Copyright Law
Title I
Preliminary Provisions
Article 1 – This Law regulates the copyrights, which shall also include the rights related thereto.
Article 2 – The foreigners residing abroad shall be under the protection assured by the agreements, conventions and treaties in force in Brazil.
Sole Paragraph – The provisions set forth herein shall apply to the nationals or to people domiciled in countries that guarantee to Brazilians or people domiciled in Brazil the reciprocity in the protection of copyrights or the equivalent thereto.
Article 3 – The copyrights shall be regarded as movable property, for any legal purposes.
Article 4 – The legal transactions involving copyrights shall be restrictively interpreted.
Article 5 – For the purposes of this Law, the terms below shall mean the following:
I – publication – the offering of a literary, artistic or scientific work to the knowledge of the public, with the consent of the author or of any other copyright owner, through any format or process;
II – transmission or broadcasting – the diffusion of sounds or of sounds and images, by means of radio electric waves; satellite signals; strings, cables or any other conductor; optical means or any other electromagnetic process;
III – retransmission – the simultaneous broadcasting of the transmissions of a company by another;
IV – distribution – the availability for the public of the original or copy of literary, artistic or scientific works, fixed performances and sound recordings, by means of sale, lease or any other form of transfer of property or domain;
V – communication to the public – the act by means of which the work is made available to the public, through any means or process other than the distribution of samples;
VI – reproduction – the copy of one or several samples of a literary, artistic or scientific work, or of a sound recording, in any tangible way, including, but not limited to, any permanent or temporary storage through electronic means or any other means of fixation that may be developed;
VII – forgery – non-authorized reproduction;
VIII – work:
a) joint authorship work – when the work is collectively created, by two or more authors;
b) anonymous work – when the name of the author is not indicated, for this is the author’s wish or for his being unknown;
c) pseudonymous work – when the author hides behind an alias;
d) unpublished work – the one that has not been published;
e) posthumous work – the one that is published after the author’s death;
f) original work – the original creation;
g) derived work – the one that, being a new intellectual work, results from the transformation of an original work;
h) collective work – the one created under the initiative, organization and responsibility of an individual or legal entity that publishes the work under its name or trademark, and is made with the participation of different authors, whose contribution is merged into an autonomous creation;
i) audiovisual – the one resulting from the fixation of images with or without sound, which has the purpose of creating, through its reproduction, the impression of movement regardless of the reception process, of the used format to fix it, whether initially or later on, as well as the means used for its broadcasting;
IX – sound recording – any and all fixation of sounds from a performance, of any other sounds, or of a representation of sounds that is not a fixation included in an audiovisual work;
X – editor – the individual or legal entity to which the exclusive right to reproduce the work and the obligation to disclose it is attributed, within the limits set forth by the edition contract;
XI – producer – the individual or legal entity that has the initiative and the economic responsibility for the first fixation of the sound recording or audiovisual work, whatever the nature of the used format be;
XII – radio broadcasting – the wireless transmission, including through satellites, of sounds, images and sounds or the representations thereof, for the public reception, and the transmission of encoded signals, whenever the means of decoding are offered to the public by the radio broadcasting entity or with its consent;
XIII – performing artists or performers – any and all actors, singers, musicians, dancers, or any other person who plays a role, sings, recites, declaims, interprets or performs, in any way, literary, artistic or folkloric works.
Article 6 – The works only subsidized by the Federal Union, the States, the Federal District or the Municipalities shall not be under their domain.
Title II
Intellectual Works
Chapter I
Protected Works
Article 7 – The protected intellectual works are the creations of the spirit, expressed through any means or fixed in any format, whether tangible or intangible, already known or to be invented, such as:
I – literary, artistic or scientific texts;
II – conferences, presentations, preaches and similar works;
III – dramatic and dramatic-musical works;
IV – choreographic and pantomimic works, which scenic presentation is written or fixed in any other way;
V – music compositions, with or without lyrics;
VI – audiovisual works, with or without sounds, including movies;
VII – photographic works and others produced by any similar process to photography;
VIII – drawings, paintings, engravings, sculptures, lithographs and kinetic arts;
IX – illustrations, geographic maps and similar works;
X – designs, sketches, and plastic works concerning geography, engineering, topography, architecture, landscape, scenery and science;
XI – adaptations, translations and other transformations of original works, presented as a new intellectual creation;
XII – computer programs;
XIII – selections or compilations, anthologies, encyclopedias, dictionaries, databases and other works, which, for their selection, organization or presentation of contents, present an intellectual creation.
Paragraph 1 – The computer programs are subject to specific legislation, notwithstanding the applicable provisions herein.
Paragraph 2 – The protection granted under section XIII hereof does not encompass the data or materials themselves, and shall be considered without prejudice of any subsisting copyrights in relation to the date or material contained in the works.
Paragraph 3 – In the scientific field, the protection shall cover the literary or artistic format, and shall not encompass any scientific or technical content, without prejudice to the rights protecting the other intangible property fields.
