Muzyka generowana przez programy komputerowe (computer-generated music) jako przedmiot prawnoautorskiej ochrony w doktrynie i prawie polskim oraz doktrynie i prawie krajów anglosaskich

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of granting copyright to computer-generated and computer-assisted works. Even though this subject has been widely examined in Western countries in the 1990s, for some reason it was not widely covered in Poland. Meanwhile, computer programmes have become main composing tools used by musicians. The music we hear on the radio is more often than not an effect of computer, not human, work. Polish Copyright law grants a right to authorship only in cases when a work remains an effect of human activity. This gives rise to the question whether the music that surrounds us is copyright free and belongs to the public domain. On the other hand, in some Anglo-Saxon countries, copyright related to computer-generated works is granted to the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work are undertaken. The following article contains an overview of theoretical concepts underlying the authorship of computer-generated works, discusses various legal solutions to the problem exercised abroad and provides evidence in support of the thesis that in spite of the harsh and rigorous provisions contained in Polish Copyright law, it is possible to grant copyright protection to computer-generated works.

Keywords

• joint authorship.
• work
• authorship
• author
• computer-assisted works
• computer-generated works