Under the Intellectual property rights and relative rights Act of 1976 No.59 of 1976, (here and after the I.P. Act), The I.P Act protects Artistic Works under article 3.a.iv. However, protection is granted according to article 4 only to physical and legal persons that are citizens or residents of the Republic of Cyprus, companies that are registered under the Cyprus Law or citizens of an EU member state.
Moreover, article 5 of the Act, extended the protection to those physical persons or companies that are entitled protection in foreign forums as long as the Republic of Cyprus is obliged under international treaties to grand such protection.
The Republic of Cyprus with the Act No. 86/1976 has ratified the Convention of Verne for the protection of literature and Artistic work and with the Act No. 23(III)/2002 has ratified the Diplomatic Conference on certain copyright and neighboring rights questions regarding the WIPO treaty.
Therefore, foreign subjects that do not reside in the Republic of Cyprus are eligible for protection if their forum has also ratified the abovementioned treaties.
