Authors’ Rights and Copyright

Italian Authors’ Rights is mainly governed by Law no. 633 of 22 April 1941 and Title IX of the Italian Civil Code; however, there is not a list of works or absolute categories to refer to. The following can certainly be taken into consideration: Texts, Publishing, Photography, Music, Novels, Screenplays, Stylistic Design, Literature, Movies, Television, Presentations, Formats, Websites.

Article 2 of the Italian Authors’ Rights provides a list of works eligible for protection. Unfortunately, this is only an approximative list and, for this reason, we rephrase it below:

• literature: literary, dramatic, scientific, educational and religious works; both in written and oral form;
• music: musical works and compositions (with or without lyrics), dramatic-musical works and musical variations (provided they are original works themselves);
• figurative arts: sculptures, paintings, drawings, engravings or works belonging to similar figurative arts, including scenography;
• architecture: architectural drawings and constructions;
• theatre: choreographic and pantomime works (with or without a script);
• cinematography: cinematographic works (silent or with sound), photographic works;
• industrial design: works possessing artistic and creative value.

In addition, so-called “creative elaborations”, such as translations into another language, transformations from one literary or artistic form into another, adaptations, reductions, etc., are also protected. Following the implementation of Directives 96/9/EC and 91/250/EEC, computer programs and databases are also included in the list.