works of architecture, city planning, and park and garden art, including in the form of plans, depiction, and models;
- photographic works and works obtained by means analogous to photography;
- geographic, geological, and other maps, plans, sketches, and plastic works related to geography, topography, and other sciences;
- other works.
Computer programs are also considered as objects of copyright and are protected as literary works.
2. Objects of copyright also include:
1) derivative works, i.e., works that are a reworking of another work;
2) compiled works, i.e. works that constitute by selection or placement of the materials the result of creative labor.
3. Copyright also extends to works that have been made public and also to works that have not been made public that are expressed in any objective form, including in written, oral form (in the form of a public speech, public performance, and in any other form), in the form of a depiction, a sound or video recording, or in a three-dimensional form.
4. For the arising, realization, and protection of copyright, neither registration of the work nor the observance of any other formalities is required.
At the discretion of the rightholder computer programs and databases can be registered in accordance with the rules of Article 1262 of the present Code
5. Copyright does not extend to ideas, concepts, principles, methods, processes, systems, means, solutions of technical, organizational or other tasks, inventions, facts, or programming languages.
6. The following are not objects of copyright:
1) official documents of state bodies and bodies of local government of municipal formations, including statutes, other normative acts, judicial decisions, other materials of a legislative, administrative and judicial nature, official documents of international organizations, and also their official translations;
2) state symbols and emblems (flags, seals, insignia, money, and the like) and also symbols and emblems of municipal formations;
3) works of folk creativity (folklore) which do not have specific authors;
4) reports on events and facts having an exclusively informational nature (reports on the news of the day, program listings for television broadcasts, schedules for the movement of means of transport, and the like).
7. Copyright extends to part of a work, to its name, and to a character in the work if by their nature they can be recognized as an independent result of the creative work of the author and they satisfy the requirements established by Paragraph 3 of the present Article.
Article 1265. Authorship Right and Right of Author in his Name
1. The right of authorship, the right to be recognized as the author of a work and the right of the author to his name - the right to use or permit the use of a work under his own name, under an assumed name (pseudonym) or without an indication of the name, i.e., anonymously, are inalienable and nontransferable, including in the case of transfer to another person or passage to him of the exclusive right in a work and in the case of granting to another person of the right of use of the work. A waiver of these rights shall be void.
2. In case of publication of a work anonymously or under a pseudonym (with the exception of the case when the pseudonym of the author does not leave a doubt as to his identity) the publisher (Paragraph 1 of Article 1287), whose name or designation was indicated on the work, in the absence of proof to the contrary, shall be considered to be the representative of the author and in this capacity shall have the right to protect the rights of the author and to ensure their execution. This provision shall be effective until the time when the author of the work reveals his identity or declares his authorship.
Article 1266. Inviolability of a Work and Protection of a Work from Distortion
1. The changes, abridgements, or additions to a work or the provision of a work in its use with illustrations, a foreword, or an afterword, commentaries or any explanations shall be not allowed without the consent of the author (inviolability of a work).
In the use of a work after the death of the author, the person possessing the exclusive right in the work shall have the right to allow changes, abridgements or additions to the work, on the condition that this does not distort the thought of the author and does not disturb the completeness of the perception of the work and does not contradict the desire of the author specifically expressed by him in a will, letters, diaries, or other written form.
2. Perversion, distortion or other change in the work impugning the honor, dignity, or business reputation of the author and an attempt at such actions shall give the author the right to demand protection of his honor, dignity or business reputation in accordance with the rules of Article 152 of the present Code. In these cases, on demand of interested persons, protection is permitted for the honor and dignity of the author even after his death.
Article 1267. Protection of Authorship, the Name of the Author, and the Inviolability of a Work After the Death of the Author.
1. Authorship, the name of the author and the inviolability of the work shall be protected without time limits.
2. The author shall have the right in the course of the procedure provided for designation an executor of a will (Article 1134) to indicate the person to whom he entrusts the protection of authorship, name of the author, and inviolability of the work (second subparagraph of Paragraph 1 of Article 1266) after his death. This person shall exercise his powers for life.
