How to Register a Copyright in Georgia: Protect Yourself from Copycats

If you have created a work or written program code, you are considered its author by default. Unfortunately, authorship is not a safeguard against plagiarism and theft. If you officially register the fruit of your labor, however, it will be a lot easier to get protection in court, seek monetary compensation, or block an Internet resource if your work is published without request: According to the IDFI, 292 websites were blocked in Georgia due to copyright infringement from 2017 to 2022 alone.

Before getting to the registration, let’s talk a bit about the general provisions of Georgian (and international) legislation:

What is copyright?

Copyright is a set of legal rights protecting the results of creative and scientific activity, regardless of the quality, form, genre, volume, or mode of expression of that activity.

In Georgia, intellectual property is regulated by the 1999 law On Copyright and Related Rights, which also recognizes similar international agreements, making it possible to say that in Georgia you are protected by the Berne Convention, the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, and other documents.

It should be noted that copyright arises the moment a work is created and whether or not it has been published. For example, if you have written a story and it languishes in your top drawer for ten years of rejection, you nevertheless remain its sole author.

All the same, two categories of copyright are traditionally distinguished:

• An inalienable personal (or moral) right connected to the identity of the creator, who will always be the author

• Property copyright is the freedom to dispose of a particular work and benefit from it materially. This right is transferable: for example, the creator may authorize the sale or rental of the work (original or copies), public display, translation, and revision

What works are protected by law?

Copyright law protects any work of art, literature, or science almost without restriction. For example, Sakpatenti, the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia, identifies the following categories:

• Literary works and their collections – books, pamphlets, articles, encyclopedias, anthologies, lectures, sermons, databases (systematizing the material)
• Works of fine art – sculpture, painting, lithography
• Choreographic, dramatic works, pantomimes
• Musical pieces with or without lyrics
• Video – film, television, movies, clips
• Photography
• Arts and crafts – jewelry, tableware, decorative fabrics, art glass, carpets
• Architectural projects and landscape design
• Maps, plans, diagrams, illustrations
• Processed works – adaptations, translations, screenplays, productions, reviews, compilations, arrangements, and others
• Computer programs
• Other work

What is not protected by copyright?

Copyright law protects only the form of expression of an idea, not the idea of the work itself. Interpreted somewhat more broadly, the law does not apply to methods, processes, systems, concepts, principles, discoveries, and facts, even if they are described in a work. For example, copyright protects the sequence of letters in a Harry Potter book but not the tale of a wizard.

In addition, the law does not touch official documents, regulatory acts, court decisions, official state signs and symbols – flags, coat of arms, anthems, awards, money…

Why register a copyright?

Say you’ve written a guide on neighborhoods in Tbilisi and don’t need to register your intellectual property right because it already belongs to you by default. Hold on a sec, though – officially only you know about it, and if someone tries to rip it off, you will first have to prove authorship in court before you can demand interim measures, and that is additional time and money.

Registration is extremely useful for proving a claim. In addition to protection against theft, there are at least five other reasons to register a copyright:

1. Reducing the risk of claims from third parties: When companies are working on the same problem or authors writing on the same topic – a registration certificate will help prove authorship in court
2. Financial benefits: A certificate of registration helps sell work, conclude a license agreement, and receive royalties faster, such as for a musician signing a contract with a label or streaming site 
3. Image: Registration establishes credibility, attracts investors, allows for grants, and emphasizes the uniqueness of the creator or company
4. A valuable asset: Registered intellectual property enters the balance sheet as an intangible asset and emphasizes the seriousness of the business in the eyes of partners, such as with software for telephones in investment capital, used as a loan, or pledged as collateral
5. International protection: As already mentioned, Georgia has signed several conventions on copyright protection, meaning your authorship after registration is automatically recognized beyond the confines of Georgia. For example, the Berne Convention has been ratified by 180 countries, including Italy, France, USA, Turkey…

How to register a copyright

In Georgia, copyright registration is handled by Sakpatenti, the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia. The procedure is quite simple and open to citizens and non-residents alike – another argument in favor.

The procedure is as follows:

• First prepare the documents: the original or a copy of the work (text, drawing, song, computer program), as well as the author’s passport or ID.
• Complete an application for copyright registration in Georgian.
• Pay the duty and attach the receipt to the application.
• Submit the documents to Sakpatenti: in person, by post, or online.

Sakpatenti takes a few weeks to review the application, enters the intellectual property in the registry, and issues a certificate of state registration.