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The First Copyright Law in the Arab World

The first copyright law to exist in Arab countries came at the time when the Ottoman Empire was in control of major parts of what makes up the Arab world including Libya, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, and Saudi.
The first official Ottoman copyright law was passed in the form a regulation in 1850 called “Encumen-I Danis Nizamnamesi” (More info on this masters thesis). This regulation was later followed by a proper copyright act in 1910 which remained in force until 1951. Even though this was a modern and sophisticated law for its time, there is no evidence that this law was ever enforced in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, let alone any of the remote territories of the Empire (This ebook on Turkish  IP law talks more about this). However, a lot of literature still acknowledges its application, at least theoretically, to former territories within the Ottoman Empire such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine.

The Ottoman Copyright Law of 1910 was passed after the creation of the Berne Convention and its Berlin revision, but it was not compatible with its provisions, naturally because the Ottoman Empire was not a member of the convention. Nonetheless, the Ottoman Copyright Law of 1910 was still a modern copyright for its time as it was modeled after the German Copyright Law of 1901. The Ottoman Copyright Law granted protection for literary and pictorial works, engravings, sculptures, maps, musical works and notes, as well as lectures. The law covered the rights for copying and performing and allowed exceptions such as those for political speeches, judicial proceedings, and criticism. The law required formalities, registration, and deposit. The protection was generally for the life of the author plus 30 years after his death with the exception of charts and maps which lasted for 18 years after the death of the author and translations which lasted for 15 years after the death of the translator. In addition to the provisions of the Copyright Law itself, the Ottoman Criminal Act also created specific offenses against copyright infringement.

The following papers provide additional info on this largely forgotten law:

  • Birnhack M. “Hebrew Authors and English Copyright Law in Mandate Palestine” (February 11, 2010). Theoretical Inquiries in Law, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1551425
  • Zemer L., ‘Copyright Departures: The Fall of the Last Imperial Copyright Dominion and the Case of Fair Use’ , 60 DePaul L. Rev. 1051 (2011) Available at: http://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review/vol60/iss4/5
  • Surmeli, Gungor (2011), ‘The Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Turkey in the EU Accession Process: A Perceptoin Analysis of the Police Officers Dealingw ith IPR Crimes”, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online:  http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1397/ .
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Copyright History in Oman

Unlike many other countries in the Arab world, Oman was never colonized by neither of England or France and did not inherent copyright law from a colonizing regime. There is no record of any movement by the authors or the creative industries in Oman calling for a the establishment of a copyright law. Therefore copyright law is relatively a recent legal development in Oman that took place as a result of pressure from the international community.
The first intellectual property legislation in Oman was issued in 1987 and covered only trademarks, agencies, and trade secrets. This legislation came as part of the natural progress of the legal commercial infrastructure and was required for the smooth operation of the everyday business in the country. Copyright law (Royal Decree No 47/1996) on the other hand became a recognized form of intellectual property almost 10 years after the the first intellectual property law in Oman in 1996 making Oman was one of the last countries in the Gulf to enact copyright legislation. This legislation came as part of Oman’s efforts towards its integration in the international community as it passed the first copyright law in July, then joined WIPO a couple of months later in September of the same year and ratified the Berne Convention in 1998.

The 1996 Omani copyright law granted automatic protection to all forms of literary, scientific, artistic, and cultural works including computer programs for a general period of the lifetime of the author plus 50 years after his death. The law also included criminal offenses such the payment of fines and imprisonment for copyright infringement in certain circumstances.

In preparation for its membership to the WTO in the year 2000, Oman decided to revise all of its intellectual property laws including copyright. This led to the enactment of the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Law of 2000 (Royal Decree No 37/2000) which added protection for performers, broadcasters, and producers of sound recordings among other things.

In 2006, Oman became the fourth Arab country to sign a free trade agreement with the United States and this required it to revise its intellectual property rights again. This led to the enactment of the third and current copyright law in 2008 (Royal Decree No 65/2008). This law remains as one of the latest Arabic copyright legislations and illustrates a very protective copyright model that grants protection for technological protection measures and digital rights managements and provides sophisticated mechanisms for combating border control piracy, court interim measures, and criminal sanctions against copyright infringement.

