In the evolution of intellectual property regulations in Spain, the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996, of April 12, whose promulgation is being commemorated today 30 yearsThis is a perfect example of the phenomenon that has plagued this discipline for some time now. We are facing a system in constant revision, whose laws lack the most basic aspiration of any legal norm: the perdurability.
Let us remember that this is the Consolidated Text of the Intellectual Property Law, which entailed the repeal, barely 9 years after its promulgation, of the decisive Law 22/1987, of November 11; the latter, in turn, had put an end to more than 100 years of rreign of its predecessor, the historic Law of January 10, 1879.
The 1987 Law would not turn out to be so long-livedIn those 9 years of existence, before reaching the coming of ageThe Law had suffered no less than 5 reforms of its articles and even 8 legislative developments de outsideIt is therefore not surprising that the legislator opted for the tried-and-true formula of Refunded text to try to harmonize and give an appearance of cohesion to the legal system. Nothing wrong with that, of course.
What is paradoxical is that the Consolidated Text of 1996 did not provide intellectual property with the patina of stability (that is, from legal security) that everyone was expecting. Because the truth is that the Consolidated Text, since its promulgation in 1996, has been the subject of no less than 22 reforms legislative (to modify, repeal or add provisions) and more than 11 regulatory developments.
In this daring evolution, intellectual property has tasted, Whether they liked it or not, all the recipes possible from the broad letter de dishes offered by the national legislative framework (Laws, Decree-Laws, Legislative Decrees, Decrees, Ministerial Orders) and international framework (WIPO/WTO Treaties and European Union Regulations/Directives). It has also suffered the action proofreader de appeals for annulment before the Supreme Court, of appeals of unconstitutionality before the Constitutional Court and of preliminary issues before the Court of Justice of the European Union. He hasn't lacked anything.
Following the transposition of the latest Directive on copyright in the digital single market, by the Real Decreto-ley 24/2021One might think that we have entered a stage of normative calmBut let's not be naive.
On March 10. from 2026 the European Parliament approved a report entitled "Copyright and generative artificial intelligence: opportunities and challenges”, whose text is nothing more than a call for regulatory action by the European Union in a field sown with unknowns.
So the birthday gift For the Consolidated Text of the Intellectual Property Law on its 30th anniversary, it could well be the announcement of…new reformsWe'll be here to tell you all about it!
Mabel Klimt, managing partner of Elzaburu
