Competent management of intellectual property, in particular copyright and related rights, is one of the key tasks for running a successful business.
Each organization can develop its own strategies for managing the rights to Computer Programs (PPC), taking as a basis the strategies of the world's leading countries in the field of patent law - the USA, China, Japan, Germany.
The Owner of the Computer Program has the exclusive right to distribute the software product, reproduce in whole or in part, or modify the program. In addition, the author and / or the Owner of the Computer Program has the following rights:
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copyright (belongs to the author);
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the right to a name (belongs to the author);
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the right to the name of the software product (belongs to the copyright holder);
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the right to distribute (release) the program, as well as the right to prohibit distribution (belongs to the copyright holder);
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the right to protect the program and its name (belongs to the copyright holder).
The state registration of the Computer Program guarantees its additional legal protection. The registered source code of the Computer Program serves as proof of its belonging to a specific creator (author). The certificate of state registration of a computer program will be evidence in the event of a dispute: when plagiarism and counterfeit are detected.
The term of protection of the Computer Program is in most countries 70 years after the death of the last author. After that, the object goes into the public domain.
For the lawful use of the Computer Program, you can conclude the following types of contracts: a license agreement or an agreement for the alienation of exclusive rights. When concluding a license agreement, the exclusive right to the Computer Program is not transferred, but only granted under certain conditions. In this case, the author of the Computer Program retains full control over the created program.
When concluding a license agreement, the author has the opportunity to receive increased income, such as royalties.
In the event of an agreement on the alienation of exclusive rights, the owner will lose the exclusive right to the Computer Program, and the legal entity that has entered into this agreement will become the full new owner. Therefore, for the author of a computer program, who wants to improve the program and makes a profit from this, this option is undesirable.
