NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS FOR IMPROVING THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS IN COPYRIGHT

Abstract

The article analyzes the legal nature of computer programs as intellectual property objects, the 
international and national foundations for their protection, and the adequacy level of the current legal regime. 
The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that in the digital economy, software products have 
become a central element of economic value creation, innovation, and information security, but the mechanism 
for their protection is often limited only to copyright. The aim of the study is to determine the optimal legal model 
for the protection of computer programs, to reveal the relationship between copyright, patent, trade secret and 
contractual mechanisms, as well as to develop practical proposals for improving the legislation of Uzbekistan. 
Formal-legal, comparative-legal, systemic, and doctrinal analysis methods were used as the methodological basis. 
The research results substantiate that while copyright serves as the baseline for protecting computer programs, 
achieving effective protection requires supplementing it with trade secrets licencing, and, where appropriate, 
patent elements. It is also proposed to clarify the boundaries of decompilation and adaptation, increase the 
evidentiary significance of voluntary registration, and strengthen mechanisms against digital evidence and 
online piracy.