What works are protected by copyright (droit d'auteur) ?
French copyright (droit d'auteur) is different than anglo-saxon copyright. What does it cover?
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Copyright protection is often the source of a real headache for artists and creators: what are the protected works? How to create a proof of the date of creation, in order to avoid that a third party can claim authorship and oppose it to the first author in the future?
Protection is based on the sometimes nebulous concept of originality, but which has the merit of being flexible and of being able to adapt to the majority of types of works.
It should be remembered that French copyright (droit d'auteur) is different from Copyright, Anglo-Saxon concept.
The question of proof of creation is also a thorny one, and has been resolved through practice.
The famous legal adage” Ideas are free ” perfectly summarizes the lack of protection of simple ideas, since they must be able to be used by all and are part of the common heritage. The same goes for concepts.
Copyright cannot protect a simple idea if it does not have a tangible expression and real execution. It is therefore not possible to protect a concept that has not been expressed.
On the other hand, it will be possible to protect them on the basis of unfair competition, for example in the case where a company invents a unique concept, which is then taken up by one of its competitors in order to target an identical audience.
Any intellectual work that demonstrates originality is protected by copyright.
This jurisprudential concept is by nature very subjective and was summed up by” The imprint of the author's personality ”. This concept means that it is possible to observe creative work on the part of the author, which could only have been his unique signature: a style of writing, a brush stroke, photographs with a particular composition... In general, it is necessary to take into account everything that makes it possible to identify a creator and his thinking, his thought...
To summarize, if an artistic work or a creation has required intellectual work and includes a specific “touch”, style, or artistic contribution, it will in principle be able to benefit from this protection.
However, it is necessary to note that this is a different concept from novelty, which corresponds more to technical protections such as patents or designs and models. Thus, a concept that did not exist until now cannot be protected under copyright, unless its expression itself is original. The same goes for a cooking recipe, as developed in a previous article..
In addition, the article L112-1 of the Intellectual Property Code provides that:
“The provisions of this Code protect the rights of authors in all intellectual works, regardless of genre, form of expression, merit, or destination.”
The type of work is therefore not taken into account by the texts. It is enough that it is original to benefit from copyright. This is why works as diverse as photographs, videos, songs, music, music, sculptures, paintings, drawings, architecture, clothing, performing arts... are protected by copyright.
The article L111-1 of the Intellectual Property Code then indicates that:
“The author of an intellectual work enjoys over that work, by the mere fact of its creation, an exclusive right of intangible property that is enforceable against all.”
As a result, the simple fact of having been created allows a work to benefit from copyright protection, again provided that it is original.
This therefore means that no filing is necessary to have an intellectual property right recognized by the courts, in the event of a dispute. The automation of copyright is a real asset, but you still need proof of creation.
While the question of the origin of copyright does not in fact arise for the majority of works, the question of its proof is essential. Disputes between two alleged authors are in fact regular, especially if the rights concerned are likely to have significant economic repercussions.
It may be interesting to gather evidence of creation in the following forms: preparatory work, research, preliminary exchanges. This is all the easier for companies, which often have internal processes for this purpose, in particular for copyright in terms of designs and models (concepts, preliminary drawings), or software (successive versions, prototyping).
While it will always remain difficult to give a certain date to these elements, they may constitute a” Commencement of proof in writing ”. The accumulation of this successive evidence will make it possible to demonstrate to the judge both a creative process and the creation itself.
It is necessary to be able to prove the date of creation of a work in order to have the trace of its antecedence. Indeed, in copyright matters, authorship is granted presumptuously to the person who discloses the work.
If the work is first disclosed by a person who is not the author, the real author will therefore have to prove its quality.
It is therefore useful to provide yourself with proof of the date of creation of the work. Simple ways exist:
Dispose of evidence of the date of creation and of his authorship allows you to protect yourself, in advance of future counterfeiting actions.
It is useful to ask yourself these questions during or after the creation process. The choice of a precautionary principle is particularly justified in view of their often key role in this type of case, and the difficulty of collecting the necessary evidence a posteriori.
Once again, caution is the mother of safety.
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