Protecting and enforcing copyright in Israel — for rights holders, in-house counsel, and international law firms.
Copyright is the quiet foundation of the creative economy. It protects software code, databases, photographs, musical works, architectural designs, films, literary texts, and the growing body of works whose commercial value turns on exclusivity. When that exclusivity is compromised — through infringement, unauthorised online distribution, misappropriation by a former partner, or the mass copying enabled by digital tools — the loss is often immediate and difficult to reverse.
At Gershoni & Co., copyright is a core practice. Our team advises rights holders and international counsel on the full life-cycle of copyright protection and enforcement in Israel: assessing whether a work qualifies for protection, establishing ownership and chain of title, structuring licences and assignments, and — most often — enforcing rights against infringers through the Israeli courts. Copyright enforcement is the area where speed, evidentiary preparation, and strategic judgment matter most, and it is where our firm does some of its most active work.
→ Full-spectrum copyright enforcement · civil, customs, and criminal
→ Emergency injunctions · ex parte preliminary relief before the District Courts
→ Statutory damages of up to NIS 100,000 per infringement · without proof of loss
→ Software, databases, online content, photography, music, and literary works
Read Our Reviews
A personal story: I ran into a small-but-urgent problem and started checking a few options on Google. Saar was the first I reached out to because of his informative content, and he replied on WhatsApp within 2 minutes. A 5-minute phone call and a two-hour wait later, what seemed like it would take months was resolved quickly and smoothly. Truly amazing. Thank you again!
At first, I was skeptical—just another lawyer making promises I doubted would be kept. Saar Gershoni proved me completely wrong. He explained exactly how to prove the copyright infringement on my video, documented everything professionally, , and the competitor removed the video and issued a written apology. He was patient and attentive despite my initial doubts, and in the end
A personal story: I ran into a small-but-urgent problem and started checking a few options on Google. Saar was the first I reached out to because of his informative content, and he replied on WhatsApp within 2 minutes. A 5-minute phone call and a two-hour wait later, what seemed like it would take months was resolved quickly and smoothly. Truly amazing. Thank you again!
WHAT WE DO
A complete copyright service
We advise copyright owners at every stage — from the moment a work is created, through commercial exploitation and international licensing, to enforcement when infringement occurs. Our clients include Israeli creators and companies protecting their works domestically and abroad, multinational rights holders addressing infringement in the Israeli market, and foreign law firms and IP practitioners who engage us as their Israeli correspondent on copyright matters.
We understand what international counsel expects from a local firm: clear communication, timely reporting, realistic assessment of local law, and the capacity to execute — whether that means filing an urgent injunction application before the close of business or preparing a careful licensing opinion for a cross-border transaction.
Ownership, authorship, and chain of title
Questions of authorship and ownership arise constantly in copyright practice — in employment disputes, commissioned-work arrangements, collaborations, and corporate transactions. Israeli law contains specific rules on works created by employees, commissioned works, works created by the State, and jointly authored works, and the default rules can be modified by agreement. We advise on the allocation of rights at the outset of a project, document ownership and chain of title, and — where litigation is in prospect — assemble the evidentiary record needed to establish our client’s standing to sue.
Moral rights — the personal, non-transferable right of the author to be credited and to protect the integrity of the work — operate independently of economic rights and can survive assignments and licences. We advise both on the scope of moral rights in Israel and on practical mechanisms for managing them in commercial arrangements.
Licensing, assignments, and transactions
Copyright is a bundle of economic rights that can be divided, licensed, and assigned. We draft and negotiate copyright licences — exclusive and non-exclusive, territorially limited or global, perpetual or time-limited — as well as assignment deeds, co-authorship and collaboration agreements, and the copyright-specific provisions of broader commercial contracts. In software and technology transactions we advise on the interaction between copyright, source-code escrow, open-source licensing obligations, and database rights.
In M&A due diligence and portfolio reviews we assess the validity, scope, and enforceability of the target’s copyright assets, identify gaps in chain of title or ownership documentation, and flag the IP implications of proposed deal structures.
