THE PROBLEMS OF LEGAL PROTECTION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND DATABASES: SOME REMARKS IN THE CONTEXT OF UKRAINIAN LEGISLATION REFORM

Abstract

The article analyzes the problematic issues of reforming the legislation of Ukraine on computer programs and databases as objects of intellectual property rights. It is stated that the attribution of computer programs and databases to the objects of copyright as of today is a generally accepted approach at the level of international documents of WIPO, WTO, and EU. It is emphasized that the objects of copyright protection can only be original databases. Attention is drawn to the collision between Art. 420, 433 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, according to which a computer program and a literary work are positioned as separate categories of copyright objects, and Part 4 of Art. 433 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, which, in fact, considers a computer program as a kind of literary work. It is concluded that to eliminate this conflict, it is advisable to remove Part 4 of Art. 433 of the Civil Code of Ukraine and the first sentence of Art. 18 of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights. The issue of the relationship between the concepts of “database (data compilation)”, “collection of works” and “composed work” is analyzed. The position is expressed that the concept of “database (data compilation)” is broader in comparison with collections of works. The peculiarity of the latter is that they include only works protected by copyright. Attention is drawn to the inexpediency of further preservation of the concept of “composed work” in the profile law. The points of view expressed in the Ukrainian legal doctrine concerning the perspective model of legal protection of non-creative (non-original) databases are analyzed. It is noted that the lack of creative nature cannot be considered as an obstacle to the attribution of non-creative (nonoriginal) databases to the objects of intellectual property rights. Assigning a non-creative database to the objects of intellectual property rights makes it inexpedient to regulate the relationship to it in competition, investment, information legislation. Non-creative databases should be provided with legal protection as a separate category of the intellectual property objects, which don’t belong to the copyright and related rights objects. The relevant provisions about non-creative databases should be enshrined in a separate chapter of Book 4 of the Civil Code of Ukraine.