Challenges To Creator Doctrine, Authorship, Copyright Ownership

Information Law Series

Copyright is generally vested either in `the work' or in `the author'. Authorship as the basis of copyright is the most common in modern copyright laws. While `the author' is generally equated with the `creator', this is not true in every situation.

This study by Jacqueline Seignette explores cases in which copyright and creatorship do not coincide. She focuses on the situation in three jurisdictions: The Netherlands, Germany and The United States. In Germany the importance of creatorship for copyrights is the strongest while in US the importance of creatorship in copyright law is less pronounced. The Netherlands occupies a middle position with respect to the value which is attached to the Creator Doctrine.

An illustration of the different concepts of authorship is the fact that in American law industrial and technical adaptations and uses of works of art fall under the copyright regime while in the German case such products may have sui generis rights, not copyrights. According to the author, `the American, Dutch and German copyright laws provide an interesting cross-section of what legislation on copyright ownership at the end of the twentieth century may look like'.