Miranda y Asociados

COPYRIGHTS IN ARGENTINA

CONCEPTS

Protection of copyright in Argentina is based on the constitutional principle set forth in Article 17 of the Constitution.
The work must be expressed in a tangible, material form (thus excluding abstract ideas), and must contain a minimum degree of originality and novelty.
The IP Law extends protection to scientific, literary, artistic or educational works, regardless of the medium. As a result of the broad definition of protected works, copyright protection has been granted to:

writings (as varied in dictionaries, prayer books, almanacs and articles);
musical works and plays;
cinematographic, choreographic and pantomime works (as long as the same have been materialized in a tangible form)
drawings, paintings and sculptural works;
architectural, artistic or scientific works;
maps, plans and other printed matter;
plastic works, photographs, engravings and phonograms;
titles and characters as an integral part of a work;
works of applied art;
computer software and databases; and
derivative works, new versions, compilations, and translations, etc.

LEGISLATION

Law 11,723 of September 28, 1933, as amended (IP Law").
Decree 165/1994 concerning legal protection of computer programs and Databases.

RIGHTS

IP Law grants rights to the author for life and to his/her heirs and assignees for seventy years after the authors death.
For photographic works, the copyright period runs for twenty years from first publication.
For cinematographic works, the term has been extended from thirty to fifty years from the date of first publication in order to comply with the Berne Convention.
Foreign authors must have complied with the formalities required for protection in the country where the work was first published, (provided that he/she is a national of a country recognizing copyright), or have satisfied the conditions for protection under a copyright convention to which Argentina is a party.
Registrations of foreign works are not mandatory in Argentina, however it is advisable to register them in order to simplify the enforcement of rights.
The author has rights which are not transferable or revocable. The author, in our country, is the original owner of the rights in the work. He/she may assign the economic or patrimonial rights in his/her work to a third party; but the author has the right to preserve the work integrity or the right to paternity of the same.
Computer related software: Software and databases are included within the scope of the IP Law (Decree 165/1994 concerning legal protection of computer programs and Databases).

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