Co-Authorship in Russia and Germany: General and Special

Abstract

The paper analyzes the provisions of Russian and German legislation on the regulation of co-authorship relations. The study revealed the following features. By virtue of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the joint work of several persons can be carried out in the mode of both separate and inseparable co-authorship, including intermediate modes allocated doctrinally. The German legislator names only inseparable co-authorship as a basis for the appearance of co-authors, all other cases are covered by the regime of linked works. Co-authorship can only arise if there is a joint creative work, which implies the understanding of the co-authors that they work together (subjective criterion), as well as a single period of time, being at the same «stage of production», the existence of an agreement between the co-authors, etc. (objective criterion). German jurisprudence clarifies: co-authorship is not excluded in the case of incremental contributions, but it assumes that each participant has made his own creative contribution, subject to a common idea. It is not required that the co-authors simultaneously participate in all stages of the development of the work. Accordingly, the so-called vertical division of labor is possible, in which the co-authors rely on already created preliminary versions of the work, as well as the horizontal division of labor, when the co-authors simultaneously create separate parts of the work, which then merge into a single work. The presumption in Russia of equal contribution of co-authors to the creation of a common work is applied in Germany on a subsidiary basis, if it is objectively impossible to determine this contribution. The main regulators of the rights of co-authors (authors) in Russia and Germany are the law and the contract, sometimes a court decision. The use of a work created by co-authors is carried out jointly, taking into account the principle of good faith, which is explicitly present in German law and follows from a systemic interpretation of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.