Guide to Ukraine’s New Copyright Law

Ukraine adopted a comprehensive new Law On Copyright and Related Rights (No. 2811-IX) on 1 December 2022, which took effect on 1 January 2023. This law replaces the previous 1993 Law No. 3792-XII and is the first major overhaul of Ukrainian copyright legislation in almost three decades.

The new law modernizes the copyright legislature in Ukraine to align with current international standards (largely adopting European Union norms) and also introduces some unique provisions to address national needs. This article will consider the key provisions of Law No. 2811-IX in clear terms, highlight improvements over the old law, point out important issues for authors and rights holders (e.g., rights registration, use, and licensing), and outline new mechanisms for copyright protection and enforcement.

Key Provisions of New Copyright Law

Scope of Protected Works and Originality

One fundamental update is an explicit originality requirement for protection: a work must result from the author’s own creative intellectual effort. (The 1993 law had no clear definition of originality.) This new criterion sets a baseline that only human creative works are protected. The law continues to protect a wide variety of creative works as before, though it also clarifies what is not protected. Facts, official documents, folklore, and other non-creative items remain excluded from the list of protected objects. Furthermore, the new law adds objects like non-original photographs, simple datasets (e.g., schedules or directories), abbreviations, etc., to the list of unprotected subject matter. 

Expanded Moral Rights for Authors

Law No. 2811-IX adds two new moral rights for authors: the right to give a title to the work (or leave it untitled) and the right to dedicate the work to a person, event, or date. These rights did not exist under the old law and strengthen authors’ control over how their work is presented to the public. 

New Ways to Use the Work

The law foresees the usual set of ways to use works of authors (to reproduce, distribute, adapt, perform, display, etc.) and broadens the concept of “communication to the public,” which means distribution of objects of copyright and/or related rights by means of public performance (except for the presentation of works and/or performances in live performance), public demonstration, public display, public notification, interactive provision of access, retransmission, and cable retransmission.

This unified definition aligns with EU law and replaces the old law’s patchwork terms, clarifying that digital transmissions of works (posting content on a website, webcasting, etc.) require the author’s permission unless an exception applies. 

Sui Generis Rights for AI Outputs and Databases

One of the most progressive innovations of the new law is the introduction of a special kind of “sui generis” right for non-original objects generated by a computer program. For example, AI-generated works – content created by a computer program without direct human involvement – now get a 25-year proprietary right held by the program’s author/owner or user. Holders of sui generis rights don’t get personal moral rights regarding works that are the objects of such rights, but their proprietary rights can be exercised similarly to copyright (e.g., controlling reproduction and distribution).

Likewise, the creator of a database who has made a qualitatively and/or quantitatively significant contribution to the acquisition, verification, or presentation of the contents of the database can get sui generis rights for the database. This right expires after 15 years, counting from January 1 of the year following the year of creation of the database. 

Exceptions and Limitations (Free Uses)

The new law expands the list of situations where copyrighted material can be used without permission. Notable additions include:

• Freedom of Panorama: It is now legal to photograph or video-record works of architecture, sculpture, and fine art that are permanently located in public places (e.g., buildings, monuments) and use those images freely. This means that a person can share a photo of a city skyline or public statue without infringing copyright. (Previously, even such photography could violate the author’s rights.) The law still implicitly limits using these images commercially as standalone works, but this exception is a big improvement.
• Orphan Works: The law establishes a procedure to declare a work an “orphan” (when no owner can be found) and allows libraries, archives, museums, and similar institutions to use such works for non-commercial cultural purposes like digitization and making them available to the public. This new mechanism, absent in the old law, helps to unlock older or abandoned works for preservation and access.

Major Differences and Improvements Compared to the 1993 Law

• Resale Royalty Extended: Although the right to inherit is not new to Ukrainian legislation, the new law details the provisions on the differentiation of the amount of fair remuneration to the author in the event of each subsequent sale of the original work of art. In addition, according to the updated legislation in the field of copyright, from now on the obligation to pay fair remuneration to the author in the event of resale of the original of their work of art also applies to cases of sale of such works via the Internet, as well as without the participation of persons engaged in the trade in works of art (auctions, galleries, salons, shops, etc.).
• New Standards Regarding Hyperlinks: The new law significantly expands the definition of circumstances when placing hyperlinks and/or framing is considered use of a work and when it is not, while this theme was not directly regulated by the old legislation.
• “Threat of Infringement” Defined: The law now clearly defines the list of actions which are considered to be actions that pose a threat of violation of personal moral and proprietary copyright. This enables copyright holders to more effectively protect their rights by stopping actions that may subsequently constitute an infringement of copyright and related rights. Although the previous law on copyright and related rights contained such a category as “actions that create a threat of copyright infringement,” it did not clearly define this category. As a result, proving the commission of such actions was complicated.

Key Areas of Attention For Authors and Rights Holders 

Copyright Registration (Optional but Useful)

As in most countries, Ukraine has a concept of automatic copyright protection, which does not require registration. However, if the author wishes, their copyright can still be registered. Therefore, in connection with the adoption of the new law “On Copyright and Related Rights” in Ukraine, the procedure for registering copyright in Ukraine has also been slightly changed, thanks to which the registration of copyright has become even simpler and more effective.

Using Your Rights: Licensing and Permissions

The new law formally recognizes public licenses. This means that an author can license their work to the general public by simply publishing the terms (for instance, a Creative Commons license) and anyone using the work under those terms is considered to have accepted the license. This removes any doubt about the legality of open licensing in Ukraine and makes it easier for authors who want to share their work freely (or with certain conditions) to do so.

New Opportunities and Enforcement Mechanisms

Legislatively, the new law opens up additional ways for creators to protect and use their works. Objects that previously had no clear protection – such as purely AI-generated material or unoriginal databases – now come with their own sui generis rights, allowing those who produce such objects to legally control and monetize them. Authors can also take advantage of the public licensing provisions to widely share their works on their own terms (which can increase their audience or collaborative use). The strengthened rules in the field of the right to inherit similarly ensure that creators (like artists) can financially benefit from the increasing value of their works in the marketplace.

From a practical enforcement perspective, Law No. 2811-IX gives rights holders better tools to defend their works. A notable addition is the option of claiming preset statutory compensation for infringement – ranging from 2 to 200 times the subsistence minimum – instead of having to prove actual damages in court.

Also, by defining certain acts as a “threat of infringement” (for example, providing instructions on configuring a computer program, applications and add-ons to its technologies, technical devices to gain access to copyright objects and/or objects of related rights without the permission of the relevant copyright or related rights holder), the law enables proactive legal action against would-be infringers before widespread damage occurs. Coupled with the clarification regarding when framing and hyperlinking of content can infringe copyright, these measures strengthen the ability to combat piracy and unauthorized use of copyright and related rights in the digital realm.

Therefore, the adoption of Law No. 2811-IX brings Ukraine’s copyright system up to date. Creators and rights holders now enjoy more clarity, more rights (and new ways to license them), and stronger remedies, while users benefit from clearer rules and expanded exceptions. We are only beginning to see the first results of the practical application of this law but, going forward, it undoubtedly lays a more robust foundation for copyright protection and use.