| Abstract [eng] |
The subject matter of the scientific studies comprises a study of key issues of the protection of copyright as well as enforcement of other intellectual property rights. The basic methods of study used in the works are comparative, historical and teleological. The model of legal regulation of the protection of intellectual property rights chosen is the one existing in the states of droit d’ auteur and copyright systems, and based on this model the key issues of copyright protection are analysed by way of comparing and assessing the aspects provided for in the Lithuanian legislation. Lithuania follows the droit d’ auteur system. In general, the Lithuanian copyright law does not reflect any unique tradition. The development of intellectual property rights protection in Lithuania essentially coincided with the accession to international and regional organisations and to international agreements. When Lithuania decisively implemented one of its foreign policy aims — to become a member of the European Union — the approximation of its national law to the European Union legislation commenced in the field of intellectual property law as well as in the whole legal system. The scientific monograph and the few scientific articles analyse the main aspects of the protection of copyright: main principles of copyright, legal sources, subject matter of the protections, the author or other copyright owner, contents of protection (economic rights and moral rights), limitations and exceptions, tendencies, problems and perspectives of the development of copyright. The few scientific articles deal with the analysis of the implementation of the Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. Legal remedies applied by the court when passing the decision on the merits can in principle be grouped into preventive (including also corrective) measures and compensatory remedies. The first group covers: (1) injunctions, (2) corrective measures, (3) alternative measures, (4) publication of judicial decisions, whereas the second group covers all possible ways of compensating for damages or, otherwise stated, damages. The laws also provide for the right of access to information, which as a copyright protection measure is applied in the course of judicial proceedings and facilitates the application of other measures and remedies. The legislative provisions pertaining to requirements for collecting evidence and provisional measures are also to be attributed to the rules of a procedural nature. Paragraph 1(2)(b) of Article 13 of the Directive provides that the amount of damages can be set as a lump sum on the basis of elements such as at least the amount of royalties or fees that would have been due if the infringer had requested authorisation to use the intellectual property right in question. This provision has been implemented in Lithuanian legal acts, where it is envisaged that instead of requesting compensation for actual damages, right holders may claim royalties or fees which would have been due if the infringer had requested authorisation to use the works or other objects (i.e., had obtained a licence), and if the infringer acted intentionally or with gross negligence, in the amount of up to double such royalties and fees. |