In the absence of such indications or in the case of refusal of the person designated by the author to exercise the corresponding powers and also after the death of this person, the protection of authorship, of the name of the author, and of the inviolability of the work shall be exercised by the heirs of the author, their legal successors and other interested persons.
Article 1268. The Right to Make a Work Public.
1. The right to make his work public, i.e., the right to take an action or give consent to an action that for the first time would make the work accessible to the public by its publication, public display, public performance, communication by wireless means or by wire or in any other manner shall belong to the author.
In such case publication (release to the world) is the release into circulation of copies of the work that are a reproduction of the work in any material form in a number sufficient for the satisfaction of the reasonable needs of the public proceeding from the nature of the work.
2. An author who has transferred a work to another person by contract for use shall be considered to have consented to making this work public.
3. A work not made public during the life of the author may be made public after his death by a person holding the exclusive right in the work if the making of the work public does not contradict the desire of the author of the work specifically expressed by him in written form (in a will, in letters, in diaries, and the like).
Article 1269. Withdrawal Right
The author shall have the right to rescind a previously adopted decision to make a work public (withdrawal right) on the condition of compensation for damages caused by such a decision, to the person to whom the exclusive right in the work was alienated or to whom the right of the use of the work was granted. If the work has already been made public the author shall also have the duty to give public notice of its withdrawal. In such a case the author shall have the right to withdraw from circulation the previously released copies of the work, having compensated for damages caused by this.
The rules of the present Article shall not apply to computer programs, to employee’s works and to works that have entered into a complex object (Article 1240).
Article 1270. Exclusive Right in a Work
1. The exclusive right to use a work in accordance with Article 1229 of the present Code in any form and any manner not contrary to law (the exclusive right in the work), including by the methods indicated in Paragraph 2 of the present Article shall belong to the author of the work. The rightholder may dispose of the exclusive right in the work.
2. The use of a work, regardless of whether or not the corresponding actions are taken for the purpose of extracting profit or without such a purpose shall include, in particular:
1) reproduction of the work , i.e., the creation of one or more copies of a work or of part of it in any material form, including in the form of audio or video recording, creation in three dimensions of one or more copies of a two-dimensional work and in two-dimensions of one or more copies of a three dimensional work. In this case the fixation of the work on an electronic carrier, including fixation in the memory of a computer shall also be considered reproduction, except for the case when such fixation is temporary and constitutes an inseparable and essential part of a technological process having the sole purpose of lawful use of the fixation or lawful communication of the work to the public;
2) distribution of a work by sale or other alienation of its original or of copies;
3) public display of a work, i.e. any showing of the original or of a copy of a work directly or on a screen with the use of a film, transparency, television frame, or other technical means and also the demonstration of individual frames of an audiovisual work without observance of their sequence directly or with the use of technical means at a place open for free attendance or at a place where a significant number of persons not belonging to the usual circle of a family is present, regardless of whether the work is perceived in the place of its demonstration or in another place simultaneously with the demonstration of a work;
4) the import of the original or of copies of a work for the purpose of distribution;
5) renting out of the original or a copy of the work;
6) public performance of a work, i.e., the presentation of the work in live performance or with the use of technical means (radio, television, and other technical means) and also the showing of an audiovisual work (with or without the accompaniment of sound) at a place open for free attendance or at a place where a significant number of persons not belonging to the usual circle of a family is present, regardless of whether or not the work is perceived in the place of its demonstration or showing or in another place simultaneously with the demonstration or showing of a work;
7) communication by wireless means, i.e., communication of a work to the public (including showing or performance) by radio or television (including by way of retransmission), with the exception of communication by wire. In this case, communication means any action by which the work becomes accessible for aural and/or visual perception regardless of its actual perception by the public. In case of communication of works by wireless means via satellite, communication by wireless means the receipt of signals from a ground station by the satellite and transmission of signals from the satellite by means of which the work may be communicated to the public regardless of its actual reception by the public. Communication of coded signals is communication by wireless means if the means of decoding are granted to an unlimited group of people by the broadcasting organization or with its consent;
8) communication by cable, i.e., communication of the work to the public by radio or television with the use of a cable, wire, optical fiber, or analogous means (including by way of retransmission). Communication of coded signals is communication by cable if the means of decoding are granted to an unlimited group of people by the cablecasting organization or with its consent;
9) a translation or other reworking of the work. In this case, reworking of a work means the creation of a derivative work (adaptation, screen version, arrangement, stage version, or the like). Reworking (or modification) of a computer program or a database means any changes made in them, including the translation of such a computer program or such a database from one language to another with the exception of an adaptation, i.e., changes made solely for the purpose of applicability of a computer program or a database to specific technical means of the user or under the management of specific programs of the user;
10) the practical implementation of an architectural, design, city planning, or park or garden plan;
11) communicating a work to the public in such a way that any person may obtain access to the work from any place and at any time of his own choosing (communication to the public).
