- TITLE I COPYRIGHT
- Part I General Provisions
- Part II Special Provisions
- TITLE II NEIGHBORING RIGHTS
- TITLE III MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBORING RIGHTS
- TITLE IV APPLICATION OF THE LAW. TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights *
(No. 8 of March 14, 1996)
TABLE OF CONTENTS **
Articles
Title I Copyright
Part I General Provisions
Chapter I Introductory Provisions..................................................................... 1-2
Chapter II Ownership of Copyright................................................................... 3-6
Chapter III Subject Matter of Copyright........................................................... 7-9
Chapter IV Content of Copyright.................................................................. 10-23
Chapter V Duration of Copyright Protection................................................ 24-32
Chapter VI Limitations on the Exercise of Copyright................................... 33-38
Chapter VII Transfer of the Author’s Economic Rights
Section 1 Common Provisions............................................................... 39-47
Section 2 Publishing Contract................................................................ 48-57
Section 3 Theatrical or Musical Performance Contract......................... 58-62
Section 4 Rental Contract............................................................................. 63
Part II Special Provisions
Chapter VIII Cinematographic Works and Other Audiovisual Works......... 64-71
Chapter IX Computer Programs.................................................................... 72-81
Chapter X Works of Three-Dimensional Art, Architecture, and Photography 82-87
* Romanian title: Lege privind dreptul de autor ¸si drepturile conexe.
** Entry into force: June 25, 1996.
** Source: Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No. 60, of March 26, 1996.
** Note: Translation by the International Bureau of WIPO on the basis of an English translation communicated by the Romanian authorities.
** Added by the International Bureau of WIPO.
Chapter XI Protection of the Portrait, of the Addressee of Correspondence and of the Secrecy of Information Sources.......................................................... 88-91
Title II Neighboring Rights
Chapter I Common Provisions...................................................................... 92-94
Chapter II The Rights of Performers........................................................... 95-102
Chapter III The Rights of Producers of Sound Recordings....................... 103-106
Chapter IV Provisions Common to Authors, Performers and Producers of Sound and Audiovisual Recordings...................................................................... 107-112
Chapter V Television and Radio Broadcasting Organizations
Section 1 The Rights of Television and Radio Broadcasting Organizations 113-116
Section 2 Communication to the Public by Satellite.......................... 117-119
Section 3 Retransmission by Cable.................................................... 120-122
Title III Management and Protection of Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Chapter I Management of the Economic Aspects of Copyright and of Neighboring Rights
Section 1 General Provisions..................................................................... 123
Section 2 Collective Copyright and Neighboring Rights Administration Organizations..................................................................................... 124-129
Section 3 Functions of Collective Administration Organizations...... 130-136
Chapter II Romanian Copyright Office..................................................... 137-138
Chapter III Procedures and Sanctions....................................................... 139-145
Title IV Application of the Law. Transitional and Final Provisions....................... 146-154
TITLE I COPYRIGHT
Part I General Provisions
Chapter I Introductory Provisions
Art. 1.—(1) The copyright in a literary, artistic or scientific work and in any similar work of intellectual creation shall be recognized and guaranteed as provided in this Law. That right vests in the author and embodies attributes of moral and economic character.
(2) A work of intellectual creation shall be acknowledged and protected, independently of its disclosure to the public, simply by virtue of its creation.
Art. 2. Recognition of the rights provided for in this Law shall not prejudice or exclude protection granted under other statutory provisions.
Chapter II Ownership of Copyright
Art. 3.—(1) The natural person or persons who created the work shall be the author thereof.
(2) In cases expressly provided for by law, legal entities and natural persons other than the author may benefit from the protection granted to the author.
(3) Ownership of copyright may be transferred as provided by law.
Art. 4.—(1) Unless proved otherwise, the person under whose name the work was first disclosed to the public shall be presumed to be the author thereof.
(2) Where the work was disclosed to the public anonymously or under a pseudonym that does not identify the author, the copyright shall be exercised by the person whether natural person or legal entity who discloses it to the public with the author’s consent, as long as the latter does not disclose his identity.
Art. 5.—(1) A work of joint authorship shall be a work created by several co-authors in collaboration.
