Dz. U.06.90.631-tłum.
Stan prawny tłumaczenia: Dz. U.2010.152.1016-zm.
ACT
of 4 February 1994
on Copyright and Related Rights
(consolidated text)
Chapter 1
Subject Matter of Copyright
Article 1. 1. The subject matter of copyright is each individual creative work, embodied in any form, regardless of its value, designation, or medium of expression (work).
2. In particular, the subject matter of copyright encompasses:
1) works expressed in words, mathematical symbols or graphic (literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic and computer programs);
2) artistic works;
3) photographic works;
4) works of string instrument craftsmanship;
5) works of industrial design;
6) works of architecture, urban architecture, and urban planning;
7) musical works and textual and musical works;
8) dramatic works, dramatic works with music, choreographic works, and pantomimes;
9) audiovisual works (including motion pictures).
21. Protection shall only apply to the medium of expression; protection shall not extend to discoveries, ideas, procedures, methods and principles of operation or mathematical concepts.
3. A work is the subject matter of copyright from the moment it is fixed, even if it is unfinished.
4. An author is entitled to protection regardless of his compliance with any formal requirements.
Article 2. 1. A work deriving from another person's work, such as in particular translation, transformation or adaptation of an original work, is the subject matter of copyright, notwithstanding the right in the original work.
2. The use and disposition of a derivative work shall be subject to the permission of the author of the original work (derivative right) unless the author's economic rights to the original work have expired. In the case of databases that have the features of a work of authorship, the permission of the author of a database is also necessary to make a derivative work.
3. The author of an original work may withdraw his permission if a derivative work is not distributed within five years from the grant of the permission. The compensation paid to the author shall not be refundable.
4. A derivative work is not a work inspired by another person's work.
5. Copies of a derivative work shall present the name of the author and the title of the original work.
Article 3. Collections, anthologies, selected works and databases that have the features of a work of authorship are the subject matter of copyright, even if they contain materials unprotected by copyright, if the resulting selection, arrangement, or compilation is of creative nature, notwithstanding the rights in the original works used.
Article 4. The following are not the subject matter of copyright:
1) laws and draft laws;
2) official documents, materials, marks and symbols;
3) published descriptions of a patent or a subject matter of legal protection;
4) basic press information.
Article 5. The provisions of this Act apply to works:
1) whose author or co-author is a Polish national, or
11) whose author is a national of a Member State of the European Union or a Member State of the European Free Trade Organisation (EFTA) - party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or
2) that were originally published in the territory of the Republic of Poland or were simultaneously published in that territory and abroad, or
3) that were originally published in Polish language, or
4) that are protected under international agreements, to the extent that they are protected by those agreements.
Article 6. 1. Within the meaning of this Act:
1) a published work means a work that has been reproduced and whose copies have been made available to the public with the author's permission;
2) simultaneous publication of a work means publication of the work in the territory of the Republic of Poland and abroad, within thirty days of its first publication;
3) a distributed work means a work that, with the author's permission, has been communicated to the public in any form;
4) broadcasting of a work means distribution of a work by wireless (terrestrial or satellite) or wired radio or television transmission;
5) rebroadcasting of a work means its distribution by an entity other than the original broadcaster by acquisition of an unabridged and unaltered broadcast of a broadcasting organisation and simultaneous and integral communication of that broadcast to the public;
6) marketing of a work means the making available of an original or copies of a work to the public by transfer of ownership by the rightholder or with the consent of the rightholder;
7) rental of copies of a work means making them available for use for a limited period and for direct or indirect financial advantage;
8) lending of copies of a work means making them available for use for a limited period and not for direct or indirect financial advantage;
9) replaying of a work means communicating by using either the audio, visual or audiovisual medium on which the work is recorded or receivers of the radio or television broadcast of the work;
10) technical protection means any technologies, devices or their components the purpose of which is to prevent or limit measures that enable illegal use or performance of works;
11) effective technical protection means technical protection that enable the rightholders to control the use of a protected work or performance through application of an access control or protection process, such as in particular encryption, scrambling or any other transformation of a work or performance, or a copy control mechanism that achieve the protection objective;
12) rights-management information means information that identifies the work, the author or the rightholder, or information concerning the terms and conditions of use of the work, if such information is enclosed to a copy of the work or provided in connection with its distribution, including any identification codes.
