Mr.Atanas Kostov - copyright attorney in Bulgaria. The book “Copyright Hypothesis".
The book “Copyright Hypothesis" is the fruit of my synthesized ten-year experience as an intellectual property lawyer. The writing of every material in it is inspired by my work on a specific case, commenting on the legal basis and relevant case law. It is important to note that the purpose of writing the book is to be practical rather than to claim theoretical exhaustiveness. So I have selected and focused on this part of the texts of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, which are robbing, interesting and directly affecting the creative industries in Bulgaria. The bulk of the material in the book is a synthesis of theory and practice in the form of court decisions, which is systematically located for convenience at the end of each exhibition. How much current case law is adequate, internally uncontroversial and compliant with the legal framework, I have left to judge the reader myself, as the conclusions are obvious.
I think that for this reason, the writing here will be useful not only for legal practitioners, but especially for the authors themselves - artists in the broad sense of the word, as well as architects, photographers, artists, designers, computer specialists and other professions, related to culture and science. Long contact with copyright issues of creative people has made me realize that they still do not have the courage, determination and legal culture to assert their rights to creators adequately. The reasons for this are of a different nature. Firstly, perhaps Bulgarian education does not offer these specialists the necessary knowledge and useful experience in the field of copyright and artistic management, which is particularly important in the context of a market society. Hence the lack of knowledge of the authors about the ways to protect their intellectual work, as well as the motivation to consult and seek specialized legal assistance in this field. Naturally, the well-developed jurisprudence of the courts and the prosecutor's office and, in my opinion, the little fuzzy criterion on the procedure and practical means of engaging and activating the administrative responsibility for copyright violations, a priority of the Ministry of culture. All this leads to a lack of trust in our society as to whether the protection of copyright in Bulgaria is real and working. Increasingly, in the public domain, there are data about successful measures in the field of copyright, but they concern mainly copyright and related rights of foreign authors and companies. The big question is is there a real protection for the rights of Bulgarian authors and what part of the case law shows a positive trend in this direction?
I would not like to be perceived as a person who too criticizes the national system of copyright regulation. On the contrary, I sincerely hope that the paper here will give guidance on good practices based on the existing regulatory framework in the Copyright and Related Rights Act, the Criminal Code, the Law on Administrative Offenses and Penalties) and the Civil Procedure Code. However, I realize that creating a definite and correct thinking in this respect in the authors themselves, as well as consistent case law, is the step to be taken and it will take time. However, the assertion of copyright law is an important priority with a wide public interest, directly reflecting the outcome of the authors' work of Bulgarian artists engaged in the field of art and science. Although it is purely formal for the NRAP to create the impression that it is written in such a way as to uphold the copyright of the authors, it is, in my view, practically, in my view, complicated the proving of the author's powers precisely in the weight of the creators. An example of this is the fact that it is much easier for a copyright infringer to be a defendant in a copyright law than an author of a claimant since the latter must prove that he has the quality of an author and on the basis of claiming damages that may be compensated. The formalism is diminished as to what the actual composition is to justify the commission of an offense against intellectual property in the hypothesis of Art.172a of the Criminal Code, which often leads to violation of subjective rights. These contradictions need to be publicly debated, and on the basis of a thorough expert assessment, to make the relevant, practically clean and effective legislative decisions giving priority, clarity and certainty to the authors' prevention. A positive fact is that a specialized expert body has been set up at the Ministry of Culture, in the face of the "Advisory Board on Copyright and Intellectual Property," which is a public corrective and takes adequate views on the commented topic.
The fact that at present the Copyright and Related Rights Act complies with the European and international copyright legislation provides a sufficient basis for the copyright of Bulgarian artists to be protected, even under the available legal basis. I believe that if this book gives new and useful knowledge to the authors working in different art and science settings in Bulgaria, and even helps in part to improve and optimize law enforcement in copyright law, it will have achieved its desired effect.
By the author, Mr.Adanas Kostov.
You can order the book directly here.
Title: Copyright hypothesis
Author: Atanas Kostov
Volume: 227 p.
Format in mm: 155x225
Publisher: IK "Feneya"
Soft binding
Date of inclusion: 2010-11-10
ISBN: 9789549499520
Category: Law