System of copyright protection in the CR and the USA

RESUMÉ Copyright protection under the Czech and U.S. law The main purpose of this thesis is to compare the key aspects of the European civil law approach and the Anglo-American system of the copyright protection. This paper also aims to outline current issues that copyright protection confronts in the digital age. The first of the five chapters is introductory and describes general concepts that both of the legal systems are based on. It addresses the philosophical backgrounds and evolution of the European and Anglo- American legal traditions and also mentions the relevant Czech and U.S. legislation. The differences between the civil law and the common law theories are explained by illustrating the individualistic European approach founded on the natural rights philosophy and the commercial U.S. approach based on utilitaristic principles. The second chapter is dedicated to explaining the subject matter of copyright under the Czech and U.S. laws. The categories of the original works of authorship are described and, above all, attention is given to the moment in which the copyright protection is effectively created. Under the Czech law, the legal conditions are met when expressing the work in any form that is objectively perceivable by a human being. On the other hand, the requirement of fixing the work in..