Intellectual Property on the Internet 'Memes': Perspectives from Copyright and Brand Law

On the Internet, memes have become a phenomenon: they are widely shared, disseminated in digital culture and in the social imaginary. Given this context, the research problem is to verify if there is protection of intellectual property in the memes of the internet? The methodology consists of the use of the bibliographical technique and the method of deductive approach and monographic procedure. One has that the meme is a manifestation of the cyberculture, of the remix and integrates the “cultural broth”, possessing capacity of replication. In an age where information acquires value based on its propagation, the use of the meme can generate profit and unauthorized and / or undue uses. Faced with cases like these, it was seen that some creators claim the registration of trademark with the INPI. Of the two cases presented at the INPI were analyzed, one of them already obtained the protection by the trademark law, and another has a pending decision. It was also possible to verify that besides the protection by the trademark right, the Copyright Law can be applied.