Would you like to hear more about the chef’s recommendation? First, as a starter, some background information will be provided on a trademark dispute in Turkey that has a culinary theme, with the following steps taken at the administrative stage:
The owner of the above-left trademark opposed a third-party application for the above-right trademark before the Turkish intellectual property office, by addressing the entire coverage of the filing under the Nice Classification…
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To address the challenges arising from the obligation to make payments in Turkish Lira in sale of goods contracts, which are frequently encountered in commercial life, an amendment was made in 2022 to the Communiqué on the Decree numbered 32 Regarding the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency (the "Communiqué"). This amendment allowed the contract value to be paid in foreign currency for certain movable sale contracts, except for vehicle contracts, concluded between…
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One of the most striking developments in the music industry in 2023 was the release of the song “Heart on my Sleeves” by an anonymous user named “Ghostwriter” using the AI-created voices of world-famous singers Drake and the Weekend. However, the song “Heart on my Sleeves” did not exist in the music market for a long time due to the removal of the song from the relevant platforms after Universal Music filed a notice of intellectual property infringement. Although the song was…
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Digital fonts combine aesthetics and functionality as a key element of modern design and digital communication. A digital font consists of codes that define how it shall appear on screen[1]. These codes enable fonts to be created and used in the digital environment. In this scope, whether fonts expressed as computer software can be protected under the umbrella of intellectual property law has been subject of various debates. This article aims to discuss how fonts can be…
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Work titles, as signs that distinguish one work from others, may also be protected independently of the work itself. Article 83 of the Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (“LIAW”) provides a general framework for this protection. Although it is stated in judicial decisions that the name of the work, although it is not a work in itself, will benefit from copyright protection as a part of the work only if it emerges as an effort that makes the work effective by…
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Digital technologies continue to influence and transform the printed publication industry, much like their impact in various other sectors. Within this scope, the European Union (“EU) adopted the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (“the Directive”) to improve copyright laws to better address the challenges arising from the complexities brought by the digital environment.
The Directive, as we reported in our articles published in previous years[1], brings…
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The Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works ("LIAW"), which has been amended many times since its entry into force in 1952, still causes uncertainty and confusion in practice. The 2022 decision of the Court of Cassation[1] and the recent decision of the 16th Civil Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeals[2] have been a very guiding and clarifying decision in terms of examining the signs of the work, which are controversial in practice, and the amendments made to LIAW…
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Article 83 of Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (“LIAW”) stipulates that the names of works can be protected independently of the works themselves under the provisions on unfair competition. Our assessment of this protection is discussed in our article, 'Protection of Work Titles'
An important aspect of work title protection is their registration as trademarks. In practice, it is common for elements of cinematographic works, such as characters and locations, as…
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“Plagiarism” is not clearly defined in Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (“LIAW”). Plagiarism, which is defined by the Turkish Language Association as "pilferage," is used in the context of intellectual and artistic works law to mean "to present someone else’s work as your own, taking a piece from someone else’s work without citing the source."
While there is no definition for plagiarism under LIAW, instances of "freedom of quotation" are clearly defined under…
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Although “plagiarism” is not defined under Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (“LIAW”) it is widely accepted in Turkish law as the act of using and appropriating the intellectual or artistic work of another without the permission of the owner. Similarly, “inspiration”, which does not have a clear definition or criteria in the LIAW systematic, means the creation of a new and original work by being influenced by another work. While drawing inspiration from existing…
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With respect to lawsuits filed in the scope of Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (“FSEK") No. 5846, an important standard in terms of plagiarism is the limits of freedom of quotation. According to Article 35 of the FSEK, in order to make a quotation from a work, it is necessary to; (i) incorporate some sentences and paragraphs of a work made public, into another work of science and literature, (ii) incorporate certain elements of a published composition, at the…
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More than 20 years of copyright litigation has finally ended in favor of Yannis Karalis a Greek composer and lyricist. While the dispute has made a lot of noise with the inclusion of prominent names in the music industry among the defendants, it also draws attention to the problematic points in the judicial system in terms of the length of the trial process.
As discussed in our previous article, in the context of the relevant dispute, Yannis Karalis (the Claimant) filed an…
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