LITERARY PROPERTY. - The "most sacred and most precious of properties" was legally recognized for the first time by a decree of the French National Assembly concerning theatrical performances, dated 13-19 January 1791, in which it was forbidden to perform works by living authors without their consent; two years later, by the law of 19-24 July 1793, the exclusive right of the author over all works of the intellect was recognized.
In Italy the first law on literary property was that of 19 Floréal, year IX (9 May 1801) of the Cisalpine Republic, followed by the laws of the Kingdom of Italy, the Edict of 23 September 1826 for the Papal State, the decree of 5 February 1828 for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Civil Code of 1836 for the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the decree of 22 December 1840 of Maria Luigia for the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla. After unification this matter was regulated principally by the consolidated texts of 1865, 1882 and 1925, and is currently governed by articles 2575-83 of the Civil Code, by the law of 22 April 1941, no. 653, and by the royal decree of 18 May 1942, no. 1369 (in force from 18 December of the same year), as well as by certain provisions of lesser importance. On 9 September 1886 Italy adhered to the Berne International Union, formed among France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Great Britain, Switzerland, Haiti and Tunisia (to which other nations were later added) for relations with foreigners, and has since adopted the amendments that the convention itself has subsequently undergone.
Under the laws in force, given that any exploitation of a literary or artistic work is reserved to the author, and that the right to publish includes the use of printing and of any means of reproduction, as well as the transcription of readings by means of stenotypography and the public recitation of passages from the work, the work may not be published, translated, reproduced, performed or represented without the authorization of the author or of his successors in title; and since it is not easy to establish the boundary between public and private performance of a dramatic work, the Italian legislator has established that a performance is public when it is not given within the family circle, that is, when the representation is given outside the ordinary circle of a family, a boarding school or a school.
The author's exclusive right begins from the date of first publication and lasts for the whole of the author's life and for fifty years after his death. For works published at the expense and on behalf of the State and public administrations, the right has been limited to twenty years from publication, and for works of joint authorship the term is determined by the life of the collaborator who dies last (see also PROPRIETÀ IMMATERIALE).
Although legislative documents are as a rule not included among the works protected by copyright laws, the Holy See has nevertheless reserved to itself the right of literary property over the CIC.
Bibliography3 works
Renzo Frattarolo