The problem of protecting the interests of creators of ideas in the Russian and foreign legal systems

The article considers the issue of protecting the interests of the idea creators. This issue in the Russian law is primarily discussed within the framework of copyright, namely in the context of the dichotomy of form/content. The task is to identify options for protecting the idea creators with the help of different civil constructions. The author refers to the foreign experience in legal regulation. In the Anglo-American legal family, there is a way to protect the idea creators as a claims based on an implied contract for the idea disclosure (Desny claims). In the Roman-German legal family, the idea protection can be carried out within the framework of unfair competition law, without granting a private right to the idea owner. Based on the foreign and Russian experiences, it is concluded that it is advisable to protect the interests of the idea creators with the help of other legal structures of private law, not limited to the norms of intellectual property law. The corresponding conclusion is determined by the need to balance the interests of society and the idea creators, as well as the principle of justice.