ENGINEERING AND RELATED WORK. COPYRIGHT PROTECTION.

A recent decision of the Court of Naples, Specialized Business Section, in alignment with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, has clarified the protection granted to engineers, architects and surveyors for the design of works, when the client uses the projects even after the termination of the professional relationship with the author. The Court, preliminarily, clarified that the drafts drawn up as a result of the assignment received are to be considered “work projects”, within the meaning of Article 2578 of the Civil Code, and not “drawings and works of architecture”, referred to in Article 2 no. 5 of Law no. 633/41, with the consequence that the law does not attribute to the author a moral right of authorship, but rather a formal protection of his idea, recognizing him the right, in case of undue use, to fair compensation, this provided that the project: “…presents original solutions to technical problems…” then used by third parties in the execution of their works. The firm remains available for any clarification that may be necessary.