Find out how to protect your intellectual property rights in Spain from our team of specialist lawyers #IntellectualProperty
Table of contents:
What is intellectual property?
Intellectual property generates various types of rights, some of an economic nature, others of a "moral" nature. The latter are unwaivable and inalienable, and allow the author, among other things, to decide whether his or her work should be disclosed, and to demand recognition of his or her status as author. Economic or exploitation rights, on the other hand, can be traded and thus disposed of in favour of third parties.
All original literary, artistic or scientific creations, such as books, musical compositions, audiovisual works, projects, plans, graphics, computer programs and databases, are subject to intellectual property. The Law on Intellectual Property also recognises so-called neighbouring rights in favour of performers, producers of phonograms, producers of audiovisual recordings and broadcasters.
How is intellectual property protection obtained?
In Spain, intellectual property arises from the very moment of creation, without any registration being necessary, which implies automatic protection. However, it is always possible to deposit the work in the Intellectual Property Register in order to obtain a reinforced proof against third parties. The period of time for the Register's decision is approximately 6 months.
Who owns the rights?
In Spain, the ownership of the rights always corresponds to the creator of the work, unless the work has been created in the course of an employment activity, it is a collective work or the rights are assigned to a third party.
What is the term of protection of intellectual property?
Copyright protection lasts for 70 years from the death of the author if the author is a natural person. In the case of authors who died before 7 December 1987, the term of protection is 80 years from death. In cases where legal persons are recognised as authors, the term of protection is 70 years from 1 January of the year following the year of the lawful disclosure of the work or the year of its creation, if it has not been disclosed.
Lawyers specialising in intellectual property and licensing
In this blog, we have discussed some important aspects of intellectual property in Spain. If you have questions or need help with any aspect of intellectual property in Spain, please do not hesitate to contact our team of intellectual property lawyers. We will be happy to help you protect your intellectual property rights in Spain. Thanks for reading!