Possibility of copyright protection of olfactory works in common law, civil law and Iranian Legal system

Copyright in civil law and common law systems offers protection of literary and artistic works, the subject matters of which are mentioned in open lists of the related laws of countries. Nevertheless, there are major disagreements on the possible protection of non-explicit subject matters among judicial precedents and doctrines. Among these controversial subject matters are olfactory works, which however lacking some properties of other explicit subject matters, are the result of intellectual endeavor. Despite pros and cons for offering legal protection, yet no absolute result is reached. In the present article, by reviewing judicial precedents and doctrines, the possibility of offering copyright protection for olfactory works is studied with the result that such works may be considered as an artistic work having requirements and conditions for legal protection. As no legal literature related to the subject exists in Iranian legal system, the only method possible is legal analysis on the basis of existing laws, which leads us to the same result as mentioned.