section_path: Copyright/Germany
section_name: Germany
paragraph_text: Germany
  
  In Germany, X-ray images as well as MRI, medical ultrasound, PET and scintigraphy images are protected by (copyright-like) related rights or neighbouring rights. This protection does not require creativity (as would be necessary for regular copyright protection) and lasts only for 50 years after image creation, if not published within 50 years, or for 50 years after the first legitimate publication. The letter of the law grants this right to the "Lichtbildner", i.e. the person who created the image. The literature seems to uniformly consider the medical doctor, dentist or veterinary physician as the rights holder, which may result from the circumstance that in Germany many X-rays are performed in ambulatory settings.