Intellectual property is a person’s legal right for the results of their creative activity.
Intellectual property rights include:
- copyright and copyright-related rights;
- industrial property.
Copyright
Copyrights protect the authors of literary, artistic, and scientific works from the unlawful use of their work. Copyright applies without any official registration or formalities. In Estonia, copyright generally applies during the author’s lifetime and for 70 years after their death.
Related rights accompanying copyright derive from copyrighted works and include the rights of the performers (dancers, actors, musicians, etc.), producers of phonograms, television and radio service providers, creators of databases, and producers of the first recording of films.
In Estonia, copyrights are regulated by the Copyright Act (in Estonian).
Pursuant to the Copyright Act, ‘works protected by copyright’ means any original results in the literary, artistic, or scientific domain which are expressed in an objective form and can be perceived and reproduced in this form either directly or by means of technical devices. A work is original if it is the author’s own intellectual creation.
The author of a work is guaranteed a number of moral and economic rights. For example, the author has the right of authorship, right of author’s name, right of integrity of the work, right of disclosure of the work, etc. The author also has the right of reproduction, distribution, alteration, public performance, and communication of the work, the right of making the work available on the Internet, etc. Similarly, the protection of objects of related rights is regulated through the guarantee of exclusive rights. Use of the object of rights may, within certain limits, take place without permission and payment of a fee. These are the so-called ‘free use’ cases set out in Chapter IV of the Copyright Act which also extend to objects of related rights.
In general, the moral and economic rights of the author belong to the author of the work. Legal entities own copyrights only in the cases prescribed by law, employment relationships being one such case. The author of a work created under an employment contract in the execution of their duties shall enjoy copyright in the work but the economic rights of the author to use the work for the purpose and to the extent prescribed by the duties shall be transferred to the employer, unless otherwise prescribed by contract.
In general, works and objects of related rights may only be used with the permission of the owner of the rights. The work may be used by another person only if the author has transferred their economic rights to the work or granted an authorisation to use the work. Authors, performers, and producers of phonograms may exercise their rights themselves or through their respective associations.
In Estonia, the following organisations have been established for the joint exercise of authors’ rights: the Estonian Authors’ Society (EAÜ), the Estonian Performers Association (EEL), the Estonian Association of the Phonogram Producers (EFÜ), the Estonian Association of Audiovisual Authors (EAAL), and the Estonian Actors’ Union (ENL).
Permits and tariffs for the public performance of musical works protected by copyright
If you wish to use works protected by copyright in catering or accommodation establishments, in trade or service companies, at music or sports events, etc., you must conclude a contract with the Estonian Authors’ Society (in Estonian). Performers and producers of phonograms also have to be remunerated.
The rights and interests of film and music authors and producers in Estonia are protected by the Estonian Organisation for Copyright Protection.
More information on copyright and related rights can be found on the website intellektuaalomand.ee.