Article 8 – The following are not subject to protection as copyrights under this Law:
I – ideas, regulating procedures, systems, methods, projects or mathematical concepts as such;
II – plans or rules to perform mental actions, games, or businesses;
III – blank forms to be filled up with any kind of information, whether scientific or not, and their accompanying instructions;
IV – texts of treaties or conventions, laws, decrees, regulations, judicial orders, and other official acts;
V – commonly used information, such as calendars, agendas, records or subtitles;
VI – isolated titles and names;
VII – industrial or commercial use of the ideas contained in the works.
Article 9 – The same protection granted to original works is assured to copies of a plastic work made by the author himself.
Article 10 – The protection granted to the intellectual work encompasses its title, provided it is original and cannot be confused with the one given to any work of the same kind, previously disclosed by other author.
Sole Paragraph – The title given to periodic publications, including newspapers, is protected up to one year as of the delivery of its last issue, except if they are annual, in which case this term shall be of two years.
Chapter II
The Authorship of Intellectual Works
Article 11 – An author means the individual who creates a literary, artistic or scientific work.
Sole Paragraph – The protection granted to the author may apply to legal entities in the cases set forth herein.
Article 12 – In order to be identified as an author, the creator of a literary, artistic or scientific work may use his legal name, in full or abbreviated even by his initials, a pseudonym or any other conventional sign.
Article 13 – The author of the intellectual work means, provided there is no evidence stating the contrary, the one who, through any of the identification modalities mentioned in the previous article, has properly indicated or announced such quality when using the work.
Article 14 – The one who adapts, translates, arranges, or orchestrates any work in public domain is entitled to copyrights, and must not object to any other adaptation, arrangement, orchestration, or translation, except if it is a copy of his work.
Article 15 – The joint authorship of the work is attributed to the ones on behalf of whose names, pseudonyms or conventional signs the works are used.
Paragraph 1 – The person who simply assisted the author in the production of the literary, artistic or scientific work, by revising it, updating it, inspecting or directing its edition or presentation through any means shall not be deemed as a joint author.
Paragraph 2 – The joint author, whose contribution can be used separately, is granted with all the benefits inherent to his creation as an individual work, although he is not allowed to use it in a way that may cause any damage to the exploitation of the common work.
Article 16 – The joint authors of audiovisual works are the author of the literary, musical or literary and musical plot or screenplay, as well as the director thereof.
Sole paragraph – The joint authors of animated cartoons are the ones who create the drawings used in the audiovisual work.
Article 17 – The protection granted to the individual participation in collective works is herein assured.
Paragraph 1 – Any participant, when exercising his moral rights, is entitled to prohibit the indication or disclosure of his name in the collective work, without prejudice to his right to receive the contracted remuneration.
Paragraph 2 – The ownership of the economic rights over the entirety of the collective work is granted to the organizer.
Paragraph 3 – The contract executed by the organizer shall specify the participant’s contribution, the term for delivery or performance, the remuneration and any other conditions for performance.
Chapter III
Registration of Intellectual Works
Article 18 – The copyright protection set forth hereunder does not depend on any registration.
Article 19 – The author may choose to register his work with the public authority defined in article 17, caption and paragraph 1 of Law no. 5988, dated December 14, 1973.
Article 20 – The registration services set forth hereunder shall be paid for, the value and collecting process of which shall be established by the regulation to be enacted by the federal public administration entity responsible for the registration of intellectual works.
Article 21 – The registration services set forth hereunder shall be organized as per the provisions of article 17, paragraph 2 of Law no. 5988, dated December 14, 1973.
Title III
Copyright
Chapter I
Preliminary Provisions
Article 22 – The moral and economic rights over the work belong to the author who has created it.
Article 23 – The joint authors of the intellectual work shall exercise their rights in mutual agreement, expect if there is any provision to the contrary.
Chapter II
Author’s Moral Rights
Article 24 – The author’s moral rights are the following:
I – to claim, at any time, the authorship of the work;
II – to have his name, pseudonym or conventional sign indicated or disclosed as being the author’s, whenever the work is used;
III – to keep his work unpublished;
IV – to assure the integrity of the work, objecting to any modification thereto or to the practice of any acts that may damage it or affect his reputation or honor in any way as the author thereof;
V – to modify the work, before or after its use;
VI – to remove the work from circulation, or interrupt any previously authorized form of use, when the circulation or use implies offense to his reputation and image;
VII – to have access to a single and rare sample of the work, when it is legitimately in the hands of someone else, for the purposes of, by means of photographic processes or similar, or through audiovisual processes, preserving his memory, in a way that causes the least inconvenience as possible to the holder thereof, who shall be indemnified in relation to any loss or damage that may be caused to him.
Paragraph 1 – With the author’s decease, the rights referred to in sections I to IV herein shall be transferred to his successors.
Paragraph 2 – The State government is responsible for the defense of the integrity and authorship of the work in public domain.
Paragraph 3 – In the cases set forth in sections V and VI, exception is made to the previous indemnities to third parties, if any.
Article 25 – The director is exclusively responsible for exercising the moral rights over the audiovisual work.
