Comment on § 50 of the Copyright Act on Material And Terrritorial Competence

The text is actually comment on the § 50 of the Czech Copyright Act which draws very much from the Czechoslovak act of 1965. The mentioned provision concerins material and territorial jurisdiction of the Act. The Act is based on the principles of territoriality and assimilation expressed as national treatment. The Act is directly applicalble to work of authors that are citizens of the Czech Republic or that enjoy asylum in the Czech Republic. Applicability to work of other persons is under international treaties. If there is no international treaty, the Act is applied when reciprocity is guaranteed. If none of the two conditions required by law is fulfilled, the provisions of the Act are applitable to work of authors that are not citizens of the Czech Republic (and do not enjoy asylum), if they were first published in the Czech Republic or if the domicile of the author is in the Czech Republic. (Before 1 January 1993 these facts concerned the former Czechoslovakia.) Furthermore, the time for which copyright of foreign citizens is granted, cannot be longer than that in the state of the origin of work. The provisions with which the text deals, concern performer artists and their performances as well.