Practice
Copyright
Copyright arises automatically on creation; no registration is required.
How copyright works in Romania
Copyright protects original works — text, software, design, audiovisual and artistic works — from the moment they are created and fixed; it does not depend on any filing. Romania is a party to the Berne Convention, so foreign authors are protected on the same basis as nationals. The economic rights (reproduction, distribution, communication to the public and adaptation) can be assigned or licensed; the moral rights stay with the author.
Because there is no register to consult, the practical questions are usually evidential: who created the work, who owns the rights now, and what the chain of assignment is. We advise on each, and we put the answer on a footing that will hold if the right is later licensed, sold or enforced.
How we work
- Establish the right — confirm subsistence, authorship and current ownership, and identify any related rights.
- Document it — draft or review the assignment, licence, or employment and commission terms that move or grant the rights.
- Enforce it — act on infringement, including online, through cease-and-desist, takedown and court proceedings where needed.
- Coordinate — align copyright action with any trade mark, design or domain rights in the same matter.
Common questions
- Is copyright registration available in Romania?
- Registration is not required and is not what creates the right. Romania’s Copyright Office (ORDA) keeps voluntary registers — for example for software — that can help prove authorship and date, but protection exists from creation regardless.
- How long does copyright last?
- As a rule, the economic rights run for the life of the author plus 70 years, after which the work falls into the public domain. Related rights — for performers, producers and broadcasters — have their own, shorter terms.
- Can you enforce a foreign client’s copyright in Romania?
- Yes. As a Berne Convention country, Romania protects foreign works on the same basis as domestic ones; we act on infringement and online enforcement under Law 8/1996 and the EU framework.