How long is the copyright protection period?

Hello. I am an intellectual property specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

Copyright is not limited to 'rights during the creator's lifetime,' but is protected for a certain period after death for the surviving family.

As you inquired, the novel created by the deceased during their lifetime falls under the copyright assets protection target prescribed by the Copyright Act, and if the duration of copyright remains, the heir can succeed to and assert those rights.

Copyright is a right that arises for the creative expression of human thoughts or emotions, and works in literature, art, and academia overall are subject to protection.

In particular, novels, poems, papers, lectures, and scripts are all classified as 'literary works,' and no separate registration procedure or notification is required to be recognized as a work.

That is, legal protection is automatically generated from the moment the creative act is performed.

Copyright is in principle attributed to the creator of the work. In the case of a novel directly created by the deceased, the copyright holder during their lifetime was the father.

The copyright protection period lasts during the author's lifetime and for 70 years after death.

That is, if the father died one year ago, the copyright is calculated from January 1 of the year following the year of death and is valid until December 31, 2094.

During this period, the heir can succeed to and exercise the economic rights such as reproduction, distribution, performance, and public transmission that the father held during his lifetime.

What the heir succeeds to is copyright property rights among copyrights.

That is, the right to control the economic benefits arising from the use of the work.

For example, the heir can claim rights to acts such as printing and publishing the novel or distributing e-books, concluding film or drama adaptation contracts, and approving the use of derivative works (adaptation, translation, etc.).

However, moral rights (right of disclosure, right to indication of name, right to integrity) of the work are attributed only to the author themselves and are not inherited. The heir can prevent acts that infringe upon the author's honor or respond to unjust distortions.

Copyright holders can take legal measures against copyright infringers such as criminal complaints for copyright violations, claims for cessation and prevention of copyright infringement, damages claims, and demands for disposal of illegal copies.

If you need a specific procedure for copyright protection and rights assertion of the heir or review of the validity of existing contracts, we recommend establishing a work management strategy with the help of an expert.