States discretion to classify IP subject matter as national cultural treasures

Abstract

This chapter aims to shed light on the interrelation between IP and foremost copyright law and cultural heritage and specifically on states' discretion to classify IP subject matter of protection as national cultural treasures and the conditions under which such classification may take place. In fact, it provides answers to questions such as if a state may limit the rights of IP and foremost copyright holders by imposing on them additional burdens or even by expropriating a cultural object; whether a copyright-protected work may qualify as a 'national treasure'; and what the limits of a state's 'intervention' to a rightholder's personal sphere are. Greece is taken as an example in this respect.