IP REGULATION

Software can be protected by referring to Copyright Law (Law no. 633/1941), with particular regard to articles 64 bis to 64 quarter, since the law does not set forth any particular protection to be granted to such programs under IPC; nonetheless in some peculiar cases it could be recognized the patentability, provided that the soft- ware solves a technical issue.

In any case, even though the protection under Copyright Law arises automatically from the creation and no type of administrative fulfillment is needed, to furnish the author of an indisputable proof, a program already published can be registered in the Public Register of Software.
The copyright on the program has a duration equal to the author’s whole life plus 70 years after his/her death. In case of assignment of the economic rights, the duration will be calculated considering the life of the author independently from the buyer.
Database can be protected by referring to Italian Law on copyright as well pursuant to articles 64 quinquies and 64 sexies. Therefore, related rights of the author arise automatically on the creation and are not conditioned upon any formal requirement such as registration.
The exclusive right of the maker, who is not necessarily the author, shall come into being on the completion of the database, and shall expire 15 years from January 1 of the year following the date of the said completion.