Copyright

We help cli­ents to pro­tect their artistic creations.

Our services

Bjerkéns Patentbyrå has exten­si­ve expe­ri­ence in mana­ging copy­right mat­ters and assis­ting cli­ents in are­as such as:

• asses­sing whet­her a lite­ra­ry, musi­cal or artistic cre­a­tion ful­fils requi­re­ments for copy­right protection,
• asses­sing infringe­ments upon copy­right,
• defen­ding cli­ents’ copy­right against infringe­ment, for examp­le through litigation,
• drafting agre­e­ments for trans­fer of copy­right, for examp­le between a com­pa­ny and an employee.

What does a copyright encompass?

A “work” may con­si­st of a film, a pain­ting, a lite­ra­ry or musi­cal pie­ce or even the sour­ce code to a com­pu­ter pro­gram. Copyright also pro­tects appli­ed art, which covers cer­tain fur­ni­tu­re, cut­le­ry and tex­tiles, i.e. art/design that may be used.

An aut­hor may app­ly to have their work asses­sed by Svensk Forms Opinionsnämd (the Copyright Panel of the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design), which asses­ses the ori­gi­na­li­ty of the work and deter­mi­nes whet­her copy­right pro­tec­tion is rele­vant for the work.

Is your artistic work being used by others?

In which countries is the copyright protected?

Copyright appli­es from the moment the work is cre­a­ted. Unlike patents, designs and tra­de­marks, copy­right does not need to be regis­te­red any­whe­re in order to be valid.

Are you get­ting paid for your cre­a­ti­ve expressions?

For how long is the protection valid?

Copyright gene­ral­ly lasts for the life­ti­me of the aut­hor and an addi­tio­nal 70 years the­re­af­ter. When the aut­hor dies, the heirs or right hol­ders deci­de how the work may be used.

Can a company own copyright?

A work cre­a­ted by the employee of a com­pa­ny, for examp­le an image or text, is gene­ral­ly dee­med to be owned by the employee.

This is only valid, however, if no agre­e­ment has other­wi­se been sig­ned sta­ting that the com­pa­ny acquires the eco­no­mic rights to the work cre­a­ted by the employe­es of the company.