If you have ever engaged in creative work, it will be very easy for you to imagine devoting months to creating, say, a series of paintings. Imagine putting your whole soul, time, and money for materials into them, only to find those very works appearing on some website one day without your permission, without attribution, and without a single penny paid to your benefit. Or an even more painful scenario occurs when someone resells your artwork at double the price, and you were not even aware of it. Unfortunately, most Ukrainian artists do not need to imagine this situation, as they have had to endure such an experience firsthand on their own, and this is precisely where VAAP comes to the rescue.
VAAP)is a non-governmental organization founded in 2004. From the very first day of its existence, the agency set out to stand in defense of all those who dedicate their lives to creating something greater: from writers and artists to publishers and musicians.
The founders of VAAP were prominent lawyers, artists, publishers, and public figures who uphold the principles of justice and legality, both for individual intellectual property subjects and for the Ukrainian cultural space as a whole, adhering to the principles of maximum protection of partners' interests, continuous organizational development, combining the founders' experience with the energy of the younger generation, and aligning with universally recognized moral and ethical values.
Today, remaining faithful to its traditions, VAAP represents the interests of all creators whose rights to their works have been infringed, both in the context of copyright and within the underlying framework of industrial property rights. For many years, the organization has adhered to the principle of dedicated partnership, actively collaborating with a range of world-renowned and diverse Ukrainian creative associations.
The agency's activities cover several directions, each directly concerning artists.
Speaking in the context of intellectual property protection in general, it is worth providing a clear example. If your work has been used without permission - for instance, posted online, printed in a magazine, or sold as a reproduction - in such a case, VAAP will help protect your rights. The agency carries out a full spectrum of measures, from negotiating with the infringer to court representation. Under Ukrainian law, a copyright infringer may be fined, and illegally used materials are subject to confiscation.
It is also worth emphasizing the issue of copyright registration, as this is a very important moment that many are unaware of. In Ukraine, copyright registration is not mandatory. It arises automatically at the moment of a work's creation. However, if a legal dispute arises, you will have to documentarily confirm the fact of your authorship of a particular work, and that is precisely where registration becomes your trump card in the dispute. In this matter, VAAP accompanies this process from beginning to end. Crucially, as a rightsholder, you do not waste time on bureaucratic labyrinths, because the agency takes it upon itself.
An important element of the agency's activity is collective rights management. The organization collects, distributes, and pays remuneration for the use of copyright objects. This means that even if your work is reproduced within the limits permitted by law - for example, for quotation or public display - you are entitled to fair compensation, and the protection of this right is guaranteed to you by VAAP.
One of the most unique and perhaps most important achievements of VAAP for artists is the implementation in Ukraine of the resale right mechanism, or as it is commonly called in international law, droit de suite.
What is the resale right?
Imagine that you sold your painting twenty years ago for a modest price, as your name did not yet carry sufficient recognition at the time. Time passed, your creativity gained recognition, and now this painting is being auctioned for an amount ten times higher - or maybe more -than the initial price. Is it fair that you have no share of this appreciation in value? Of course not, as the resale right emphasizes to us. Under Ukrainian legislation, authors of original works of fine art have the right to receive a percentage of the sum from the public resale of their works, and VAAP is precisely the organization accredited by the state to manage this right.
This factor is, to a certain extent, revolutionary for the Ukrainian art market, because prior to the emergence of VAAP, such a mechanism simply did not exist in Ukraine, and now it is here, representing a direct achievement of the organization.
Naturally, it is important to pay attention to the fact that we all live in a time when art knows no borders. Your painting may end up in a collection in Berlin, an image of your work may spread across platforms in the US, and a reproduction might adorn a certain office in Tokyo, raising a pertinent question regarding what happens to your rights in these cases?
As noted above, VAAP conducts active international cooperation, representing the interests of Ukrainian artists on a global level. The agency has concluded agreements with many foreign collective management organizations, allowing it to protect the copyrights of Ukrainians abroad while ensuring compliance with the rights of foreign authors within our state under bilateral partnerships built on equal terms and mutual respect.
Particularly important is that VAAP represents the interests of cultural figures and artists not only in private disputes, but also at a systemic level in interactions with state institutions and international bodies.
Of course, if someone has infringed upon your copyright in one way or another and you wish to register your authorship over the results of intellectual creative activity, or if you are interested in how to receive droit de suite royalty payouts, the first step is simple - contact VAAP.
Summing up, it is worth noting that art is not merely a hobby, as most believe, nor is it just a business, as depicted in major feature films. Art is a language through which an artist speaks to the world, and every word, every line, and every color belongs to its author.
However, in the real world, a right without protection acts merely as a beautiful word on paper. VAAP is a real mechanism that turns your right into an effective tool. It is not a bureaucratic institution that simply writes out papers, but a team of people who understand the value of creativity and fight every day to ensure that this value is recognized and protected.
We live in Ukraine, in a country where even during the most difficult trials, culture remains alive and invincible, and it is all the more important for every creator to know and believe that there is an organization standing nearby that will not let anyone appropriate the fruits of your fruitful labor.
