COPYRIGHT- SEPTEMBER !990
Article 43. Where there is neither heir nor legatee, copyright shall accrue to the State and the proceeds of royalties from such copyright shall be devoted by ANPAC to cultural and welfare purposes
for the benefit of Gabonese authors, without prejudice to the rights of creditors and the execution of
such contracts of assignment as may have been concluded by the author or his successors in title.
Article 44. The right of disclosure of posthumous works shall be exercised during their lifetime
by the executor or executors appointed by the author. If there are none, or after their death,· and
unless the author has willed otherwise, this right
shall be exercised in the following order: by the descendants, by the spouse or spouses against whom
there exists no final judgment of separation and
who have not remarried, by the heirs other than the
·descendants who inherit all or part of the estate and
by the universal legatees or donees of the totality of
the future estate.
This right may be exercised even after expiry of
the exclusive right of exploitation specified in Article 60 below.
Article 45. The right of the author to exploit his
work may be assigned in whole or in part, for consideration or free of charge, to a natural or legal
person. However:
-the assignment shall be evidenced in writing,
o-n tp·ain of nullity;
'. ;:. ' =-assignment by the author of any of the ecoQomic rights referred to in Article 29 above shall
.•nbt.imply assignment of the other rights;
· · ~where a right is assigned in whole by contract,
:the.scope shall be limited to the modes of exploitation laid down in the contract;
- the person to whom the right of exploitation of
·'a'work has been assigned may not, except as otherwise agreed, transfer such right to a third party
without the agreement of the copyright owner.
Article 46. The incorporeal property defined by
Article 2 above shall be independent of property of
the material object. 'the person who acquires that
.. o~je~t ~h~ll_notb_e in~ested, by _its acquisition~ with
·any of the nghts provided by this Law, except m the
·'cases · referred to by the provisions of the fourth
·.~~r~~_ra.ph ib(Artide 60 below. These_rights shall
iffibSist
.. . .. . .ln the person of the author or his successors
in title:
i.l~
. 1.:
•"\ ~
· Article 4 i Assignment lor consideration shall
the author, .subject to the con.cbi:hprise in favof
of
GABON·- Text l-01 , page 6
LAWS AND TREATIES
ditions set out in Article 45 above, partiCipation
that is proportional to the revenue of all kinds proceeding from the sale or exploitation of the work,
with a guaranteed minimum amount.
However, the author's remuneration may be
evaluated as a lump sum in accordance with the
conditions laid down by regulation.
It shall be lawful for the parties to convert, at the
request of the author or his successors in title, the
rights under contracts in force to annual lump sums
for periods to be determined by the parties.
Article 48. Notwithstanding any assignment of
the original work, the authors of graphic and threedimensional works shall have an inalienable right
to a share of the proceeds of any sale of that work
by public auction, by the intermediary of a dealer,
whatever the methods used by the latter to carry
out the operation.
After the death of the author, this resale royalty
right (droit de suite) shall subsist for his heirs or
legatees in accordance with the provisions set out in
the second paragraph of Article 60 below.
This right shall be constituted by the levy on
behalf of the author, his heirs or legatees, of five
percent ofthe proceeds of sale without deduction at
the basis. An order issued by the Ministry responsible for culture shall specify the conditions under
which authors and their successors in title may
assert, on the occasion of the sales referred to in the
first paragraph, the rights afforded them by the provisions of this Article.
Article 49. A performance contract is an instrument under which the author of a work, or his successors in title, authorize a natural or legal person
to perform the work under conditions determined
by him.
A general performance contract is the instrument under which ANPAC affords an entertainment promoter the faculty to perform, during the
term of the contract, the existing or future works
constituting the repertoire of that body under the
conditions determined by the author or by his successors in title.
Article 50. "Entertainment promoter" shall
mean any natural or legal person who occasionally
or regularly performs protected works, or causes
them to be performed, in an establishment open to
the public, by any means whatsoever.
Article 51. The entertainment promoter who
performs protected works, or causes them to be per-
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