Information on authorship disputes and authorship share verification
The legal effect of work registration:
Since a musical work’s authorship is a question of fact, authors are obliged to register true authorship shares with the work registration. Authorship shares are non-transferrable, and no contract can be concluded to that effect. When registering works, authors receive and acknowledge information on the legal effects of work registration and the unalterable nature of authorship share.
The authors submit their statements on authorship shares (splits) for multi-author works as part of the work registration. Authors submitting the registration are liable for the accuracy of work registration data. Authorship shares cannot be altered via a contract. Authorship shares can only be altered by a legally binding court decision.
Prevailing stipulations from Act 76 on Copyright (Copyright Act): Paragraph (1) of Section 4; Paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) of Section 9; Paragraphs (1) and (3) of Section 94/B
Reporting an authorship dispute:
An authorship dispute commences when someone questions the authorship of one or more authors included in the work registration, or if the authors issue a statement claiming that the authorship shares included in the work registration were false for some reason.
Both in the case of an authorship dispute or the joint will of authors to alter the authorship share registered with the work registration, the authorship shares submitted in the work registration can only be altered by a legally binding court decision.
The purpose of reporting an authorship dispute is to prevent royalty distribution based on the disputed (allegedly false) authorship data. If the parties fail to report the authorship dispute, claims regarding royalty distributions and payments already completed based on the registered data can only be settled among the involved individuals.
Artisjus has a separate form for reporting authorship disputes. In order to prevent royalty payments for the allegedly false authorship share claimant can use the form to request that Artisjus place distributed royalties in a suspense account for 30 days. The 30-day period can be extended if during that time the parties bring a court action to establish true authorship shares and verify this action to Artisjus. Otherwise, Artisjus releases the suspense account following the 30-day period and royalty distribution and payment continues according to the originally registered authorship shares.
General procedural rules governing copyright court cases:
Both the plaintiff and the defendant must have legal representation, for which they must commission attorneys. If there is agreement between the involved parties regarding the authorship shares, the legal representative may consult the parties whether one attorney can represent all involved parties together.
To ascertain true authorship claimant author must bring an action as a plaintiff against the other involved author (defendant). Every author of the work, and persons registered as authors at Artisjus must be party to the proceedings. The legal burden of proof to prove true authorship falls on the plaintiff bringing the action to court. If included in the dispute true authorship shares must also be demonstrated. The court ascertains true authorship and authorship shares in its final decision.
Copyright cases are usually heard at the competent court according to defendant’s domicile. If there are no other claims, procedural fee usually amounts to HUF 36 000, but if the procedure can be completed during the first hearing, because the defendant recognizes the claim, the court reduces the fee to 10%, that is to HUF 3 600. Parties may waive their right to appeal at first instance whereby the first instance decision immediately becomes legally binding on the day of its publication (no need to wait for the 15-day deadline for appeals).
Stipulations relating to the procedure from Act 3 of 1952 on Civil Procedure: Point c) of Paragraph (1) of Section 23; Section 29; Point b) of Paragraph (1) of Section 73/A
The original, legally binding court decision on the true authorship and authorship shares of the work must be sent to Artisjus. Artisjus will modify the inaccurate work registration in accordance with the court decision.
Contact:
Artisjus Legal Department
Tel: +36 1 488-2636
E-mail: info@artisjus.com
1 Procedural Fee Act Point b) of Paragraph (3) of Section 39 and Paragraph (1) of Section 42 in accordance with the Procedural Fee Regulations in force on April 26, 2013