Article 26 – The author may reject the authorship of any architectural project altered without his consent during the construction or after it is completed.
Sole Paragraph – The owner of the construction is liable for any damages caused to the author in case the project is attributed to the author even after the author’s rejecting it.
Article 27 – The author’s moral rights cannot be alienated or waived.
Chapter III
Author’s Economic Rights and their Duration
Article 28 – The author has the exclusive right to use, possess and dispose of the literary, artistic or scientific work.
Article 29 – The use of the work shall depend on the previous and express authorization of the author thereof. This use can be made in any modality, such as:
I – reproduction in whole or part;
II – edition;
III – adaptation, musical arrangement and any other transformation;
IV – translation to any language;
V – inclusion in a sound recording or audiovisual production;
VI – distribution, provided it is not inherent to the contract executed by and between the author and a third party for the use or exploitation of the work;
VII – distribution for the offering of works or productions through cables, optical fibers, satellites, waves or any other system that allows the user to perform the selection of the work or production in order to perceive it in a time and place previously determined by the one who makes the request, and in the cases in which the access to the works or productions is made through any system payable by the user;
VIII – direct or indirect use of the literary, artistic or scientific work, by means of:
a) representation, recitation or declamation;
b) musical performance;
c) use of loudspeakers and the like;
d) television or sound radio broadcasting;
e) reception of radio broadcasting transmission in places with collective attendance;
f) ambient sound;
g) audiovisual or motion picture display, and the like;
h) use of artificial satellites;
i) use of optical systems, telephone cables or not, cables of any type and similar means of communication that may be adopted;
j) exhibition of plastic and figurative works;
IX – inclusion in databases, storage in computers, microfilming and other similar filing formats;
X – any other modality of use, whether existing or yet to be invented.
Article 30 – When exercising the reproduction right, the copyright owner may make the work available to the public, in the way, place and time he wishes, whether gratuitously or not.
Paragraph 1 – The exclusive reproduction right shall not apply when the reproduction is temporary and aims only at making the work, sound recording or performance perceivable in an electronic format, or when it has a temporary and incidental nature, provided it occurs in the course of the duly authorized use of the work by the owner thereof.
Paragraph 2 – In any reproduction modality the amount of samples shall be informed and controlled, and the one reproducing the work shall be responsible for keeping the records that will enable the author to supervise the economic use of the work.
Article 31 – The several modalities of use of the literary, artistic or scientific works or sound recordings are independent from each other, and the authorization granted by the author or producer does not extend to any of the others.
Article 32 – When a work made by joint authors is not divisible, none of the joint authors is allowed to publish it or authorize its publication without the consent of the others, under penalty of being liable for the losses and damages arising therefrom, except in case of a selection of his complete works.
Paragraph 1 – In case of any controversy, the joint authors shall decide by majority.
Paragraph 2 – The dissident joint author shall have the right to be released from any publication expenses, and shall waive his portion of the profits, being allowed to prohibit the inscription of his name in the work.
Paragraph 3 – Each joint author may separately register the work and defend his own rights against third parties, even without the consent of the others.
Article 33 – No one is allowed to reproduce any work that is not in public domain, under the allegation of improving or adding comments or notes to it, without the author’s permission.
Sole Paragraph – The comments or notes may be published separately.
Article 34 – The missive letters, the publication of which is subject to the author’s permission, may be added as evidence in any lawsuit or administrative proceeding.
Article 35 – When the author has given the work a definitive version, in virtue of a revision thereof, his successors will not be entitled to reproduce previous versions of such work.
Article 36 – The right of economic use of the texts published by the daily or periodical press, with the exception of any signed articles or the ones presenting any sign of reserve, belong to the editor, except in case of any provision to the contrary.
Sole Paragraph – The authorization for the economic use of signed articles for publication in the daily or periodical press shall not be effective after the periodicity term plus twenty days, as of its publication; once this period has elapsed the author shall recover his rights.
Article 37 – The acquisition of the original or sample of any work does not give the acquirer any of the author’s economic rights, except if there is any provision to the contrary established by the parties, and in the cases set forth herein.
Article 38 – The author has the unwaivable and inalienable right to receive at least five percent over the increase in the price occasionally perceived in each resale of any original work of art or manuscript that has been sold.
Sole Paragraph – If the author does not perceive his sequence right at the time of resale, the seller shall be deemed as depositary of the amount owed to the author, except if the operation has been performed by an auctioneer, who shall then be the depositary.
Article 39 – The economic rights of the author, except for the income resulting from their exploitation, are incommunicable, except for any pre-nuptial agreement stating the contrary.
Article 40 – In case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the one who publishes them will be entitled to exercise the economic rights of the author.
Sole Paragraph – The author who makes himself known shall undertake the exercise of the economic rights, except for the ones acquired by third parties.
Article 41 – The economic rights of the author shall last for seventy years, as of January 1 st of the year following his decease, in accordance with the succession order established by the civil law.
Sole Paragraph – The term for protection set forth in the caption of this article shall apply to the posthumous works as well.
