The Protection of Cinematographic Works in Türkiye
LIAW which entered into force in 1952, has been amended in 1995, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2014. The amendments in 1995 and 2001 were major amendments which changed the legal regime for rights to cinematographic works and created legal uncertainty as to the ownership and protection term for rights to cinematographic works. The initial text of the LIAW (dated 1952) recognized the Producer of a cinematographic work as the author and provided for a protection term of 20… »
Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) and Copyright Law
NFTs have been one of the most popular topics for copyright law during 2022. Discussions were widely held about whether NFTs could be considered copyrightable works, whether purchase of an NFT grants authorship rights to the buyer, which formal requirements are relevant for a valid copyright assignment for an NFT, and which particular rights associated with copyright could be infringed by unauthorized use. Although we are yet to see legislation concerning these issues, many… »
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Copyright
AI-generated works of art and their ownership and enforcement of related rights have remained among the most controversial issues in copyright law around the world as we entered 2023. As in many fields, AI has begun to play a direct role in the legal industry. Indeed, the media eagerly followed the hearing in which an AI application developed by the company DoNotPay in the United States (US) was introduced as "the first robot lawyer" in the press that can provide legal… »
New Turkish Domain Name System Creates a Situation in Need of Resolution
Nic.tr (.tr Domain Name Management), which was established under the auspices of Middle East Technical University, has been managing .tr domain names and dispute resolution processes related to these domain names since 1991. However, under Article 35 of Law No. 5809 on Electronic Communications and the Internet Domain Names Regulation, TRABIS (.tr Network Information System), established by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, became operational on… »
What’s New In The Amended E-Commerce Law For IP
Law No. 7416, amending E-Commerce Law, came into effect on 1 January 2023, and a comprehensive change has been made to Article 9, titled "obligations of intermediary service providers", including the title of the provision. Following this change, the title of Article 9 was changed to "illegal content". According to this article, unless there is a contrary provision in other laws, the general principle is that the intermediary service provider is not responsible for the… »
Publishing Rights in Online Use
Digital technologies continue to transform the way creative content is produced, distributed and accessed, and one of the most affected sectors is the printed publication industry. To illustrate, the results of an EU Commission 2021 survey[1] revealed that 72% of internet users aged 16 to 74 in the EU access newspapers and magazines online. The increasing importance of the Internet in the sharing of intellectual works necessitates legislative regulations that are compatible… »
Creative and Innovative Women on the Stage on World Intellectual Property Day!
World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated every year to raise awareness on intellectual property on 26 April which is the establishment date of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and this year’s theme is creative and innovative women. The importance of gender equality is apparent in the field of intellectual property, as it is in every field. Throughout history, women made undeniable contributions to science, art and technology despite all difficulties… »
Amendments to the Execution and Bankruptcy Law and Certain Laws
The Law Amending the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law and Certain Laws ("Amendment Law"), known as the 7th Judicial Package, was published in the Official Gazette (32154) dated 05 April 2023 and entered into force except for several provisions with later effective dates. The Amendment Law sets out several changes in the fields of enforcement law, criminal law, and procedural law, and it expands the scope of mandatory mediation significantly. Some of the prominent amendments… »
Protection of Websites Under Turkish Law
Websites that are part of our daily lives consist of many elements such as webpages, the user interface, computer software, databases, and servers. Although there is no set of rules specifically applicable to them under Turkish law, their constituent elements and their content can be conferred legal protection if they meet the requirements of existing legislation. The question of whether websites are conferred additional legal protection separate from their constituent… »
Legislative Proposal on the Amendment of the Law on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Preparations No. 1262 and Certain Laws
The Legislative Proposal on the Amendment of the Law on Pharmaceuticals and Medical Preparations No. 1262, Certain Laws and Decree Law No. 663 (“the Legislative Proposal”) dated March 20, 2023, and numbered 2/5006 is an omnibus bill having some amendment offers regarding the regulating legislation of the health sector. The Legislative Proposal suggests defining the obligation of registration and notification to the Drug Tracking System at the level of the law, updating the… »
Recent Developments in TURKPATENT's Practice on Recording of Well-known Trademarks
We have previously reported on the Turkish Court of Cassation’s decision concluding that the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (hereinafter will be referred to as “TURKPATENT” or “the Office”) has no authority to create and maintain a registry for well-known trademarks and discussed possible repercussions of this decision for trademark owners. (Please see https://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/article/court-of-cassation-reopens-debate-recordation-of-well-known-trademarks) The… »
The Revocation Procedure of Trademarks to be Handled by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office
Until the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 (“IPL”) entered into force on January 10, 2017, procedures regarding trademark rights were carried out with the abolished Decree-Law No. 556 on the Protection of Trademarks (“Decree Law”). The concept of "revocation", one of the cases of termination of a trademark right, regulated in both legislations, was defined under Article 14 of the Decree-Law. However, Article 14 was cancelled by the Constitutional Court with the decision… »