Intellectual property rights or copyright are the exclusive rights provided by the law to creators regarding their intellectual works. They are provided for a certain period of time in order to prevent third parties from the use and exploitation without license from the creator.
Law no. 59/76 of the Republic of Cyprus regarding Intellectual Property Rights protects the citizens of Cyprus for their works published anywhere in the world, as well as citizens of other countries who publish their works in Cyprus. Holders of intellectual property rights have the exclusive right to reproduce, translate and supply their works to the public. Any violation of these rights may result in compensation payment or other penalties according to the Law.
According to Law no. 59/76 regarding Intellectual Property Rights (as modified by Laws Ν.63/77, Ν.18(Ι)/93, Ν.54(Ι)/99, Ν.12(Ι)/2001), Ν.128(Ι)/2002 and Ν.128(Ι)/2004), intellectual property rights are protected for the following:
(i) Scientific works (rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death)
(ii) Literary works (rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death)
(iii) Music works (rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death)
(iv) Artistic works (rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death)
(v) Motion pictures (rights expire 70 years after the death of the last survivor of the following individuals, regardless whether they are considered by law or otherwise to be co-creators: (i) producer, (ii) main director, (iii) scriptwriter, (iv) dialogues writer, and (v) composer of music composed specifically for use in the motion picture)
(vi) Photographs (rights expire 70 years after the creator’s death)
(vii) Sound recordings (rights expire 50 years after the date of recording, unless before that date the recording is in any way, in which case the rights expire 50 years from the date the recording is published or presented)
(viii) Broadcastings (rights expire 50 years after the date of broadcasting, regardless of the way it is transmitted)
(ix) Publication of previously unpublished works (rights expire 25 years from the date the work is published)
(x) Non-original databases (rights expire 15 years after the database is completed, unless (i) if the database was made available to the public in any way before the 15-year period, then the rights expire 15 years after the date the database was made available to the public and (ii) if any significant modification, qualitative or quantitative, regarding the content takes place that constitutes a new significant investment due to successive accumulation of additions, deletions or modifications, then rights expire 15 years after the new investment)
(xi) Performances (rights expire 50 years after the date of performance, unless before that date the performance is published or publicly presented in a material form, in which case rights expire 50 years from the date the performance is published or presented)
Intellectual property rights in Cyprus are granted automatically by law and no registration is required.
Sources:
- Republic of Cyprus, Law 59 of 1976 regarding Intellectual Property
- Department of Registrar of Companies and Official receiver of the Republic of Cyprus
