LEADING NORTH AMERICAN METHODS OF RESEARCH ON CHARACTERS AS OBJECTS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (ON THE BASIS OF MATERIALS OF USA FORENSIC EXPERTS)

Characters as a component of visual and audiovisual (as well as literary) works are among the objects of intellectual property and are subject to legal protection. The task of a forensic expert is to empirically determine the characters independence level according to objective evaluation criteria that are not presented in corresponding official methods. In the present article the history of the creation and specific features of leading scientific and methodical means and research practices of characters examination as objects of copyright which became significant spread in the modern analytical practice of North American specialists in the forensic science are briefly reviewed. Thanks to efforts of leading North American forensic science in the field of characters protection as objects of intellectual property, several professional methods have been developed and tested at the same time over past few decades and are actively used in court practice. General review of two main methodological tools that are used most often is presented in this article that purpose and task is to generalize and critically analyze the main scientific and methodological concepts of North American forensic experts which are applied in the process of studying the facts of characters use as objects of copyright. Main scientific methodological "tests" used by of the United States forensic experts ("test for a sufficient level of creative expressiveness" and "test of characters embodying essential features of the work") are considered. While general research on examined methodological materials, productive analytical tools were detailed that are worthy of being included in the arsenal of modern Ukrainian forensic science. However, their effective practical application by domestic forensic experts requires a careful critical attitude, appropriate approbation, application of a wide range of research and methodological approaches.