The protection of intellectual property rights is within the scope of fundamental human rights protections. The protection of creative thinking products and their acceptance as an economic value has become better understood in the recent past.
According to the Turkish Intellectual Law legislation, it does not need to be registered in order for copyright to arise on an intellectual product that falls within the definition of a work. According to the law, all kinds of intellectual and artistic products that are considered as works of science, literature, musical works, cinema works that bear the characteristics of the owner are defined as works. Any intellectual and artistic products that will fall within the scope of the specified definition will benefit from copyright protection during the life of the creator and for a certain period of time after his death.
Thousands of shares are made every minute on digital data platforms, which are called social media and whose content is determined by the users who create it, and some of these shares may be in the status of works that can benefit from copyright protection.
However, the sharing of intellectual and artistic products that can be considered as works on social media without any restrictions brings along violations of fundamental rights.
As a rule in Turkish Law, using, sharing and similar activities without the permission of the owner constitute copyright infringement. Again, according to Turkish Law, it is possible to use and/or use financial rights such as use, dissemination and reproduction on a work that benefits from copyright protection through a written license agreement.
However, obtaining such a written permission among social media content that is developing and changing at a dizzying pace is just a dream that is too far from reality to be true.
First of all, based on the wide opportunity to share ideas and the principle of protection of individual rights, the protection and support of social media platforms as a democratic life choice will of course be and should be preferred over a prohibitionist and obstructive mentality. From this point of view, rather than the assumption of accepting all kinds of sharing as prohibited and unlawful, it is useful to evaluate the exceptions to the illegalities in our legislation in terms of social media posts.
For example, within the framework of the principles of public interest, public order and private personal benefit, those who do not have rights are free to benefit from legally protected works to a reasonable extent for purposes such as education and information. It can be accepted that social media posts within this scope will not violate copyright legislation.
Another exception, which is not yet included in Turkish legislation, is the principle of accidental and parody use, which is clearly stated in the European Union Information Society Directive and which is pleasing to be included in the draft legislative studies in Turkish Law. Accordingly; A work is not important in terms of coincidence or quality and quantity; Its inclusion in a product reproduced, disseminated or transmitted to the public does not require the permission of the author. It is free to use a work that has become public for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche.
Another legal protection mechanism on digital media platforms is the digital licensing/permission mechanism called Creative Commons (CC). With this licensing method, the owner of the work makes a kind of announcement/acceptance statement about the extent to which people can benefit from his work, provided that it remains within the scope specified. Thus, the uses within the specified scope will not constitute a legal violation when reflected in digital media. Creative Commons, as a digital licensing system that moves from all rights reserved to some rights reserved, also constitutes an important source of consent for social media.
Finally, instead of banning a social media platform or website altogether on the grounds of copyright violations, the method of removing the infringing content from the relevant content within the framework of the warn-remove principle should be mentioned as another mechanism to protect copyrights. In this area, the establishment of a fast and smooth control mechanism at the level of legal intervention will be an effective protection mechanism of digital data security and copyright protection.
