What the German Copyright Act does NOT protect

A common misconception seems to be that ideas can be protected by Copyright laws. For example the concept of a new TV show.

A nice idea, as under the German Copyright Act works are protected from the moment of their creation, no further formalities required. Unfortunately, ideas are not protected under the German Copyright Act.

Generally spoken, the Copyright Act protects the form an idea is given. How a work is composed and structured. The underlying idea itself is not protected. Admittedly, it can be quite difficult to distinguish “form” and “idea” from one another. The more alike two compositions the more likely a copyright infringement is.

The same misconceptions apparently exist in the UK. Click here for a detailed and comprehensive article from one of my favourite UK IP blawgs, Shireen Smith’s IP-brands.