Protection of program formats produced for online platforms in the internet environment

This thesis has been prepared to study the controversial legal characteristics of and the legal protection that may be provided to the program formats, which have a great importance in the media and entertainment industries in terms of commerce and creativity. Programs and program formats are different intellectual creations that shall not be confused with each other, and as a matter of fact, formats are literary works that form the basis blueprints of forenamed audiovisual programs. Through developing technology, the methods of accessing to the intellectual work and content have been diversified, and intellectual property law has been affected by the internet and digitalization. In this thesis, the legal characteristics of the program formats and whether they are eligible to the protection provided by the copyright as an intellectual work have been evaluated within the scope of different opinions in the legal doctrine and The Supreme Court decisions including The Court of Cassation of Republic of Türkiye's rulings. Subsequently, the author's economic rights have been discussed by referring to the copyright infringements that may occur on the internet, major online actors and basic principles of the information technology law. The study has been concluded with the examination of the private law protection that is applicable to the program formats.