Features of legal status of computer programs

On the basis of the current civil legislation, materials of law enforcement practice and legal literature, the author investigates a computer program as an object of copyright protection, evaluates the effectiveness of the protection of rights to computer programs as a literary work. The author puts forward the thesis that, being a complex object, a computer program can be protected by patent law, the constituent elements of the program are subject to protection as audiovisual and other works. The article concludes that a computer program is a complex object of civil law, which includes other objects of copyright, such as audiovisual works, paintings, graphics, design, maps and others. The author proposes to supplement Article 1259 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with provisions that the source text and object code of a computer program is protected as a literary work, the functional part of a computer program is protected by patent law, the composite works of a computer program are protected by copyright.