Copyright registration in Ukraine. Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. Ukraine is a unitary republic under a semi-presidential system and a developing country. Due to its extensive fertile land, pre-war Ukraine was one of the largest grain exporters in the world. Although this country is currently at war with Russia which results in the downfall of many of its infrastructure, Ukraine has gained the world’s support and therefore, after the war has ended, this country will be the major spot for investment worldwide. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of copyright registration in Ukraine.
Copyright in Ukraine
Unlike other intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents, industrial designs, plant varieties, etc., copyright does not need to be registered for protection but will be automatically protected from the time the works are created.
The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.
Accordingly, whether registered or not, the copyright to the work will still be protected. However, the creator should still apply for copyright registration in Ukraine early because early registration will give the author/owner of the work many advantages in the event of a dispute.
When unauthorized use of work occurs around the world, the owner of a work who has made a copyright registration in Ukraine will not have to waste time and complicate matters with proving himself/herself to be the legitimate owner of the work.
Thereby, in order to avoid passivity, the owner of the work should make a copyright registration in Ukraine immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Ukraine
Ukraine is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 1995.
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (the Berne Convention) is an international agreement governing copyright. The agreement was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.
As Ukraine is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Ukraine will be given copyright protection in each of the Berne Convention member countries.
In most countries, copyright protection is automatic as soon as the work existed in material form. However, the copyright registration in Ukraine is critical in order for the copyright owner to obtain evidence of copyright.
Evidence of copyright is extremely important even when the works are automatically protected according to copyright law.
When registering, the work will get an application submission date, as well as information about the creation and proof of creative concept and development. This provides unambiguous proof of authorship and ownership that can’t be denied.
Proof of copyright is essential in an age when the publishing, dissemination, and theft of material is extremely easy with the exposure of the Internet.
If copyright registration is not made, copyright owners will lose a big amount of money as well as time needed to resolve issues related to copyright, proving ownership of the original work.
If the copyright owner has already registered for copyright protection to the IP office, they would have a strong legal foundation which would increase their chance of winning against the violating parties.
Documents for copyright registration in Ukraine
To obtain copyright registration in Ukraine, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Ukraine;
- Two copies of copyrighted work;
- Documents proving the right to apply;
- Written consent of co-authors, if the work has co-authors;
- Written consent of the co-owners, if the copyright is jointly owned;
- Notarized identity card of the author or owner of the work;
- Power of Attorney, if the applicant is an authorized person;
- Notarized copy of the company’s business registration certificate (if the owner is a company).
The copyright law of Ukraine
After the establishment of Ukraine as an independent state in 1992, the State Agency for Copyright and Related Rights (GA UARP) under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine was established, whose main task was to develop legislation in the field of copyright. Over the next few years, a number of legislative and regulatory acts regulating certain issues of copyright protection were adopted.
Copyright in Ukraine is based on the Law on Copyright and Related Rights of December 23, 1993, the updated version of which came into force on July 11, 2001.
You can find the list of Ukraine IP Firms here.