The concept and form of scientific work in light of copyright law

Abstract

The provisions of the Act on Copyright and Related Rights of 4 February 1999 do not provide any definition of scientific work but merely make a reference to it in Article 1 clause 2 point 1, refer to it more broadly in Article 14, and also refer to it in Article 29 Copyright (citation). In the doctrine, an opinion that is worth mentioning is that of J. Barta and R. Markiewicz who claim that scientific works are the result of a scientific cognitive process and are, at the same time, in their basic function of communication, oriented not to ‘themselves’ as works of art, but focused on presenting the objective reality.

The issue of defining scientific work within the framework of copyright law is still open, regardless numerous attempts undertaken by scholars and judges to formulate its definition. Although it may not really be advisable to recommend that a legal definition of scientific work be provided, it seems reasonable to expect that a definition of such work is available in rules governing establishments of higher education.

It must be stressed, though, that scientific works may be produced in all kinds of scientific disciplines, and take the form that seems adequate and in line with the adopted method of research as well as with the capability of presenting research results. What is of particular importance though, is rejection of a view that scientific work may only take the form of a written paper or another paper form.