Challenging ownership of copyright of the employee-author

Abstract

In a world where the IP intangibles are becoming the most valuable assets of any business, there is intense competition to hire people who manage to create works. When the author is simultaneously an employee, the exciting scenario produces legal debate regarding authorship and copyright ownership. This paper will analyse from the Albanian legal perspective how the "employed" status of the author affects the ownership of the rights deriving from work, according to Law on Author's Right and Labour Law, thus examining the implication of the employer as a temporary right’s holder. The paper will explain the different legal approaches to exercising economic rights depending on the type of work deriving from the employment relationship, further comparing to Kosovo Law on Author’s Rights.