Law & Justice Review, Vol. 1, Issue 4, June 2012, pp.163-177

This paper is an attempt to provide a broad overview of the debates around the concept of originality with reference to common law, civil law and the European Union harmonization. Originality is an important and unresolved subject in copyright law. Common law and civil law jurisdictions handle the concept of originality differently even though it is a requirement for copyright protection in both of the jurisdictions. Not only is there no consistency in court decisions about the concept of originality at the national level, but also harmonization at the EU level is very limited. Considering the significance and indispensability of the concept in copyright law, this paper suggests that the meaning of originality should be clearly designated. Seeking to provide an overview of the debates around the concept, this paper first focuses on the concept of originality in the United Kingdom to understand its development in the common law jurisdiction and goes on with a discussion of the current situation in the EU. In the last part, it concentrates on the concept of originality in civil law jurisdiction with reference to the Turkish Law. http://humanlawjustice.gov.tr/Upload/Dergiler/lj/lawandjustice4.pdf