Article 42 – When the literary, artistic or scientific work performed by joint authors is indivisible, the term set forth in the previous article shall commence as of the death of the last of the surviving joint authors.
Sole Paragraph – The rights of the joint author who dies without successors shall accrue to the surviving joint authors.
Article 43 – The term for protection of the economic rights over the anonymous our pseudonymous works shall be of seventy years, as of January 1 st of the year immediately following the first publication thereof.
Sole Paragraph – The provisions of article 41 and its sole paragraph shall apply whenever the author makes himself known before the end of the term set forth in the caption of this article.
Article 44 – The term for protection of the economic rights over the photographic and audiovisual works shall be of seventy years, as of January 1 st of the year following their disclosure.
Article 45 – In addition to the works in relation to which the protection of the economic rights have expired, the following belong to public domain:
I – those of deceased authors who have left no successors;
II – those of unknown authorship, except for the legal protection given to the ethnical and traditional knowledge.
Chapter IV
Copyright Limitations
Article 46 – The actions below do not represent any offense to copyrights:
I – the reproduction:
a) in the daily or periodical press, of news or articles published in daily or periodical newspapers, mentioning the name of the author, if signed, and the publication out of which they have been transcribed;
b) in the daily or periodical press, of speeches pronounced in public meetings of any nature;
c) of pictures, or any other means of representing the image, made on demand, when performed by the owner of the ordered object, and provided there is no objection from the portrayed person or his successors;
d) of literary, artistic and scientific works, to be used exclusively by visually disabled people, whenever the non-profitable reproduction is made through the Braille system or any other process in any format;
II – the reproduction in a single sample of small passages of the work, for private use by the copyist, provided it is made by himself without purposes of profit;
III – the citation in books, newspapers, magazines or any other means of communication, of passages of any work, with study, critics or polemic purposes, as reasonably required to accomplish such goal, indicating the name of the author and origin of the work;
IV – the abstract of lessons in teaching institutions by those to whom they are addressed, being forbidden its publication, in whole or part, without the previous and express authorization of the person who has provided it;
V – the use of literary, artistic or scientific works, sound recordings and television and radio broadcasting in commercial establishments, exclusively for demonstration purposes, as long as these establishments commercialize the formats or equipment that enable their use;
VI – the dramatic and musical performance, when made in a family household or in any teaching institution, for exclusively didactic purposes, provided there is no profit-making purposes;
VII – the use of literary, artistic or scientific works to produce administrative or legal evidence;
VIII – the reproduction, in any work, of small passages of preexisting works of any nature or of a complete work, in case of plastic works, whenever the reproduction itself is not the main objective of the new work, and provided it does not prejudice the regular exploitation of the reproduced work, nor cause any unjustified damage to the legitimate interests of the authors.
Article 47 – The paraphrases and parodies that are neither actual reproductions of the original work nor cause any discredit towards it can be used freely.
Article 48 – The works permanently located in public premises can be freely represented, by means of paintings, drawings, photographs and audiovisual processes.
Chapter V
Copyright Transfer
Article 49 – The copyrights can be fully or partially transferred to third parties, by the authors or their successors, universally or singularly, in person or through representatives with special powers, by means of a license, assignment or any other way as established by the Law, provided the following limitations are complied with:
I – the full transmission shall encompass any and all copyright, except for the moral rights and the ones expressly excluded by the law;
II – the full and definite transmission shall only be allowed in case of written contractual provision;
III – if there is no contractual provision, the maximum term shall be of five years;
IV – the assignment shall be valid solely in the country where the contract has been executed, except for any provision establishing the contrary;
V – the assignment shall only be possible for the modalities of use already existing on the date of the contract;
VI – in case there is no specification as for the modality of use, the contract shall be restrictively interpreted, which will be deemed as limited to only one that is essential for the fulfillment of the object of the contract.
Article 50 – The total or partial assignment of copyrights, which shall always be in writing, is assumed to be onerous.
Paragraph 1 – The assignment can be registered in the certificate provided by the public authority referred to in article 19 herein or, in case the work is not registered, the instrument may be filed with the Registry of Titles and Deeds.
Paragraph 2 – The assignment instrument shall essentially contain its object and the conditions for the exercise of the right as for the time, place and price.
Article 51 – The assignment of copyrights in relation to future works shall encompass a maximum period of five years.
Sole Paragraph – The term shall be reduced to five years whenever it is undetermined or longer, and the price shall be reduced accordingly.
Article 52 – The omission of the name of the author or joint author in the work disclosure shall not be deemed as anonymity or assignment of rights.
Title IV
Use of Intellectual Works and Sound Recordings
Chapter I
Edition
Article 53 – By means of an edition contract, the editor, by undertaking the obligation to reproduce and disclose the literary, artistic and scientific work, is exclusively authorized to publish and exploit it under the terms and conditions agreed upon with the author.
Sole Paragraph – In each sample of the work the editor shall mention:
I – the title of the work and its author;
II – in case of translations, the original title and the name of the translator;
III – the year of publication;
IV – his name or identifying trademark.
