Challenges of the Knowledge Society (Jun 2023)
CULTURAL HERITAGE AND ITS PROTECTION AS CONTINUATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Abstract
In the public space there is a heated debate about the extension of the public domain with works which are no longer protected through copyright and there are a lot of advocates for this idea, including for the decrease of the duration of protection of works through copyright. However, there are also the advocates for the protection of material and immaterial goods that are of high value and significance for the community from which they originate, and which are no longer protected through copyright. The first group is arguing that by continuing to protect such goods after the intellectual property has elapsed, irrespective of the system of protection, we harm the public domain on which people rely to create new works. The second group is arguing that not granting a special protection for such goods will harm both spiritually and financially the communities and their members. Both groups seem to have logic arguments. However, a balance must be found, and we think that above all, we should try to find this balance by giving priority to the protection of goods which are of high value and significance for the community from which they originate. The purpose of this paper is to present how these goods which are of high value and significance for the community from which they originate are protected and what means for further protection are trying to be found with a focus on Romanian legislation and case-law.
