I have found out that one of my competitors has copied the internet pages of my site, reproducing the texts as they are. Is it possible to force him to cancel them?

The texts inserted on the web are protected by the law on copyright like all the other texts published in the traditional way, therefore the author claims, on the Internet pages, the rights as stated by the law. In particular, as the authors of the text, you have the sole right to use and modify […]

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I am a programmer of html pages and asp. At the moment I have made a serial of pages for the management of a database using the web business intranet and the browser. The asp pages cannot be compiled; therefore anyone having access to it can get the code, re-use it or modify it. How can I demonstrate to be the maker of the code/adopted solutions? How can I protect myself against a firm copying the first installation and then installing it by another programmer, who, after copying mine, will adapt it and then re-use it?

This case is rather complex. First of all, you need to properly evaluate if whatever has been achieved is, or not, a work protected by the law on copyright, or if it is simply a mere compilation with very little creation. If the made pages are really simple and anyone could make them without any […]

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I have in mind to make a site where the visitors can place bets and can participate to a prize game. I would like to know what I can do to get the exclusivity and if I have to ask any authorisations to do this.

The idea of making an Internet site offering a particular service cannot be protected as the idea per se, whilst it is surely possible to get exclusive rights over the type of site that will be created, preventing others to reproduce the graphics, texts and the main setting-outs. Besides, in this specific case, it appears […]

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We are a firm producing businesses programmes. One of our ex-workers, after resigning a few months ago, has started working for a competitor company which, strangely, has started selling a programme very similar to one created by us. Is it possible to stop the plagiarism of the software? What can we actually do?

The law on copyright, following the modification made by the regulation n. 518/1992 first and the law 248/2000 afterwards, undoubtedly protects the programs for the computer, this beyond any discussions about their possible patenting. So, if a firm has made an innovative programme, feels that the one of a competitor is similar, can surely go […]

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We presented at an exhibition an internet site and now, a competitor firm has practically copied it. Shortly after we deposited it at the SIAE, but now what can we actually do to stop the plagiarism?

Considering that, obviously, two Internet sites having the same subject or the same service can co-exist, as it is not possible to claim the exclusivity on the type of dealt business, the main problem is to evaluate if in effect the two sites have been copied one from the other as there are no parameters […]

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I have made an internet site where I describe the habits of a certain dog’s breed. Now, to my surprise, i have found out that a “friend” of mine has copied most of the contents and has built a site very similar to mine. What can i do to stop him?

The Internet site, if innovative and original, must be considered an intellectual work and, as such, is protected by the law on copyright. Without getting into the merit of judicial complex discussions related to the type of right emerging from the site as is, it is correct to say that the publishing of a text […]

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I have realised an informative internet site and I would like to insert the mark of another site and a link to it, so to supply the visitors with further information on the subject. Must I ask for authorisation from the owner of the other site or can I freely do it?

There are a lot of disserting opinions over the link. This consists in a cross-reference, from one Internet page to another page of the web, allowing the user to easily move in the web from one space to another. However, even though this is a technical tool necessary to the navigation, in fact this operates […]

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Having to use on the internet a musical piece as a background, can I freely do it or do I have to ask the SIAE authorisation? And if yes, is the authorisation necessary even though I will only use a few seconds of it?

The use of a musical piece from Internet, as from any other place, is not possible without first having gotten the authorisation of those claiming their rights. Really the SIAE is the only body where one can turn to as the situation could become very complex according to the type of song one wants to […]

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I am an amateur photographer and I would like to make a site where to put my work after scanning them. How can I prevent others from downloading and using them without paying me or asking my authorisation?

There are some technical expedients making downloading photographs from Internet difficult, or at least inconvenient. Amongst these systems there are electronic marks, with which a kind of electronic watermark is affixed to the photos so to make them easily traceable every time someone uses them illicitly. However, even without resorting to these measures, it deserves […]

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I have a trademark registered and I have just found out that a firm is using as an internet address my trademark. Can I stop him and, above all, can I get the domain in my favour?

The ownership of a registered trademark, in effect, gives the possibility to prevent others using that same name in the correspondence and in any other type of commercial use, including the use on Internet. With reference to this there are many sentences confirming this statement and only three are of different opinion, therefore, by legally […]

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I have a web site and lately many people are registering similar domains to exploiting the reputation. Should one of them register my domain as a trademark, do I risk losing it? And on the contrary, if I have it registered as a trademark, could I protect myself against them?

By now almost constantly the judges decide the cases regarding the domain names by applying, in an analogue way, the trademarks regulation and considering them distinctive marks even though, in most cases, untypical. Considering this, the fear related to the risks we might incur or the disadvantages we could have, registering the domain as a […]

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I am the owner of a trademark and only recently I have found out that someone has registered a domain name the same as my trademark. How is this possible and how can I take it back?

The domain names ending with “.it” (i.e. Ferrari.it) get assigned by the Italian Register without checking-up for any pre-existing marks similar or identical to the requested name. Therefore it is not at all “strange” that there is a domain name identical to a registered trademark, in fact these situations often arise. To evaluate whether there […]

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I have an italian internet site with an american address, such as “myname.com”. Is it possible registering it as a trademark in the united states? Is the trademark considered as being used even if it is just for the internet?

Surely the used name to distinguish an Internet site can validly be registered as a trademark. As the site is all in Italian, the advisable thing to do is to proceed with the trademark registration in Italy, because the trademark rights are important, not due to the place where the domain was acquired, but rather […]

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I have registered two internet domains “.it” corresponding to the names of two famous videogames, which are now of public use. Now the importing company has written to me telling me to give them, free of charge, the domains, otherwise they will legally act against me: is it possible that they are right?

There could really be a possibility that the firm could demand in its favour the registered domains, but to establish this we need to examine the situation carefully. First of all it is necessary knowing the nature of the names of the used games. If these are generic names and of common use, for example […]

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I patented a kind of software at the SIAE as inedited work, at 50% with a friend. Now another person would like to buy out my share, but my friend says that to do this we first need to form a company and then sell the shares. Is it true or can I sell them now?

With the registration at the SIAE of an inedited work we do not make a deposit of a patent application, but we simply make a deposit of a creation already protected as is according to the law on copyright, for the purpose of having a determined date testifying the work creation by certain authors at […]

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How can I protect a game to play in a discotheque with the auxiliary of software?

It is very difficult to protect this kind of idea as it is not realised as a tangible work, but with the purpose of getting an entertainment result. Even though they are not specifically covered by this law, games are usually deposited at the SIAE in order to claim ownership, like literary works, records, drawings. […]

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I just opened a small firm and we use three computers for our work. A friend told me that if we use “open source” programs we don’t have to pay royalties to anyone and we are within the law on copyright. Is it true, and if yes, where can we find these programs?

The question of the open source is more complex than it has been described even though there is some truth in these statements. With the definition of “open source” we indicate those programs distributed with the “open” code, meaning the source code that can be read and eventually improved by anyone. A programme of this […]

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My job consists of making software ordered by clients: they supply me with the specifications of what they want and I programme it. I would like to know if the clients can be defined as co-authors and can claim rights. If this is the case, how can I prevent it?

In such cases, the owner of the economical rights of exploitation of the programme is the client commissioning the work and who paid the programmer for it. If the client restricts himself to describing what he wants, but does not participate to the programming, I don’t think he can be considered a co-author, unless his […]

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