What can be protected as a Copyright?

The essence of copyright is to protect creators who, thanks to copyright, can control the different ways in which their creations are being used and prevent them from being unauthorised copied.

Creators are protected by inalienable moral rights (rights regarding the relationship between the author and the work) and transferable patrimonial rights (rights which authorize the author to exploit the work and to gain eventual income).

Exceptions to Patrimonial Rights

(also called “fair use” or “users rights”)

Some situations exist in which the author’s authorization is not required. For example:

• Quotation right: short extracts of a work may be quoted for legitimate purposes (critical, scientific, educational, etc.) without the authorization of the author. However, the source (i.e. the title of the work and the name of the author) has to be mentioned
• Information right: it is allowable to show or to quote extracts of a work in a television or newspaper current events report as long as it has certain newsworthiness. You can, for example, show a statue in connection with the opening of an exhibition
• Right to photograph, film or sketch exhibited works (and to exploit these supports) if the final aim is not to show the work but to show its environment.