Intellectual Rights in the Digital Era: An Overview of Turkish Law

The criteria for classification as a work under Turkish law require that the intellectual product exhibits characteristics uniquely attributable to its author and must fall within one of the four designated categories stipulated in the legislation. Notably, Turkish law does not recognise a distinct category for multimedia works, leading to debates regarding the legal status of certain digital products. Moreover, the emergence of digital products generated by artificial intelligence introduces further complexities, as Turkish legislation currently recognises only natural persons as authors. Additionally, the discourse surrounding this domain includes concerns regarding the infringement of both economic and moral rights related to the works used during the machine learning process. The restrictions imposed by the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works concerning economic rights are inadequate in addressing these issues. In the context of intellectual property infringements occurring on various platforms, the remedy available is limited to the removal of the infringing content; claims for damages are directed towards the individual responsible for the infringement. Furthermore, there are ongoing initiatives to incorporate the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/790 on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market into Turkish law, aimed at modernising the framework governing intellectual property rights.