Under the Intellectual and Artistic Works Act No. 5846 ("IAWC"), the author's economic rights are established to protect their interests. While Articles 14 to 17 of the IAWC focus on moral rights, the provisions for economic rights are detailed between Articles 20 to 25, along with Article 45.

Within the scope of the IAWC, an author's economic rights encompass:

• Right of Adaptation
• Right of Reproduction
• Right of Distribution
• Right of Performance
• Right of Communication to the Public
• Right of Share and Tracking

These economic rights afford the author exclusive privileges, allowing them to derive financial benefits from their work and determine its utilization, thereby safeguarding against unauthorized exploitation

Article 20 of the IAWC stipulates that the exclusive right to benefit from a work, whether publicly disclosed or not, solely belongs to the author. For disclosed works, the rights specifically pertain to the economic rights enumerated in the law, as previously indicated. These economic rights operate independently; the exercise of one does not impede the other. Moreover, in accordance with Article 48 of the IAWC, authors have the discretion to transfer or license their economic rights based on specific terms related to time, place, and content, either with restrictions or unconditionally, and can also grant solely the right of utilization to others

1. Right of Adaption

The right to exclusively benefit from a work by adapting it belongs solely to the author, except for the exceptions stipulated in Articles 31 and 34 of the IAWC. For instance, adapting a novel for cinema or turning a poem into a song falls within the scope of the adaptation right. Anyone intending to adapt a work must obtain the author's permission.

2. Right of Reproduction

Reproduction is a technical process that enables the exact duplication of a work and its embodiment as a tangible entity. This process, also known as objectification, can be achieved through methods such as printing and photography, or by recording and formatting it onto mediums like records, disks, tapes, or tools that facilitate the reiteration and transmission of signs, sounds, and visuals onto devices such as screens, computers, or the internet, or by molding them into forms like reliefs or figurine. In this context, the conversion of the primary or secondary elements of a work into a computer (uploading, downloading), including the transfer of a figure in a work to a TV channel through animation or any kind of digital storage and transmission; placing a photographic work on a book cover, a map on an invitation, a motif on a brochure, a poem in advertisements, a song's lyrics in commercials, or sending a photograph of an artwork as a New Year's greeting to friends are all considered reproductions (1). Therefore, the right to reproduce the original or copies of the work, in any form or method, entirely or partially, directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently, exclusively belongs to the author.

3. Right of Distribution

Distribution refers to the act of offering a reproduced work for commerce in any form. The right to rent, lend, put up for sale, or distribute an original or replicated copy of a work solely belongs to the author or copyright holder.

4. Right of Performance

The right to benefit from a work by reading, performing, playing, or showing it in public places directly or through instruments used for the transmission of signs, sounds, or images exclusively belongs to the author. As seen, this enumeration is not limited. The transmission of the representation of the work from one place to another through any technical means also belongs to the author.

5. Right of Communication to the Public

The right to broadcast the original or reproduced copies of a work through broadcasting organizations that transmit via wired or wireless means, such as radio, television, satellite, and cable, including digital transmission, and to communicate the broadcasted works to the public by obtaining them from these organizations and rebroadcasting them belongs exclusively to the author of the work.

For instance; when a private TV channel broadcasts a song, concert, or ballet to the public on its channel, it falls within the scope of this right. The right to sell the original work or its reproductions through wired or wireless means, or to distribute or present it to the public in other manners, and the right to permit or prohibit individuals from accessing the work at their chosen time and place also exclusively belongs to the author.

In the article text, transmission methods are not limited, and the internet can be considered as a means of transmission and broadcasting. According to the last paragraph of Article 25 of the IAWC, the distribution and presentation of works through public transmission do not violate the author's right to distribution. Therefore, if an individual has the right of communication to the public, exercising this right will not infringe upon the author's distribution rights

6. Right of Share and Tracking

Except for architectural works, once the works listed in Article 45(1) of the IAWC are sold by the author or their heirs, if there is a significant disparity between the selling price and the subsequent sales within the protection period—whether at an exhibition, auction, or any other form of transaction—the individual or legal entity conducting the sale is obligated to pay a proportionate share of the price difference to the author, or if deceased, to their legal heirs up to the second degree (including this degree) according to inheritance laws, and if unavailable, to the relevant professional association. The procedures and principles regarding this payment shall be determined by the President's decree. Therefore, this right financially protects the author after the first sale of the work and enables the author to benefit from any additional value generated by the work.

Kaynakça

1-Tekinalp, Ü. (2005). Fikri Mülkiyet Hukuku. İstanbul : Arıkan.