Lehre 4.0 | Legal Aspects of E-Learning

What does copyright protect?

 Copyright law protects creations which, according to the Copyright Act (UrhG), are "personal intellectual creations". A creation is not considered "special" in everyday context, but also includes press articles or simple computer programs. Quality or (aesthetic or artistic) value is just as irrelevant as the nature of the work. Copyright generally protects every kind of aesthetic and/or intellectual creation (cf. Kreutzer/Hirche 2017: 9).

The following types of works are subject to copyright protection:
  • Texts
  • Music
  • Photos
  • Computer software
  • Databases
  • Movies
  • Works of fine arts
  • Scientific works
  • Multimedia works

Copyright exists only for designs, but not for ideas, concepts, methods, scientific findings, laws of nature or styles. Not protected are the means of creating a work - e.g. the language necessary to formulate a text - but only its concrete applications in form of a work (cf. Kreutzer/Hirche 2017: 12).

The YouTube channel of the Multimedia Communications Lab of the TU Darmstadt explains what is protected under copyright law, who or what is a copyright holder and when a work is protected. (Please note that the video is in German.)

The video does not replace legal advice!

Source: Multimedia Kommunikation TU Darmstadt (2016): Was ist geschützt? (Translated by Lehre 4.0 team, JLU)


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