2. Each reference in this Act to an equivalent of an amount denominated in euro means its equivalent denominated in Polish zlotys calculated at the average euro exchange rate or its equivalent denominated in another currency, calculated at the average euro exchange rate and the average exchange rate of that other currency published by the National Bank of Poland on the day preceding a transaction.
Article 61. 1. Distribution of a work in the territory of the Republic of Poland by radio or television satellite broadcasting means distribution of the work in the territory of the Republic of Poland by and under the responsibility of a broadcasting organisation by transmitting it to the satellite and back to Earth.
2. If radio or television satellite broadcasting takes place in a state that is not a member of the European Union and if that state does not guarantee the level of protection determined in Chapter II of the Council Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission (OJ L 248 06.10.1993, p. 15; Polish special edition of OJ, Chapter 17, vol. 1, p. 134), and if:
1) if the signal carrying the work is transmitted to the satellite from an uplink station situated in the territory of the Republic of Poland, the work is deemed to have been distributed in the territory of the Republic of Poland by the operator of that station;
2) the signal carrying the work is transmitted to the satellite via an uplink station situated in the territory of a non-European Union member state, and distribution of the work is commissioned by a broadcasting organisation that is established in a Member State of the European Union and has its principal place of business in the territory of the Republic of Poland, the work is deemed to have been distributed in the territory of the Republic of Poland by that organisation.
3. If the signal carrying a work is encrypted in a way that prevents its unlimited public reception, distribution of the work within the meaning of paragraph 1 is conditional upon simultaneous provisions by the broadcasting organisation, or with its consent, of means for decrypting the signal.
4. A satellite means an artificial satellite of the Earth operating on frequency bands that, pursuant to the provisions of the Telecommunications Law Act of 16 July 2004 (Journal of Laws No. 171, item 1800, as amended), are reserved for the broadcast of signals for reception by the public or are reserved for closed point-to-point communication, provided that in both cases reception of signals must take place in comparable circumstances.
Article 7. If international agreements to which the Republic of Poland is a party provide for further reaching protection than the protection provided for of this Act the provisions of those agreements apply to unpublished works of Polish nationals or to works originally published in the territory of the Republic of Poland, or works simultaneously published in the territory of the Republic of Poland, or to originally published in Polish language.
Chapter 2
Rightholders
Article 8. 1. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act, the holder of copyright is the author.
2. It is assumed that the author is the person who is named as such on the copies of a work or whose authorship has otherwise been communicated to the public in association with distribution of a work.
3. By the time an author discloses his identity, he is represented by his producer or publisher in enforcement of his copyright, or if he has no producer or publisher - a competent collecting society.
Article 9. 1. Co-authors are joint copyright holders. It is assumed that their respective shares are equal. Each co-author may petition to the court to determine the ratio shares based on the respective creative contributions of each co-owner.
2. Each co-author may enforce copyright to his part of a work that has independent meaning, notwithstanding the rights of the other co-authors.
3. The consent of all co-authors is required to enforce copyright to the entire work. If such consent is not available, each co-author may petition to the court to resolve the issue, whereupon the court shall rule on the issue taking into account the interests of all co-authors.
4. Each co-author may pursue claims because of infringement of copyright to the entire work. All co-authors shall be entitled to the acquired benefit proportionally to the ratio of their respective shares.
5. The provisions of the Civil Code on fractional co-ownership apply accordingly to the economic rights of co-authors.
Article 10. If authors combine their independent works for the purpose of joint distribution, each of them may request the other authors to grant permission for distribution of the resulting joint work, unless there are reasonable grounds to refuse the permission and the agreement does not stipulate otherwise. The provisions of Articles 9.2-9.4 apply accordingly.
