Literary and artistic property refers to the area of law that protects creations of the mind in the fields of literature, arts and sciences. This law covers a wide range of creations such as books, plays, musical works, films, artworks, photographs and software, provided they are original. In this context, originality means that the work bears the personal imprint of its author and is the result of their creative effort.
The rights in literary and artistic property are divided into moral rights and economic rights. Moral rights protect the non-economic interests of the author, granting them the right to claim authorship of the work and to oppose any distortion or modification that could harm its integrity or the author’s reputation. Economic rights allow the author to control and benefit financially from the use of their work, particularly through reproduction, distribution and public communication.
These rights are granted for a duration that varies according to national laws, but in many countries, they last for the author’s lifetime plus a certain number of years after their death (often 70 years). The purpose of this protection is to encourage cultural creation by ensuring that creators are compensated for their work while enriching the public domain in the long term.