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ENFORCEMENT
When copyright is infringed
The value of copyright is determined, in large part, by the willingness and ability to enforce it. Our enforcement practice combines the speed that copyright infringement matters typically require, a close understanding of how Israeli courts approach copyright disputes, and a full command of the procedural tools available to rights holders — civil injunctions, customs enforcement, and, in appropriate cases, criminal proceedings.
Civil litigation and emergency injunctions
Where infringement is ongoing — unauthorised copies for sale online, competing products built from copied source code, misappropriated photographs used in commercial advertising, or databases extracted in bulk — the first objective is usually to stop the infringing activity quickly. In straightforward cases, a formal cease-and-desist demand resolves the matter. Where the harm is continuing or escalating, we proceed to court without delay.
The Israeli District Courts have jurisdiction to grant preliminary injunctions — including ex parte preliminary injunctions obtained without prior notice to the defendant — in copyright cases where delay would cause irreparable harm. We have substantial experience in preparing the affidavit evidence, establishing the legal threshold, and presenting urgent applications before the court. At the substantive stage, a successful claimant may obtain a permanent injunction, damages, an account of the infringer’s profits, and orders for the delivery-up or destruction of infringing copies.
Civil litigation in copyright matters is led by Adv. Raanan Ben-Ishay, whose 15-plus years of civil litigation experience — including a judicial clerkship at the Israeli Supreme Court — directly supports the combination of commercial urgency and technical legal argument that copyright disputes demand.
Statutory damages without proof of loss
Israeli copyright law provides a powerful alternative to proof-of-loss damages: under section 56 of the Copyright Act, the court may award the rights holder statutory damages of up to NIS 100,000 per infringement, without requiring the claimant to prove actual loss. The court considers factors including the scope and duration of the infringement, its severity, any actual loss that can be established, the infringer’s profits, the nature of the relationship between the parties, and the infringer’s good or bad faith.
In parallel, section 57 entitles the claimant to require the defendant to render an account — disclosing the financial records relevant to the infringement — which opens the route to a secondary remedy of disgorgement of profits under the law of unjust enrichment. Structuring a claim to make full use of these mechanisms is a matter of strategy, and one we advise on from the outset.
Online infringement, user-generated content, and platform takedowns
A large share of contemporary copyright enforcement concerns online content: unauthorised reproduction of articles and images, copying of website text and structure, distribution of infringing files, and commercial use of creative works on social media and e-commerce platforms. We handle takedown notices, correspondence with hosting providers and platforms, John Doe proceedings to compel disclosure of the identity of anonymous infringers, and — where the commercial stakes justify it — full civil proceedings against identified infringers.
We also advise on the copyright dimensions of internet law more broadly, including website terms of use, user-generated content policies, and the drafting of platform contracts that allocate risk appropriately between operators and users.
Software, databases, and technical works
Software and databases sit at the boundary of copyright and commercial competition. We handle disputes involving the copying of source code, reverse engineering, misappropriation of proprietary databases, departing-employee cases in which code or data is taken to a new employer, and the recurring interaction between copyright, trade-secret protection, and contractual restrictions. We coordinate with technical experts to establish substantial similarity in code, structure, and data, and we prepare the affidavit and expert evidence that Israeli courts expect in technical copyright cases.
Customs enforcement at the border
The Israeli Customs Authority has statutory powers to detain goods suspected of infringing copyright at the border. For international brand owners and content rights holders confronting counterfeit or pirated imports — whether physical goods bearing infringing designs or shipments of pirated copies — customs enforcement is often the most efficient first line of defence. We manage the recordal and notification process, liaise directly with customs officers on specific detentions, advise on whether detained goods constitute an infringement, and handle the legal proceedings that follow. Adv. Sa’ar Gershoni — whose expertise in parallel importation is formally recognised at Supreme Court level — leads the firm’s customs and cross-border enforcement work.
