Copyrightability

of characters.
Evangelina Vasila
CERDI
International Summer Seminar
Copyright in motion
Paris 2012

Characters have become

part of our everyday lifes.

haracters are the creations of artis

hey use their imagination to clothe the idea.

hey labour so as to give the idea an expression.

In our modern business world,

ommercial exploitation of such chara
is a huge and profitable Industry.

But at what time does a

character
becomes entitled to legal
Forms of legal
protection:
protection?
Copyright law
Trademark law
The law of unfair competition
This presentation is
limited
to the availability of

Graphical
or
pictorial
character
s

Literary
characters

Both graphical
and Literary
characters

Protecting Graphic Characters

No copyright protection as an artistic work.
Protection offered only to visual expression.

Landmark cases
1)Detective Comics V Bruns Publication
(Superman case)
2)Walt Disney V Air Pirate
3)Nichols V Universal Pictures

Wrap-up points concerning the

protection
of graphical characters:
Characters uniqueness only can be
protected: a name, physical appearance and
attitude or characters traits.
In order to confirm uniqueness:
1)We check out the visual similarities.
2)We apply the character delineation test.
So, the character has to be so unique, that
any other creature with similar characteristics

Protecting fictional
characters
A literary work is entitled to protection
for the purposes of intellectual property.
Should this protection be extended to
fictional characters?
Legally significant components to
determine protection: name, physical or
visual appearance, physical attributes
and personality traits.

Landmark cases

Wrap-up points concerning

the protection
of fictional characters:
If the physical and emotional features are
depicted
in tremendous detail, the character is not
copyrightable.
If the character is extremely well-delineated
,

Questions

Copyright over the character independently o

over the episodes he appears?

When the character is created in the course o

mployment, the copyright remains to the creat

Sources of Copyright law in the

European Union
concerning the protection of
characters.
1.National copyright legislation of every
european state.
2.The International Convention of Berne for
the protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
3.The Universal Copyright Convention ( UCC)

Conclusions concerning EU
legislation
The characters are not protected
directlty and
exiplicitely in the EU legislation.
The protection derives indirectly either
as an
artistic work, either as a literary work.
The legislation leaves room for the
courts to decide,