The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in Georgia is the Law on Copyright and Neighboring Rights of June 22, 1999 (Georgian: საქართველოს კანონი საავტორო და მომიჯნავე უფლებების შესახებ)[1] replacing Art.
1 copyright applies to scientific, literary and artistic works, which are the result of intellectual-creative activities.
8): Copyright comprises the personal moral rights of the author (Art.
17) as well as the economic rights of the author or other holder of copyright (Art.
In general, original holder of copyright is the author; exception: works for hire (Art.
Registration with the Intellectual Property Center SAKPATENTI or compliance with any other formalities is not required (Art.
The permission on use of the work in a special way is given by copyright contract (Art.
The copyright holder may transfer his economic rights for administration to an organization administering economic rights on collective basis (Art.
33), copyright in general is valid during the author's life and further 70 years from his death (p.m.a.
Yet after expiration of copyright term a fee may be charged for use of the work within the territory of Georgia (Art.
If copies of a work published lawfully are sold, then their further distribution without the author's consent is permitted (Art.
Other limitations of economic rights are defined by Art.
21–28, provided that such limitations do not prevent the normal use of the work and do not damage unreasonably the legal interests of the author or other holder of copyright (Art.
Furthermore, the sui generis right of database producers (Art.
54) as common in European jurisdictions[4] is granted; term: 15 years (Art.