Intellectual property objects sold through marketplaces may also be protected by copyright. As a rule. These include photographs, video materials, texts, product designs, character images, product cards, etc. The creation of all of the above objects requires a lot of time, money, searching and attracting specialized specialists. However, their owners are often faced with a situation where they discover their developments from other sellers.
In such cases, bona fide owners need evidence of their authorship or ownership of exclusive rights to the content. Proving authorship is quite difficult in the absence of an agreement between the contractor and the customer or in the event that the work was carried out independently.
There are several ways to prove authorship, for example:
- save source codes, which can later be provided as evidence;
- deposit the material, that is, transfer it for storage to special accredited public or private organizations, as well as online services, from which their owner receives a certificate of deposit indicating information about the author, copyright holder and the date of transfer of the material. The certificate of deposit is valid for 70 years and is accepted as evidence by courts and other government agencies.
You can also have the right to content by concluding an employment contract with the performer as part of an official relationship, if the performer works for the owner of the company. In this case, the exclusive right to the work for hire belongs to the employer. At the same time, the contract specifies the amount of remuneration to the contractor, the terms, procedure and conditions for its payment by the employer. A technical specification and a certificate of acceptance/transfer of completed work are also drawn up.
You can obtain rights by concluding an agreement on the transfer of copyright from the performer if he is hired, thanks to which, if necessary, you can also prove your legal rights to the content. Otherwise, the rights remain with the author, and he can at any time prohibit the use of the content, sell it or transfer it to others for use. The author also has the right to send a claim to the customer and demand compensation for the illegal use of his material.
Copyrights are transferred under three agreements:
- an alienation agreement, when the rights to the result of intellectual activity are transferred from the performer to the customer in its entirety and the customer can use the material at his own discretion;
- rights under the license agreement are granted temporarily and under certain conditions, the exclusive right remains with the performer, and the customer pays a remuneration to the author, the amount of which is specified in the agreement;
- under a copyright contract, the rights and obligations of the performer are established before the start of work. In this case, the contractor creates the agreed amount of content in accordance with the terms of reference, adhering to deadlines. An acceptance certificate for the completed order must be attached to the author's order agreement.
In addition to the above, we would like to remind you that the design of a product can be protected not only by copyright, but also by patent law. For example, it can be protected as an industrial design, which significantly strengthens the evidence base about the ownership of an intellectual property object by its owner. And images applied to product labels or the product itself can be protected both by copyright and as a trademark, which also strengthens the protection of the bona fide owner in court proceedings.
It should be noted that other people’s intellectual property can be used on marketplaces only with the permission of their copyright holder, by concluding a license agreement with him and paying him a remuneration, but before signing the agreement, you must make sure that he has the title documents.
In cases where violations are detected, the culprit can be held accountable by collecting compensation from him through the court, the amount of which is regulated by law (for example, from 10,000 to 5 million rubles). But first, as a rule, they try to resolve the situation pre-trial by sending a pre-trial claim to the violator, and if it is not possible to come to an agreement with him, then a lawsuit is filed in court. Any claim is accompanied by title documents and evidence of the violation, using screenshots, goods with a purchase receipt, deposit documents, etc.
Marketplace owners, as a rule, promptly respond to statements from content copyright holders (within 3 to 30 days), block the violator’s product card and his personal account, and also demand that all types of violations be eliminated.
Thus, intellectual property objects can be protected on marketplaces and by copyright, which helps prevent the sale of counterfeits and cause reputational and financial damage to their bona fide owners. However, without special knowledge and experience in the field of intellectual property protection, it is difficult to effectively provide protection. Therefore, it is more advisable to contact specialized specialists.