(2) The copyright in a work of joint authorship shall belong to the co-authors thereof, one of whom may be the main author as provided in this Law.
(3) Unless otherwise agreed, co-authors may only exploit the work by common consent. Refusal of consent by any one of the co-authors must be fully justified.
(4) Where each co-author’s contribution is distinct, that contribution may be exploited separately, provided that it does not prejudice the exploitation of the joint work or the rights of the other co-authors.
(5) In the case of the utilization of a work of joint authorship, the remuneration shall accrue to the co-authors in the proportions they shall have agreed upon. Failing such agreement, the remuneration shall be divided in proportion to the share contributed by each author, or equally if such shares cannot be determined.
Art 6.—(1) A collective work shall be a work in which the personal contributions of the co-authors form a whole, without it being possible, in view of the nature of the work, to ascribe a distinct right to any one of the co-authors in the whole work so created.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed, the copyright in a collective work shall belong to the person, whether natural person or legal entity, on whose initiative and responsibility and under whose name the work was created.
Chapter III Subject Matter of Copyright
Art. 7. The subject matter of copyright shall be original works of intellectual creation in the literary, artistic, or scientific field, regardless of their manner of creation, specific form or mode of expression and independently of their merit and purpose, such as:
(a) literary and journalistic writings, lectures, sermons, pleadings, addresses and any other written or oral works, and also computer programs;
(b) scientific works, written or oral, such as presentations, studies, university textbooks, school textbooks and scientific projects and documentation;
(c) musical compositions with or without words;
(d) dramatic and dramatico-musical works, choreographic and mimed works;
(e) cinematographic works and any other audiovisual works;
(f) photographic works and any other works expressed by a process analogous to photography;
(g) works of three-dimensional art such as: works of sculpture, painting, drawing, engraving, lithography, monumental art, stage design, tapestry, ceramics, glass and metal shaping, and also works of art applied to products intended for practical use;
(h) works of architecture, including sketches, scale models and the graphic work that constitutes an architectural project;
(i) three-dimensional works, maps and drawings in the field of topography, geography and science in general.
Art. 8. Without prejudice to the rights of the authors of the original work, copyright shall likewise subsist in derived works created on the basis of one or more pre-existing works, namely:
(a) translations, adaptations, annotations, documentary works, arrangements of music and any other transformation of a literary, artistic or scientific work that themselves entail creative intellectual effort;
(b) collections of literary, artistic or scientific works, such as encyclopaedias, anthologies and collections and compilations of protected or unprotected material or data, including databases, which, by reason of the selection or arrangement of their subject matter constitute intellectual creations.
Art. 9. The following shall not benefit from the legal protection accorded to copyright:
(a) the ideas, theories, concepts, discoveries and inventions contained in a work, whatever the manner of the adoption, writing, explanation or expression thereof;
(b) official texts of a political, legislative, administrative or judicial nature, and official translations thereof;
(c) official symbols of the State, public authorities and organizations, such as armorial bearings, seals, flags, emblems, shields, badges and medals;
(d) means of payment;
(e) news and press information;
(f) simple facts and data.
Chapter IV Content of Copyright
Art. 10. The author of a work shall have the following moral rights:
(a) to decide whether, how and when the work will be disclosed to the public;
(b) to demand recognition of his authorship of the work;
(c) to decide under what name the work will be disclosed to the public;
(d) to demand respect for the integrity of the work and to oppose any modification or any distortion of the work if it is prejudicial to his honor or reputation;
(e) to withdraw the work, subject to indemnification of any owners of exploitation rights who might be prejudiced by the exercise of the said withdrawal right.
Art. 11.—(1) The moral rights may not be renounced or disposed of.
(2) After the author’s death, the exercise of the rights provided for in Article 10(b) and (d) shall be transferred by inheritance, in accordance with civil legislation, for an unlimited period. If there are no heirs, the excercise of the said rights shall revert to the Romanian Copyright Office.
Art. 12. The author of a work shall have the exclusive economic right to decide whether, how, and when his work is to be used or exploited, including the right to authorize the use of the work by others.
Art. 13. The use or exploitation of a work gives the author distinct and exclusive rights to authorize:
(a) complete or partial reproduction of the work;
(b) dissemination of the work;
(c)