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Copyright

Sudan: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law

  • The Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection Act 2013 [قانون حمایة حق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة والمصنفات الأدبیة والفنیة لسنة ٢٠١٣]: Arabic Text | English Text.

Previous Copyright Laws

  • The Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection Act 1996 [قانون حماية حق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة لسنة ١٩٩٦]: Arabic Text.
  • The Copyright and Neighboring Rights Protection Act 1974 [قانون حماية حق المؤلف لسنة ١٩٧٤]: Arabic Text.

Photo credits: “Tomb Pyramids” by by David Stanley – CC BY 2.0

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Copyright

Saudi Arabia: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

  • Royal Decree No M/41 of 2003 Issuing the Copyright Protection Law [نظام حماية حقوق المؤلف]: Arabic Text.

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Royal Decree No M/11 of 1989 Issuing the Copyright Protection Law [نظام حماية حقوق المؤلف]: Arabic Text.
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Copyright

Bahrain: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Law No 10/1993 on the Protection of Copyright: Arabic Text

Photo credits: “Explore Bahrain” by Maryam Abdulghaffar – CC BY 2.0

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Copyright

Qatar: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

  • Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights [قانون رقم ٧ لسنة ٢٠٠٢ بشأن حماية حق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة]: Arabic Text.

Treaty Membership

  • Arab Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Treaty [الاتفاقية العربية لحماية حقوق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة] (Accession in 2015)
  • WIPO WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (Accession in 2005)
  • WIPO Copyright Treaty (Accession in 2005)
  • Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Accession in 2000)
  • Arab Copyright Treaty [الاتفاقية العربية لحماية حقوق المؤلف] (Ratification in 1986)

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Law No. 25 of 1995 on the Protection of Intellectual Works and Copyright [قانون رقم ٢٥ لسنة ١٩٩٥ بشأن حماية المصنفات الفكرية وحقوق المؤلف]: Arabic Text.

Photo credits: “Qatar’s National Day (4) – Explored” by Mohammed Almousawi – CC BY 2.0

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Copyright

Oman: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law: 

  • Royal Decree No 65/2008 Issuing the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law [مرسوم سلطاني رقم ٦٥ / ٢٠٠٨ باصدار قانون حقوق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة]: Arabic Text + Amendment (2008)

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Royal Decree No 37/2000 Issuing the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Protection Law [مرسوم سلطاني رقم ٣٨ / ٢٠٠٠ باصدار قانون حماية حقوق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة]: Arabic Text
  • Royal Decree No 47/1996 Issuing Copyright Protection Law [مرسوم سلطاني رقم ٤٧ / ٩٦ باصدار قانون حماية حقوق المؤلف]: Arabic Text

 

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Copyright

Yemen: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

  • Law No. 15 of 2012 on the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights [قانون رقم ١٥ لسنة ٢٠١٢م بشأن حماية حق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة]: Arabic Text.

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Law No. 19 of 1994 on Intellectual Property [القانون رقم ١٩ لسنة ١٩٩٤م بشأن الحق الفكري]: Arabic Text.

Photo credits: “Antonia Yemen 2001” by lelebella – CC BY 2.0

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Data Protection Privacy

Online Privacy – A Fundamental Right For Oman

Privacy on the Internet is more important to us than ever now that all of our photographs, phone numbers and the location of our every single move are all recorded and shared by many web services.Privacy is not considered as a fundamental right in Oman for which each individual has an entitlement to, unlike the freedom of expression, the freedom to practice religion, and many of the other freedoms provided for in the Basic Statute of the State.

There are a few instances where a limited right of privacy is protected by the Omani law such as the guarantee to maintain the confidentiality of communications, the protection of the sanctity of family life from violation by technological means such as camera equipped mobile phones, and the protection against misuse of personal data by institutions regulated by the electronic transactions law.
These limited instances of the protection of privacy are not a substitute for the protection of privacy as a wider concept, which can be violated through electronic and traditional means and without necessarily disclosing that information to the public.

