If you have ever engaged in creative work, it is easy to imagine spending months creating, for example, a series of paintings. Imagine putting your whole soul into them, along with your time and money for materials, only to discover that one day these very works appear on a website without your permission, without your name, and without a single penny paid to you.
An even more painful situation can arise when someone resells your painting for twice as much as they paid for it, while you do not even know that the sale has taken place. Unfortunately, most Ukrainian artists do not need to imagine such a situation: many have experienced it personally more than once. This is where UARA comes to the rescue.
UARA is a public organisation founded in 2004. From the very first day of its existence, the Agency set itself the goal of protecting everyone who has devoted their life to creating something great - from writers and artists to publishers and musicians.
UARA was founded by prominent lawyers, artists, publishers and public figures who champion fairness and the rule of law, both for individual intellectual property rights holders and for Ukrainian culture as a whole. Their work is guided by the principles of protecting their partners’ interests to the greatest possible extent, continuously developing the organisation, combining the founders’ experience with the energy of a younger generation, and upholding universally recognised moral and ethical values.
Today, remaining true to its traditions, UARA represents the interests of creators whose rights have been infringed, both in the field of copyright and in the broader sphere of industrial property rights. For many years, the organisation has followed the principle of committed partnership and actively cooperates with a range of internationally renowned and Ukrainian creative associations.
The Agency’s activities cover several areas, each of which directly concerns artists.
To illustrate the protection of intellectual property in general, consider a straightforward example. If your work has been used without permission - for instance, posted online, printed in a magazine or reproduced and sold - UARA can help protect your rights. The Agency provides a comprehensive range of measures, from negotiations with the infringer to representation in court. Under Ukrainian law, copyright infringers may be fined, and materials used unlawfully may be confiscated.
It is also worth emphasising the issue of copyright registration, as this is an important point that many people are unaware of. In Ukraine, copyright registration is not mandatory. Copyright arises automatically when a work is created. However, if a legal dispute arises, you will have to provide documentary evidence that you are the author of the work in question. This is where registration can become a valuable advantage in a dispute.
UARA supports the process from beginning to end. Most importantly, you, as the rights holder, do not have to spend time navigating bureaucratic procedures, because the Agency takes responsibility for this process.
Collective rights management is another important part of the Agency’s work. The organisation collects, distributes and pays remuneration for the use of copyrighted works. This means that even when your work is used in ways permitted by law - for example, for quotation or public display - you may be entitled to fair compensation, and UARA helps protect that right.
One of UARA’s most distinctive and perhaps most important achievements for artists are the introduction in Ukraine of the resale right, known in international law as “droit de suite”.
What is the resale right?
Imagine that you sold a painting twenty years ago for a modest price because your name was not yet widely recognised. Time passed, your works gained recognition, and now the painting is being offered at auction for ten times - or perhaps even more than - its original price. Is it fair that you receive no share of this increase in value? Of course not, and that is precisely the principle behind the resale right. Under Ukrainian law, authors of original works of visual art are entitled to receive a share of the amount generated by the public resale of their works. UARA is the organization accredited by the state to administer this right.
This is a somewhat revolutionary development for the Ukrainian art market, because before UARA introduced this mechanism, it did not exist in Ukraine. Its introduction is a direct achievement of the organisation.
/фото Юрія Михайловича і засновника Голденс, підпис під фото: Founder and Chairman of UARA with Mykhailo Vasylenko, head of the "Goldens" auction house /
It is also important to remember that we live in a time when art knows no borders. Your painting may become part of a collection in Berlin, an image of your work may be shared on platforms in the United States, and a reproduction may decorate an office in Tokyo. This naturally raises the question of what happens to your rights in such circumstances.
As mentioned above, UARA actively engages in international cooperation, representing Ukrainian artists’ interests worldwide. The Agency has concluded agreements with numerous foreign collective management organisations. These agreements make it possible to protect Ukrainians’ copyright abroad and to ensure that foreign authors’ rights are respected in Ukraine, through bilateral partnerships based on equality and mutual respect.
It is particularly important that UARA represents the interests of cultural professionals and artists not only in individual disputes, but also at a systemic level, through cooperation with state institutions and international bodies.
If someone has infringed your copyright, if you wish to register your authorship of the results of your intellectual creative activity, or if you would like to find out how to receive payments under the “droit de suite”, the first step is simple: contact UARA.
In conclusion, art is not merely a hobby, as many people believe, nor simply a business, as familiar films sometimes suggest. Art is the language through which an artist speaks to the world, and every word, every line and every colour belongs to its creator.
Yet in the real world, a right without protection is merely a beautiful phrase on paper. UARA is a practical mechanism that turns your rights into an effective tool. It is not a bureaucratic institution that simply issues paperwork, but a team of people who understand the value of creativity and work every day to ensure that this value is recognised and protected.
We live in Ukraine, a country where culture remains alive and unbreakable even during the most difficult trials. It is all the more important that every creator knows and believes that there is an organisation standing beside them, ready to prevent anyone from appropriating the results of their hard work.
/ фото загальне, підпис: members of the UARA team (left) at a meeting at the Ukrainian National Office for Intellectual Property and Innovations (UANIPIO) /
