NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

256 NEWSLETTER 2019 employee, rather than the employer, shall have the economic rights over the work. No Requirement for a Written Assignment Agreement As per Article 52 of the Law, all agreements and acts of disposal as to the assignment of economic rights shall be in writing, and the economic rights to be assigned should be specifically stated in order to be valid and enforceable. Although Article 18/2 of the Law desig- nates the power to use the economic rights, whether the execution of a written agreement is required as per Article 52 creates a conjecture. Pursuant to the Court of Cassation precedents, the employer’s power to use economic rights arises out of the law; therefore, there is no requirement for a written assignment agreement as per Article 52 of the Law, unless otherwise is agreed by the parties. Employer’s Rights in Comparative Law Two different principles are encountered when the rules of for- eign laws regarding employers’ rights over the works that have been created by employees are examined. The common law countries (UK, USA and Australia) and Japan recognize the “work made for hire” principle. Pursuant to this prin- ciple, the authorship of the work created by the employee during the course of employment shall belong to the employer. On the other hand, the civil law countries and China reject the “work made for hire” principle, and recognize that the authorship of the work created by the employee shall rest with the employee by providing various limitations in each country in favor of the employer similar to the provision of Article 18/2 of the Law. In Turkey, until the Law on Amendment of Various Articles of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works numbered 4630 amended the Law on 03 March 2001, it was accepted that employers may, in rare in- stances, be considered as the authors of the work aside from the reality of the creation principle 8 . However, following the stated amendment, 8 Gökyayla, Emre: Fikir ve Sanat Eserleri Kanununda Yapılan Değişikliklerin Değerlendirilmesi , Dokuz Eylül Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, V.7, No.1, 2005, p. 17,