Article 54 – Through the same contract the author can be obliged to make a literary, artistic or scientific work, the publication and disclosure of which shall be pursued by the editor.
Article 55 – In case of decease or impediment of the author to complete the work, the editor may:
I – consider the contract rescinded, even if a considerable part of the work has been delivered;
II – edit the work, being autonomous, by paying the price thereof in a proportional manner;
III – have someone else finish it, as long as the successors agree and such fact is indicated in the edition.
Sole Paragraph – The partial publication is forbidden, if the author has expressed his wish of only publish it in full, or if that is the decision of his successors.
Article 56 – It is understood that the contract relates only to one edition, if there is no express provisions to the contrary.
Sole Paragraph – Each edition shall be deemed as having three thousand samples, if the contract has no provision stating the contrary.
Article 57 – The remuneration price shall be established based on the customs and usages, whenever the author does not expressly define it in the contract.
Article 58 – If the originals are not delivered in compliance with what has been established by the parties, and the editor does not refuse them within thirty days following the receipt thereof, the alterations introduced by the author shall be considered accepted.
Article 59 – Whatever the contractual conditions are, the editor must provide the author with the option to examine the relevant bookkeeping, as well as to inform the author of the conditions of the edition.
Article 60 – The editor shall set the sale price, although he must not increase it in a way that may embarrass the work circulation.
Article 61 – The editor must render accounts to the author on a monthly basis, whenever the author’s remuneration is subject to the work sales, except if any other term is agreed by the parties.
Article 62 – The work shall be edited within two years as of the execution of the contract, except if there is a different term established by the parties.
Sole Paragraph – In case there is no edition of the work within the legal or contractual term, the contract may be terminated, and the editor shall be liable for any damages arising therefrom.
Article 63 – While the editions to which the author is entitled are not over, the author will not be allowed to dispose of his work, being the editor responsible for producing the relevant evidences thereof.
Paragraph 1 – While the editing contract is in force, the editor shall have the right to demand that any edition of the same work made by someone else is taken out of circulation.
Paragraph 2 – The edition shall be considered over when the editor has a number of samples smaller than ten percent of the total of editions in stock.
Article 64 – Only one year after the release of the edition will the editor be allowed to sell the remaining samples, as a sell-out, provided that the author is notified that, within a thirty-day term, he will have the priority to acquire the referred samples, for a sell-out price.
Article 65 – Once the edition is over, and the editor, having the right to publish another one, chooses not to do so, the author will be entitled to notify the editor to do it within a certain period of time, under penalty of his losing the right, being liable for any damages arising therefrom.
Article 66 – The author has the right to perform any amendment or alteration to the editions succeeding his works.
Sole Paragraph – The editor may object to the alterations that may prejudice his interests, offend his reputation or increase his liabilities.
Article 67 – If, due to its nature, the updating of the work for new editions proves to be necessary, the editor may have it done by someone else, in case the author refuses to do it, and shall mention such fact in the edition.
Chapter II
Communication to the Public
Article 68 – Without the previous and express authorization of the author or owner thereof, no dramatic work, musical or literary and musical composition, or sound recordings can be used in public exhibitions and performances.
Paragraph 1 – Public performance shall mean the use of dramatic works in genres such as drama, tragedy, comedy, opera, operetta, ballet, pantomimes and the like, whether accompanied by music or not, with the participation of artists, whether remunerated or not, in places of collective attendance, or through radio broadcasting, transmission and motion picture display.
Paragraph 2 – Public exhibition shall mean the use of musical or literary and musical compositions, with the participation of artists, whether remunerated or not, or the use of sound recordings and audiovisual works, in places of collective attendance, through any process, including, but not limited to, radio broadcasting or transmission through any modality, and the motion picture display.
Paragraph 3 – Places of collective attendance mean theaters, movie theaters, concert halls, night clubs, bars, clubs or associations of any nature, shops, commercial and industrial establishments, stadiums, circus, fairs, restaurants, hotels, motels, clinics, hospitals, public entities, foundations, public corporations, means of transport, whether terrestrial, maritime, fluvial or aerial, or any place where the literary, artistic or scientific works are presented, performed or transmitted.
Paragraph 4 – Previous to the public exhibition, the agent shall present to the central office, as set forth in article 99, the receipt evidencing the payment of copyrights.
Paragraph 5 – When the remuneration depends upon the public attendance, the agent may, by means of an agreement entered into with the central office, pay the price after the public exhibition is made.
Paragraph 6 – The agent shall deliver to the central office, right after the public exhibition or transmission, a complete list of the works and sound recordings used, indicating the names of the respective authors, artists and producers.
Paragraph 7 – The radio broadcasting and motion picture companies shall keep at the immediate disposal of the interested parties a certified copy of the contracts, negotiations or agreements, whether individual or collective, which authorize and regulate the remuneration arising out of the public exhibition of the musical works and sound recordings contained in their programs or audiovisual works.