3. The practical application of the provisions constituting the content of a work, including provisions that are a technical, economic, organizational or other solution is not the use of a work with respect to the rules of the present Chapter, with the exception of the use provided in numbered subparagraph 10 of Paragraph 2 of the present Article.
4. The rules of subparagraph 5 of Paragraph 2 of the present Article shall not apply with respect to a computer program with the exception of the case when such program is the basic object of renting out.
Article 1276. Free Use of a Work Permanently Located at a Place Open for Public
The reproduction, communication by wireless means or by wire of a photographic work, a work of architecture, or a work of figurative art that is permanently located in a place open for free attendance shall be allowed without the consent of the author or other rightholder and without payment of remuneration, with the exception of cases when the depiction of the work by this method is the basic object of the reproduction, communication by wireless means or by wire or when the image of the work is used for commercial purposes.
Article 1281. Validity of the Exclusive Right in a Work
1. The exclusive right in a work shall be effective for the whole life of the author plus seventy years, counting from January 1 of the year following the year of death of the author.
The exclusive right in a work created in coauthorship shall be effective for the whole life of the author outliving the other coauthors plus seventy years, counting from January 1 of the year following the year of his death.
2. For a work made publicly anonymously or under a pseudonym, the term of validity of the exclusive right shall expire after seventy years counting from January 1 of the year following the year of its lawfully being made public. If in the course of the aforementioned term the author of the work made public anonymously or under a pseudonym reveals his identity or if his identity will no longer leave any doubts, the exclusive right shall be effective during the course of the term established in Paragraph 1 of the present Article.
3. The exclusive right in a work made public after the death of the author shall be effective during the course of seventy years after the work was made public, counting from January 1 of the year following the year of its being made pubic, on the condition that the work was made public within the course of seventy years after the death of the author.
4. If the author of a work was repressed and posthumously rehabilitated, the term of validity of the exclusive right shall be considered extended and the seventy-year period shall be calculated from January 1 of the year following the year of rehabilitation of the author of the work.
5. If the author worked during the time of the Great Patriotic War or participated in it, the term of validity of the exclusive right established by the present Article shall be extended by four years.
Article 1282. Passage of a Work into the Public Domain
1. Upon the expiration of the term of validity of the exclusive right, a work of science, literature or art, whether made public or not made public, shall enter the public domain.
2. A work that has entered the public domain may be used freely by any person without any consent or permission and without payment of author's remuneration. In such a case authorship, the name of the author, and the inviolability of the work shall be protected.
3. A work that has not been made public that has entered the public domain may be made public by any person, unless making the work public would contradict the desire of the author specifically expressed by him in written form (in a will, letters, diaries, and the like).
The rights of the person who has lawfully made public such a work shall be determined in accordance with Chapter 71 of the present Code.
Article 1283. Passage of the Exclusive Right in a Work by Inheritance
1. The exclusive right in a work passes by inheritance.
2. In the cases provided by Article 1151 of the present Code an exclusive right in a work included in the composition of an inheritance shall be terminated and the work shall pass into the public domain.
Article 1285. Contract for Alienation of Exclusive Right in a Work
Under a contract for the alienation of the exclusive right in a work the author or other rightholder transfers or becomes obligated to transfer in full an exclusive right in a work belonging to him to the recipient of such right.
Article 1288. Contract of Author's Order
1. Under a contract of author's order, one party (the author) has the duty on the order of another party (the customer) to create the work of science, literature, or art provided by the contract on a material carrier or in another form.