Criminal enforcement
Wilful, large-scale copyright infringement — particularly organised piracy and commercial counterfeiting operations — can be pursued as a criminal offence under Israeli law. For the most serious infringement, criminal enforcement provides a deterrent that civil proceedings cannot match. We advise rights holders on the evidentiary threshold for a criminal complaint, coordinate with the Israeli police and State Prosecution, and support the process from initial investigation through to prosecution.
ISRAEL AS A COPYRIGHT JURISDICTION
What international practitioners need to know
Israel offers a modern, internationally aligned copyright regime underpinned by an experienced and independent judiciary. Several features are worth noting for foreign practitioners unfamiliar with the jurisdiction.
- Modern statutory framework — Israeli copyright is governed by the Copyright Act, 5768-2007, which replaced the pre-State legislation of 1911. The modern Act aligns Israeli law with contemporary international standards and addresses digital works, databases, and computer programs expressly.
- International conventions — Israel is a party to the Berne Convention, the WIPO Copyright Treaty, and the TRIPS Agreement. Works originating in other member states receive national-treatment protection in Israel without any need for local registration or formality.
- No registration requirement — Copyright arises automatically upon fixation of an original work in a tangible form. There is no national copyright register in Israel. In infringement proceedings, the burden of establishing ownership rests on the claimant, which makes contemporaneous documentation of authorship and chain of title a practical necessity.
- Protected works — The Act protects literary, artistic, dramatic, and musical works, including computer programs (as literary works), databases (as compilations), photographs, architectural works, and works of applied art. Ideas, methods, facts, processes, and news of the day are excluded, as are legislation, parliamentary proceedings, and judicial decisions.
- Term of protection — The general term is the life of the author plus 70 years. Specific rules apply to jointly authored works, anonymous and pseudonymous works, employer-owned works, and sound recordings.
- Ownership rules — The default rule is that the author of the work is the first owner of copyright. Exceptions include works created by employees in the course of employment (owned by the employer, subject to agreement), commissioned works (ownership determined by agreement, with a specific default for portraits and family or private photographs), and State-owned works.
- Moral rights — Authors enjoy moral rights — the right of attribution and the right of integrity — which are personal to the author and cannot be assigned, though they can be waived in writing in specified circumstances.
- Fair use — Israeli law adopts an open-ended fair-use defence modelled on the US four-factor analysis, supplementing specific statutory exceptions for private study, research, criticism, review, journalistic reporting, quotation, and educational use.
- Statutory damages — Up to NIS 100,000 per infringement may be awarded without proof of loss (section 56). The court may also order disclosure of the infringer’s accounts (section 57), enabling a parallel claim for disgorgement of profits.
- Enforcement landscape — Israeli courts are experienced in copyright matters and willing to grant preliminary injunctions, including ex parte relief where irreparable harm is shown. Customs enforcement is active. Criminal prosecution is available for wilful infringement on a commercial scale.
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FOR FOREIGN LAW FIRMS
Acting as your Israeli copyright correspondent
We regularly act as Israeli correspondent counsel for international IP firms and media, technology, and publishing practices handling multi-jurisdictional copyright matters. Our correspondent work is characterised by responsiveness, clear and prompt reporting, adherence to deadlines, and practical advice on local law — without unnecessary complexity.
Our services for foreign firms include emergency injunction proceedings on behalf of international rights holders, customs recordal and enforcement, civil litigation against Israeli infringers, John Doe proceedings and platform takedowns, transactional advice on Israeli-law copyright aspects of licensing and M&A, and advisory opinions on the scope, validity, and enforceability of copyright in specific Israeli contexts.
We maintain active working relationships with IP practitioners across Europe, the United States, and other jurisdictions. We are familiar with the systems and expectations of international practices, and we structure our reporting and communication accordingly.
If you are evaluating, or currently managing, Israeli copyright matters for your clients, we welcome a direct conversation about how we can support your practice.
Litigation & enforcement: Adv. Raanan Ben-Ishay · Customs & cross-border: Adv. Sa’ar Gershoni
