1. What kind of works are protected under copyright law?

• literary works (books, drama, scripts, articles, reports, computer programs etc)
• artistic works (paintings, drawings, diagrams, photographs, sculptures etc.)
• musical works
• films
• sound recordings
• broadcasts

For example, for a computer game, the protected items and the respective copyrights are:

2. What are the criteria to be eligible for copyright protection in Malaysia?

• The work must be original, written down and recorded (ie: it cannot be just an intangible idea).
• The author must be a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia, or of any Berne Convention member country at the time the work was made;
• The work is first made available to the public in Malaysia, or in any Berne Convention member country;

3. How does a copyright arise?

• Copyright arises automatically once the criteria are satisfied. There is no registration system of copyright in Malaysia. Thus, it is crucial to carefully document the creation of any work and the ownership of copyright in it.
• It is prudent to affix a copyright notice to your copyright work (ie: explicitly using the word “copyright” or the symbol ©, accompanied by the name of the person claiming copyright, and the year of first publication.)

4. Who owns the rights under copyright?

• Copyright ownership generally vests in the author, subject to two exceptions:

1. where the author was commissioned under a contract of service or apprenticeship,
2. if the work was created in the course of his employment, copyright shall vest in the employer or the commissioner.

For example, if employer A wrote a report in the course of employment for Company ABC, the copyright of the report vests in Company ABC.

5. How long does copyright last?

• The author’s lifetime plus 50 years after his death.
• For a work published after the death of the author, the copyright subsist for 50 years from publication of the work.

6. What exactly are the rights as a copyright holder?

• The copyright owner is entitled to assign or licence the right.
• Copyright in a literary, musical or artistic work, a film or sound recording gives the owner the exclusive right to control the work, in terms of:

             -the reproduction in any material form;

             -the communication to the public;

-the performance, showing or playing to the public;

-the distribution of copies to the public by sale; and

-the commercial rental to the public

• Copyright protects the moral rights of the author. Moral rights mean the right to be identified as the author and the right to object to any distortion or modification that significantly alters the work in such a way that it might reasonably be regarded as adversely affecting the author’s reputation.