Article 11. Economic rights to a collective work, in particular an encyclopaedia or a periodical publication, are held by the producer or publisher, and to their respective parts that have independent meaning - by the respective authors. It is assumed that the producer or publisher hold the right to the title.
Article 12. 1. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or an employment contract, the employer whose employee has created a work as part of his duties under the employment relationship acquires, upon acceptance of the work, all the economic rights of the author within the scope of the purpose of the employment contract and the unanimous intention of the parties.
2. If the employer does not undertake, within two years from the date of acceptance, distributing a work intended for distribution in accordance with the employment contract, the author may give the employer an additional period of time, communicated in writing, to distribute the work, failing which the rights acquired by the employer together with ownership of the material object in which the work is fixed shall return to the author, unless otherwise provided for in the employment contract. The parties may establish another time limit to undertake distribution of a work.
3. Unless otherwise provided for in an employment contract, upon acceptance of a work, the employer acquires ownership of the material object in which the work is fixed.
Article 13. If the employer does not notify the author within six months from the delivery of a work that he rejects the work or conditions acceptance of the work on the author making certain modifications within a reasonable period of time set for that purpose, it is assumed that the work has been accepted without reservations. The parties may agree on a different time limit.
Article 14. 1. Unless otherwise provided for in an employment contract, a scientific institution has preferential right to publish a scientific work of its employee who has created that work as part of his duties under his employment relationship. The author is entitled to remuneration. The preferential right expires if no agreement to publish the work is executed with the author within six months of delivery of the work, or if the work is not published within two years from the date of its acceptance.
2. A scientific institution may, without separate remuneration, use the scientific material contained in a work referred to in paragraph 1 and make that work available to third persons, if it is in accordance with the agreed purpose of the work or if it is so agreed in the agreement.
Article 15. It is assumed that the producer is the person who is named as such on the objects in which a work is fixed or whose identity as the producer has otherwise been communicated to the public in association with distribution of the work.
Article 15a. A higher education institution within the meaning of provisions on higher education has preferential right to publish a student's diploma work. If a higher education institution does not publish a diploma work within 6 months from the diploma examination, the student who prepared that work may publish it, unless the diploma work is a part of a collective work.
Chapter 3
Scope of Copyright
Subchapter 1
Moral Rights of the Author
Article 16. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act, moral rights of the author protect the perpetual, inalienable, and non-transferable link between the author and his work and, in particular, his right:
1) of authorship;
2) to put his name or pseudonym on a work, or to communicate a work anonymously;
3) to protect the integrity of the content and form of a work and its fair use;
4) to decide to communicate a work to the public for the first time;
5) to monitor the use of a work.
Subchapter 2
Author's Economic Rights
Article 17. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act, the author has the exclusive rights to use or dispose of a work in all fields of use, and to receive remuneration for the use of his work.
Article 171. Adaptation or reproduction of a database that has the features of a work of authorship by a legal user of the database or a copy thereof does not require the permission of the author of the database, if such adaptation or reproduction is necessary to access the content of the database or to use that content in a normal manner. If a user is only authorised to use a part of a database, this provision applies only to that part of the database.
Article 18. 1. The Author's economic rights are not subject to execution for as long as they serve the author. This does not apply to matured debts.
2. After the author's death, his heirs may oppose to execution against copyright to an unpublished work, unless such opposition is contrary to the author's disclosed will concerning distribution of the work.
3. The right to remuneration referred to in Article 19.1, Article 191, Article 20.2-20.4, Article 201, Article 30.2 and Article 70.3 may not be waived, alienated or executed. This does not apply to matured debts.
Article 19. 1. In the case of professional resale of the originals of an artistic or photographic work, the author and his heirs are entitled to remuneration being the sum of the following rates:
1) 5 per cent of a part of the selling price, if that part ranges up to an equivalent of EUR 50.000, and
2) 3 per cent of a part of the selling price, if part price ranges be...
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