Article 69 – Notwithstanding the local usage, the author shall notify the agent of the term for performance or exhibition, except if previously established by the parties.
Article 70 – The author has the right to object to the performance or exhibition that has not been sufficiently rehearsed, as well as to inspect it, having, for this purpose, free access to the place where the performances or exhibitions take place during such performances of exhibitions.
Article 71 – The author of the work must not alter its substance, without a previous agreement with the agent thereof.
Article 72 – The agent must not deliver the work to anyone who is stranger to the performance or exhibition, without the author’s license.
Article 73 – The main performers and the directors of orchestras or choirs, chosen by mutual agreement between the author and the producer, must not be substituted by the producer’s orders, without the author’s consent.
Article 74 – The author of a dramatic work, upon authorizing its translation or adaptation, may establish a term for its use in public performances.
Sole Paragraph – After the term referred to in this article has elapsed, the translator or adapter must not object to the use of other authorized translation or adaptation, except if it is a copy of his work.
Article 75 – Once the performance of the dramatic work made by joint authors is authorized, the joint authors must not revoke the given authorization, causing the interruption of the performances already contracted.
Article 76 – The portion of the money obtained with the performance and reserved to the authors and artists cannot be pledged.
Chapter III
Use of Plastic Works
Article 77 – Save for any provisions to the contrary, the author of a plastic work, upon alienating the object in which it is materialized, transfers the right to exhibit it, although the right to reproduce it is not transferred to the acquirer.
Article 78 – The authorization to reproduce any plastic work, through any process, shall be made in writing and is assumed to be onerous.
Chapter IV
Use of Photographic Work
Article 79 – The author of a photographic work has the right to reproduce it and put it on sale, provided the restrictions to the exhibition, reproduction and sale of pictures are complied with, and without prejudice the copyrights over the photographed work, if it is of protected plastic works.
Paragraph 1 – When used by third parties, the photograph shall indicate the name of its author in a readable way.
Paragraph 2 – The reproduction of a photographic work that is not absolutely in accordance with the original is forbidden, except if previously authorized by the author.
Chapter V
Use of Sound Recordings
Article 80 – When publishing the sound recording, the producer shall mention in each sample:
I – the title of the included work and its author;
II – the name or pseudonym of the performer;
III – the year of publication;
IV – his name or identifying trademark.
Chapter VI
Use of Audiovisual Works
Article 81 – The authorization of the author and of the performer of the literary, artistic or scientific work for an audiovisual production implies the consent for its economic use, except in case of any provision to the contrary.
Paragraph 1 – The exclusive authorization depends upon an express clause and shall finish ten years after the execution of the contract.
Paragraph 2 – In each copy of the audiovisual work, the producer shall mention:
I – the title of the audiovisual work;
II – the names or pseudonyms of the director and other joint authors;
III – the title of the adapted work and its author, if that is the case;
IV – the performing artists;
V – the year of publication;
VI – his name or identifying trademark.
Article 82 – The audiovisual production contract shall establish:
I – the remuneration payable by the producer to the joint authors of the work and to the performing artists and performers, and also the time, place and conditions of payment;
II – the term for completion of the work;
III – the liability of the producer towards the joint authors, performing artists or performers, in case of joint authorship.
Article 83 – The participant to the production of an audiovisual work who interrupts his acting, in a permanent or temporary basis, must not object to the use of his performance in the work, nor to his substitution by a third party, provided that the rights he has acquired in relation to the performed part are guaranteed.
Article 84 – If the remuneration of the authors of an audiovisual work depends upon the revenues arising out of its economic use, the producer shall render account to the authors every six months, except if any other term has been stipulated.
Article 85 – If there is no provision to the contrary, the joint authors of an audiovisual work may use the part constituting their personal contribution in a different type of work.
Sole Paragraph – If the producer fails to complete the audiovisual work within the established term, or if he fails to begin its exploitation in two years as of completion thereof, the use referred to in this article shall be free.
Article 86 – The musical performance copyrights relative to musical works, literary and musical works and sound recordings included in audiovisual works shall be due to their owners by the responsible for the places or premises referred to in article 68, paragraph 3 hereof, who exhibit them, or by the television networks that transmit them.
Chapter VII
Use of Databases
Article 87 – The owner of economic rights over a database shall have the exclusive right, in relation to the form of expression of the structure of the mentioned base, to authorize or prohibit:
I – its reproduction, in whole or part, through any means or process;
II – its translation, adaptation, rearrangement or any other modification;
III – the distribution of the original or copies of the database or its communication to the public;
IV – the reproduction, distribution or communication to the public of the results from the operations mentioned in section II of this article.
Chapter VIII
Use of Collective Works
Article 88 – When publishing the collective work, the organizer shall mention in each sample:
I – the title of the work;
II – the list of all participants, in alphabetic order, if no other order has been stipulated;
III – the year of publication;
IV – his name or identifying trademark.
Sole Paragraph – To exercise the provisions of article 17, paragraph 1, the participant shall notify the organizer, in writing, up to the delivery of his participation.
