Copyright protects intellectual creative work

Copyright protects literary and artistic creations. To be protected, a work must be an independent and original expression of its author's creative input. It may not be a copy or a reproduction of an existing work. Protection by copyright requires that the work exceeds the threshold of originality.

Copyright can cover, for example, literary or explanatory written or oral presentations, musical or dramatic works, cinematographic works, photographic or other visual art works, products of architecture, art handicraft or applied arts. Copyright protection can also apply to computer software. A theme, idea, method, principle, information content or storyline cannot be protected by copyright.

Copyright always belongs to the creator of the work, who is always a natural person. A corporation can acquire copyrights by agreeing upon it with the creators. According to the law, copyright for computer software arises directly to the employer. Copyright automatically arises when a work meeting the threshold of originality has been created. No registration, notification or other formalities are required to obtain copyright. Copyright begins with the creation of the work and lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

Financial and moral rights

Copyright gives the author both financial and moral rights. The financial rights refer to the author's exclusive right of control over producing copies of his or her creation and making them available to the public, edited or unedited, translated or adapted, in another literary or artistic genre or by using another manufacturing method.

The moral rights refer to the content of copyright. When the work is published or presented, the author's name must be mentioned. The author also has, however, the right to prohibit the mention of his or her name in connection with the work. The work may not be distorted, abridged or otherwise altered in violation of the literary or artistic value or originality of the author. It may not be made available to the public in a form or a context that is offensive to the author. The right of use does not include the right of adaptation, which requires separate permission from the author.

Once the work has been disclosed, anyone can make a few copies of it for their private use. A work is deemed disclosed when it has been made available to the public in an authorised way.
Copyright can be ceded in full or in part. The financial rights can be transferred but the moral rights remain with the author with the exception of some limited cases.

Read more about copyright:

• The Ministry of Education and Culture's website
• Finlex (Finnish state legislation database)
• Kopiosto (Copyright Society).