The dissertation aims to develop a concept for the legal regulation of the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations. Based on this concept, the study proposes improvements to the effectiveness of legal regulation of the status of participants in such legal relations, as well as the emergence, flow, and termination of these relations. The study will also provide specific recommendations for enhancing the legal framework governing these relations, with particular emphasis on addressing challenges related to intellectual property objects.
This dissertation examines the historical, cultural, and legal context that led to the emergence and subsequent development of legal regulation governing the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations. Legal regulation in this area began in Ukraine in 1970, and while it has been suspended since 1995, it continues to evolve within the realm of intellectual property. However, this trend of legislative suspension is unwarranted, given that the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations is a unique and specific object of legal regulation. As such, it is necessary for labor legislation to fully regulate this object.
The creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations are covered by the appropriate mechanisms of legal regulation. This is a special social and legal phenomenon that is objectified in two contexts: static and dynamic. In a static context, this mechanism of legal regulation is an integral system of interrelated legal instruments, methods, and forms of their application, with the help of which the subjects of normative activity are able to normalize the behavior of participants in labor relations as well as the conditions under which intellectual property objects are created and/or used. In a dynamic context, this mechanism of legal regulation is a process in which norms are modeled, created (changed, terminated), and then regulated by the legal status and conditions under which intellectual property objects are created and/or used.
The system of legal acts regulating the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations comprises six levels of regulatory control over the relevant public relations: the norms of the Ukrainian Constitution; the international legal level; legislative acts; centralized by-laws; local acts; and contractual regulation. Since 1995, the mechanism of legal regulation of the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations under Ukrainian labor legislation has not undergone significant changes. In practice, this has been compensated for by contractual regulation of these aspects of labor, which is guided by the provisions of the legislation on intellectual property.
The present state of legal regulation of the legal status of employers and employees (those who create and/or use intellectual property objects) gives rise to socially risky conditions for both parties, as it fails to comply with the principle of legal certainty of their legal status. The solution to this problem lies in incorporating into labor legislation the requirements for the level of legal personality and the list of labor rights (basic and special) and duties (general and special) of employees and employers. The characteristics of labor relations in the context of the mechanism of legal regulation of the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations are clarified. It is inappropriate to refer to these legal relations as «copyright-labor».
The dissertation analyzes the possibilities of improving the mechanism of legal regulation of the creation and use of intellectual property objects in labor relations, in the process of Europeanizing Ukrainian law. Analysis of current EU legislation shows its limitations. Firstly, there is no supranational act that comprehensively regulates this matter. Instead, only certain aspects are regulated at the supranational level, mostly by civil law norms. Secondly, the legislation of EU member states is not harmonized and faces the same issues as Ukrainian labor legislation. The study emphasizes the importance of comprehensive changes in Ukrainian labor legislation, which should be preceded by the creation and approval of a Concept to ensure the social security of workers who create and/or use intellectual property objects. This Concept can be used to develop and adopt draft laws and by-laws in the field of labor legislation in Ukraine. In particular, using the proposed Concept, draft laws of Ukraine should be developed and adopted, including the «Amendments to the Labor Code of Ukraine regarding the creation of socially safe conditions for the emergence, flow, and termination of labor relations» and «Amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine concerning the regulation of labor relations in terms of the creation and use of intellectual property objects».