Title V
Related Rights
Chapter I
Preliminary Provisions
Article 89 – The rules relative to copyright apply, whenever possible, to the rights of the performing artists or performers, sound recording producers and radio broadcasting companies.
Sole Paragraph – The protection granted herein to the rights set forth in this article keeps intact and unaffected the guarantees of the authors of literary, artistic and scientific works.
Chapter II
Rights of Performing Artists and Performers
Article 90 – The performing artists or performers have the exclusive right, whether gratuitously or not, to authorize or prohibit:
I – the fixation of their performances;
II – the reproduction, public exhibition and lease of their fixed performances;
III – the radio broadcasting of their performances, whether fixed or not;
IV – the availability to the public of their performances, so that any person can have access to them, at the time and place individually chosen by them;
V – any other modality of use of their performances.
Paragraph 1 – Whenever there are several artists participating in the performance, their rights shall be exercised by the director of them all.
Paragraph 2 – The protection of the performing artists and performers encompass the reproduction of their voices and images, whenever associated with their performances.
Article 91 – The radio broadcasting companies may fix the performances of artists who have authorized such fixation to be used in a certain number of broadcastings, and may opt to keep them in a public file.
Sole Paragraph – The subsequent reusing of the fixation, in Brazil or abroad, will only be licit if authorized in writing by the owners of the intellectual works included in the program, and an additional remuneration shall be payable to the owners for each new use.
Article 92 – The performers have the moral right to the integrity and authorship of their performances, even after the assignment of the economic rights, without prejudice of the reduction, compacting, editing or dubbing of the work in which they have taken part, under the responsibility of the producer, who must not disfigure the artist’s performance.
Sole Paragraph – The decease of any participant of an audiovisual work, whether completed or not, shall not be an obstacle to its exhibition and economic exploitation, not shall it require additional authorization, and the remuneration established for the deceased, under the contract and the law, shall be made on behalf of his estate or of his successors.
Chapter III
Rights of the Sound Recording Producers
Article 93 – The sound recording producer has the exclusive right to, whether gratuitously or not, authorize or prohibit:
I – the direct or indirect reproduction of the work, whether in whole or part;
II – the distribution of the work by selling or leasing reproduced samples;
III – the communication to the public through public exhibition, including, but not limited to, radio broadcasting;
IV - (VETOED)
V – any other modality of use, whether existing or yet to be invented.
Article 94 – The sound recording producer is responsible for receiving from the users referred to in article 68 and paragraphs herein the payments resulting from the public display of the sound recordings, and shall share them with the artists, as agreed by and among them or their associations.
Chapter IV
Rights of Radio Broadcasting Companies
Art. 95. The radio broadcasting companies have the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit the retransmission, fixation and reproduction of their broadcasting, as well as the communication to the public, through television, in places with collective attendance, without prejudice to the rights of the owners of intellectual works included in the programming.
Chapter V
Duration of Related Rights
Article 96 – The term for protection to the related rights is of seventy years, commencing on January 1 st of the year following fixation, for the sound recordings; following transmission, for the radio broadcasting companies emissions; and following public performance and exhibition, for the other cases.
Title VI
Copyright and Related Rights Owners Associations
Article 97 – For the exercise and defense of their rights, the authors and owners of related rights may associate with non-profitable purposes.
Paragraph 1 – It is forbidden to become a member of more than one association for the collective management of rights of the same nature.
Paragraph 2 – The owner may transfer his membership to any other association, at any time, and shall inform this fact in writing to the association of origin.
Paragraph 3 – The associations headquartered abroad shall be represented in Brazil by national associations incorporated under the provisions hereof.
Article 98 – Following the membership, the associations become agents of their members for the practice of any and all acts necessary for the defense of their copyrights, in and out of court, as well as for the collection of fees arising therefrom.
Sole Paragraph – The owners of copyrights may practice the acts referred to in this article in person, provide this is previously informed to the association of which they are members.
Article 99 – The associations shall have a single central office for the common collection and distribution of the rights relative to the public exhibition of musical works, literary and musical works, and sound recordings, including through radio broadcasting and transmission of any kind, and also of the exhibition of audiovisual works.
Paragraph 1 – The central office organized under the provisions of this article shall not have profitable purposes, and shall be managed and administered by the associations integrating it.
Paragraph 2 – The central office and the associations referred to in this Title shall act in and out of court on their own behalf, as legal substitutes of the owners who are members thereof.
Paragraph 3 – The collection of any amount by the central office shall only be made through bank deposits.
Paragraph 4 – The central office may have inspectors, who are forbidden to receive any type of sum from the agents.
Paragraph 5 – The failure to comply with the rule established in the previous paragraph shall make the breaching party unable to perform his duties as an inspector, without prejudice of the applicable civil and criminal sanctions.
Article 100 – The professional association or union congregating a minimum of one third of the members of a copyright association may, once a year, and after providing due notice eight days in advance, inspect, through an auditor, the accuracy of the accounts rendered to their members.