The material carrier of the work shall be transferred to the customer in ownership unless the agreement of the parties provides for its transfer to the customer for temporary use.
The contract of author's order shall be compensated unless the agreement of the parties provides otherwise.
2. A contract of author's order may provide for the alienation to the customer of the exclusive right in a work that must be created by the author or the grant to the customer of the right of use of this work within the limits established by the contract.
3. In the case when the contract of author's order provides for the alienation to the customer of the exclusive right in a work that must be created by the author, the provisions of the present Code on the contract on the alienation of an exclusive right shall be respectively applied to this contract, unless from the nature of the contract it follows otherwise.
4. If a contract of author's order is concluded with a term on the granting to the customer of the right of use of the work within the limits established by the contract, the provisions provided by Articles 1286 and 1287 of the present Code shall be respectively applied to such contract.
Article 1292. Right of Access.
1. The author of a work of figurative art shall have the right to require from the owner of the original of the work the provision of the possibility of exercising the right to reproduction of his work (the right of access). However the owner of the original may not be required to ship the work to the author.
2. The author of a work of architecture shall have the right to require from the owner of the original of the work the provision of the possibility of making photographs and video recordings of the work, unless otherwise provided by the contract.
Article 1293. Droit de suite
1. In case of alienation by an author of the original of a work of figurative art, upon each public resale of the respective original in which a gallery of figurative art, art salon, store, or other similar organization participates as a seller, buyer, or intermediary, the author shall have the right to receive remuneration from the seller in the form of a percentage deducted from the resale price (droit de suite). The amount of the percentage deduction, and also the conditions and procedure for their payment shall be determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.
2. Authors shall enjoy the droit de suite by the procedure established by Paragraph 1 of the present Article also with respect to original manuscripts (those written by the author himself) of literature and musical works.
3. The droit de suite is inalienable, but shall pass to the heirs of the author for the term of validity of the exclusive right.
Article 1300. Copyright Management Information
1. Information about copyright is any information that identifies a work, an author, or other rightholder or information about the terms of use of a work that is contained in the original or on a copy of a work, is attached to it or appears in connection with communication by wireless means or by wire or by the bringing of such a work to the public and also any numbers or codes in which such information is contained.
2. With respect to works the following shall not be allowed:
1) removing or changing information about copyright without the permission of the author or other rightholder;
2) reproduction, distribution, import for purposes of distribution, public performance, communication by wireless means or by wire, or bringing to the public of works with respect to which information about copyright has been removed or changed without the permission of the author or other rightholder.
3. In case of violation of the provisions provided by Paragraph 2 of the present Article, the author or other rightholder shall have the right to demand at his choice from the violator remuneration for damages or payment of remuneration accordance with Article 1301 of the present Code.
Article 1301. Liability for Infringement of an Exclusive Right in a Work
In cases of infringement of the exclusive right in a work the author or other rightholder, along with the use of other applicable methods of protection and measures of liability established by the present Code (Articles 1250, 1252, and 1253) shall have the right in accordance with Paragraph 3 of Article 1252 of the present Code to demand at his option from the infringer instead of remuneration for damages the payment of remuneration:
in the amount from ten thousand rubles to five million rubles determined at the discretion of the court;
in double the amount of the value of the copies of the work or of two times the amount of the value of the right of the use of the work determined proceeding from the price which in comparable circumstances is usually taken for the lawful use of the work.
Article 1302. Security for a Claim in Cases of Copyright Infringement
1. A court may forbid a defendant or other person with respect to whom there are sufficient grounds to suppose that he is an infringer of copyright to take specific actions (creation, reproduction, sale, renting out, import, or other use provided by the present Code, and also transportation, storage, or possession) with the purpose of introducing into commercial circulation copies of a work suspected to be counterfeit.
2. The court may impose seizure on all copies of a work suspected to be counterfeit and also on materials and equipment used or meant for their creation or reproduction.
In the presence of sufficient data on the infringement of copyright the bodies of inquiry or investigation shall be obligated to take measures for the finding and seizing of copies of a work with respect to which it is supposed that they are counterfeit and also of materials and equipment used or meant for creation or reproduction of the abovementioned copies of the work, including in necessary cases measures for their taking and transfer for responsible storage.