Private information is now extremely valuable to companies as their knowledge of our habits and personal details can help them target potential consumers. Many companies now try to collect as much personal information about us as they can, and this puts us at a risk when they collect this information without our knowledge or when they do not handle this information with care while dealing with extremely sensitive information about us such as our health and medical conditions, family life, and business transactions.

Attempting to draw a clear scope for the right of privacy is not as easy as it sounds due to the fact that this right needs to be balanced against the security interests of the state in acquiring information in order to avert crimes. These interests are legitimate, but they are not always applied reasonably. For example, the telecommunication law in Oman prohibits the use of any encryption method without acquiring the prior permission of the minister for that use. This provision is unrealistic and has no practical value because we use encryption on the Internet to do many simple daily tasks such as checking our online banking account, paying our bills, and even sending messages using Gmail.

There are some legislative issues in the area of privacy in Oman, but there is little that local legislation here can do to mitigate the risks of the violation of privacy on the Internet due to the fact that the majority of web businesses do not have any presence in Oman and therefore will not be bound by the laws of this country.

We as individuals must take precaution when giving out our information on the Internet. We need to familiarise ourselves with the privacy aspects of the services that we use and must be aware of how much information we are sharing because it is impossible to retract information we share publicly once it gets on the Internet.

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Copyright

Copyright Exceptions in the UK

The UK government has announced its plans to widen the scope of copyright exceptions in its law, to allow the public to copy more works without the need to acquire the permission of the author.The copyright law is not meant to provide authors with an absolute right over their creations, but it aims to provide them with sufficient rights so they have an incentive to create new works, and have these rights balanced against society’s right for fair access to these works.

A lot of people around the world believe that copyright law has lost touch with the reality of how the public consumes copyright works. However, due to the influence major corporations have over many of the legislative systems around the world, the copyright law has continued attempting to impose more and more restrictions on how copyright works can be used by the public, even if these rights are rarely respected.

In a move uncommon nowadays, the UK government has announced that it plans to issue a new legislation that will reduce the scope of protection of copyright law. This will provide users with more rights for using some copyright works, without the need to acquire the prior permission of the owner of the copyright.

The UK copyright law already has some exceptions to copyright protection, such as those that allow users to copy some works for criticism and review, and those that allow copying for the purpose of private non-commercial research.

The new copyright exceptions to be introduced by the UK will allow copying for a number of different purposes. One of these exceptions will allow the owner of a legitimate copy of copyright work to make additional copies of that work, to be able to use the work on a different device.

Another exception will allow copying a work to create a parody or caricature. Some of the new exceptions will expand the scope of existing rights such as the exception for private study and research and the exception for reporting news and current events.

Some of the ‘soon to be legal’ acts emphasise how ridiculous the copyright law currently is in some instances, such as the fact that an explicit exception has to be included in the law to allow a user to rip off music from a CD he legally bought, to play that music on a portable music player. Creating such a copy without permission from the author is technically an infringement of the current copyright law, even though nobody ever got prosecuted for it.

The introduction of these new exceptions is a positive move for the development of copyright law in the UK, but it will not solve many of the other more serious problems with the copyright law. These include the fact that protection is granted automatically to all works created by anyone, regardless of whether or not the author desires to have that protection, the fact that the protection lasts for an unreasonable amount of time, and the unnecessary and ineffective protection of technological protection measures applied to copyright works.

It is also worth noting that legislative changes to the UK copyright law will still not provide the UK with a general copyright exception similar to the fair use principle found in the US. The US fair use exception is a general exception that allows the judge to look at the nature of the copying instance and then decide, based on its facts, whether or not the usage is fair. The UK exceptions will not allow the judge to excuse an instance of copying, even if it is fair, if that specific use is not explicitly mentioned in the law.

Even with all the limitations of the soon to be introduced exceptions in the UK, the fact that copyright law is being changed to become less restrictive is a good development for copyright law. Unfortunately, the law in Oman is similar to the UK in its restrictive nature and does not, in fact, still allow for many of these exceptions proposed by the UK government. It would be helpful if we can learn from their experience when we consider updating the law here.