Author of this master's thesis problematizes the effect of author's law on the creativity of authors, especially regarding the creation of new musical works. As the name implies, author's rights serve the author, but what effect does the legal system have on the creation of music, if we take into consideration the psychological findings regarding creativity and music?
Firstly, the historical part gives an insight into the primary interests that fostered the establishment of author’s rights. Then the philosophical base of the author's right is presented. The main philosophical theories on the field are the natural law theory and the economic-utilitarian philosophy which act as a basis for the copyright systems. One also has to question how creativity could be defined. Here the psychological research comes into play. The latter demystifies the creative process, especially in music. It is clear that music is formed with the adoption and borrowing of elements from pre-existing musical works, which are then reshaped and presented in a new context. The notion of the romantic conception of the author also proves to be false as the creation of new works seems to be a gradual mental process.
The author then continues with displaying the Slovene author's law system, the main document being the Copyright and Related Rights Act. The next part is devoted to the analysis of the fair use and de minimis doctrines, which although part of the USA legal system, can serve as a tool for integration of psychological findings regarding music and the creative process also elsewhere. Lastly, legal cases mainly from the USA are unveiled where borrowing of elements from existing musical works is present. Here the possible implementation of aforementioned doctrines is discussed and the effect of copyright on creativity can be observed.
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