Title VII
Sanctions for Copyright Infringement
Chapter I
Preliminary Provisions
Article 101 – The civil sanctions provided for in this Chapter are enforceable without prejudice of the applicable penalties.
Chapter II
Civil Sanctions
Article 102 – The owner whose work has been fraudulently reproduced, disclosed or used by any means, may request the reproduced samples to be seized or the disclosure to be interrupted, without prejudice of the applicable indemnity.
Article 103 – The one who edits any literary, artistic or scientific work, without the owner’s authorization, will lose the seized samples, delivering them to the author, and shall pay to the author the price of the samples he has sold.
Sole Paragraph – If the number of samples constituting the fraudulent edition is unknown, the violator shall pay the value corresponding to three thousand samples, in addition to the ones that have been seized.
Article 104 – The one who sells, exhibits for sale, hides, acquires, distributes, stocks or uses any work or sound recording fraudulently reproduced, with the purpose of selling, obtaining any gain, benefit, advantage, direct or indirect profit, for himself or third parties, shall be jointly liable with the counterfeiter, as per the preceding articles, and the importer and the distributor shall be deemed as counterfeiters in case of reproduction abroad.
Article 105 – The transmission and retransmission, through any means or process, and the communication to the public of artistic, literary and scientific works, as well as performances and sound recordings, made in breach of the rights of the owners shall be immediately suspended or interrupted by the competent judicial authority, without prejudice to the daily penalty for the incompliance and also to the applicable indemnity, regardless of any applicable criminal sanction; in the event it is evidenced that the violator is repeating the infringement of copyrights and related rights, the value of the penalty may be increased up to twice the original value.
Article 106 – The judgment issued against the violator may also order the destruction of all illicit samples, as well as of the matrix, molds, negative films and other elements used in the practice of the unlawful act, and also the loss of machines, equipment and input destined to such purpose, or their destruction, in case they fit only for the illicit purpose.
Article 107 – Regardless of the loss of the equipment, the following shall be liable for losses and damages, not smaller than the value that would result from the application of the provisions of section 103 and its sole paragraph:
I – the one who alters, removes, modifies or disenables, in any way, technical devices introduced in the samples of the protected works and productions in order to avoid or restrict their copying;
II – the one who alters, removes or disenables, in any way, the encoded signs intended to restrict the communication to the public of protected works, productions or broadcastings, or prevent them from being copied;
III – the one who removes or alters, without authorization, any information on the management of the rights;
IV – the one who distributes, imports for distribution, issues, communicates or makes available to the public, without authorization, any work, performance, sample of performances fixed in sound recordings and broadcastings, even being aware that the information on the management of the rights, encoded signs and technical devices has been removed or altered without authorization.
Article 108 – The one who, when using the intellectual work in any way, fails to indicate or announce the name, pseudonym or conventional sign of the author and performer as being so, shall be liable for moral damages, in addition to being obliged to disclose their identity as follows:
I – in case of a radio broadcasting company, at the same time when the infringement has occurred, for three consecutive days;
II – in case of a graphic or phonographic publication, by including an erratum in the samples that have not been distributed, without prejudice to the highlighted communication that shall be made for three consecutive times, in a newspaper with mass circulation, of the domicile of the author, performer and editor or producer;
III – in case of any other format of use, through the press, in accordance to the provisions of the previous section.
Article 109 – The public exhibition that is not made in conformity with articles 68, 97, 98 and 99 hereof shall subject the responsible to a penalty of twenty times the value that should have been paid originally.
Article 110 – The owners, directors, managers, agents and lessees of the places or premises mentioned in article 68 above, where the copyright infringement in public auditions and presentations has occurred, shall be jointly liable with the organizers of the presentations.
Chapter III
Statute of Limitation
Article 111 - (VETOED)
Title VIII
Temporary and Final Provisions
Article 112 – If, as a consequence of the expiration of the term for protection previously granted under article 42, paragraph 2, of Law no. 5988, dated December 14, 1973, the work has fallen in public domain, the term for protection granted to the economic rights applied to it shall not be extended by the provisions of article 41 hereof.
Article 113 – The sound recordings, books and audiovisual works shall be subject to identification signs or stamps, which shall be under the responsibility of the producer, distributor or importer, without any cost to the consumer, with the purpose of certifying the fulfillment of the rules in force, as per the provisions established by the regulation.
Article 114 – The Law shall be in force one hundred and twenty days as of publication.
Article 115 – The articles 649 to 673, and 1346 to 1362 of the Civil Code, as well as Laws no. 4944, dated April 6, 1966; 5988, dated December 14, 1973, except for the article 17 and its paragraphs 1 and 2; 6800, dated June 25, 1980; 7123, dated September 12, 1983; 9045, dated May 18, 1995, and any other provision to the contrary are herein revoked, whereas Laws no. 6533, dated May 24, 1978, and 6615, dated December 16, 1978 shall continue in force.
Brasília, February 19, 1998; 177th of Independence and 110th of the Republic.
FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO
Francisco Weffort
By ECAD
http://www.ecad.org.br/viewcontroller/publico/conteudo.aspx?codigo=40