Copyright is a complex and constantly evolving area, especially on the internet where the distribution of digital content is growing rapidly. Whether texts, images, videos or software - the protection of intellectual property and correct licensing are crucial. In this section, we explain the basics of copyright law in a digital context and give you an overview of the most important rights and obligations of authors and users.

Work of Art

The Austrian Copyright Act of 1936 places the concept of a work at its head. The pivotal point of this part of intellectual property law is therefore the protection of artistic intellectual achievements. The focus is not on tangible objects, but on the intangible work or creation (“work-centered copyright law”). In addition to the property rights, the personal interests in the work are also protected in the sense of a unified whole (“monistic theory of copyright”).

Author

A work without an author is unthinkable, as it always requires a human act of creation. The creation of texts, images or music by artificial intelligence therefore comes up against legal limits, but it is possible that the author of a work has remained unknown or has deliberately acted anonymously or under an alias (“artist's name”). Copyright law also recognizes so-called “orphan works”. What they all have in common, however, is that they were or must have been created by a person.

Moral Rights

The moral right (“droit moral”) can be found in Sections 19-21 UrhG under the title “Protection of intellectual interests”. As a moral right, its protective effect is not aimed at an intangible asset, i.e. a pecuniary interest, but at the person directly in relation to a specific legal asset (work, image). The intellectual interests of the author also protect the right of access (Section 22 UrhG) and the right to communication of the content of a work (Section 14 [3] UrhG).