Ghostwriting in Polish Copyright Law – a new perspective needed?

Abstract

Abstract: It is worthy of note that so-called ‘ghostwriting’ contracts are subject to much debate under the copyright legislation of most countries. There is usually little concern where moral rights are perceived as waivable, which appears to be the current situation  in most common law systems. However, in most civil law systems in continental Europe, where it may have been explicitly stated that these rights are not transferable (and sometimes unwaivable too), statutory law struggles to find the answer as to whether ghostwriting constitutes an unenforceable or even  illegal  activity. Yet, we read in the jurisprudence of certain countries (cf. Germany, Switzerland) that ghostwriting contracts are allowed under copyright law. This paper provides a more detailed analysis of the ghostwriting contract from a ‘hometown’  perspective, which happens to be  Polish copyright law.