The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in Pakistan is the ''Copyright Ordinance, 1962'' as amended by the ''Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance, 2000''.

Copyright Ordinance, 1962

Objects of copyright

According to section 10 copyright subsists in *literary works (including computer programmes ; excluding speeches) *dramatic works *musical works (''i.e.'' any combination of melody and harmony or either of them, produced or redproduced graphically) *records (''i.e.'' any disc, tape, wire, perforated roll or other device in which sounds are embodied) *artistic works (''i.e.'' painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving or a photograph, an architectural work of art and any other work of artistic craftsmanship) *cinematographic works and includes compilations (s. 3 subs. 3). Foreign works are covered by section 54 read with the ''International Copyright Order, 1968''.

Owner of copyright

The first owner of copyright in general is the author (exceptions: works for hire, Government works; s. 13). The owner of copyright may assign the copyright (s. 14) or grant any interest in the copyright by license (s. 35). Licenses may also be granted by the Copyright Board to republish a work withheld from the public (s. 36). Registration of copyright with the Copyright Office is not obligatory, but if registration has taken place the Register of Copyrights gives '' prima facie'' evidence of the particulars entered therein (s. 42).

Term of copyright

Copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work published within the lifetime of the author subsists until 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies ('' p.m.a.''; s. 18). Copyright in a cinematographic work, a record or a photograph subsists until 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the publication of the work (s. 20). If a work is not published within 50 years after the death of the author or, the author being unknown, within 50 years after its creation, it falls into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

(s. 23)

Meaning of copyright

Copyright means ''inter alia'' the exclusive right *to reproduce the work *to publish the work *to perform or broadcast the work *to make any translation or adaption of the work (for details see s. 3). When an author assigns the rights in the intellectual property, he does not assign his

moral rights Moral rights are rights of creators of copyrighted works generally recognized in civil law jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, in some common law jurisdictions. The moral rights include the right of attribution, the right to have a work ...

(s. 62).

Copyright infringement

When copyright is infringed (s. 56), the owner of copyright (as well as the exclusive licensee) is entitled to certain civil remedies ( injunction,

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

, accounts; s. 60), either before the Court of the District Judge or the Copyright Board (s. 65; cf. ss. 46, 78). If the owner of the copyright is unable to institute immediate regular legal proceedings the owner or any other person having an interest in the copyright in the work may apply for immediate provisional orders (s. 60A). Infringing copies are deemed to be the property of the owner of the copyright, who accordingly may take proceedings for the recovery of possession thereof or in respect of the conversion thereof (s. 63). Infringing copies may not be imported or exported (s. 65A) and may be seized by the police (s. 73). Copyright infringement may also lead to

criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can ...

s (ss. 66 to 71) to be tried by no court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the first class (s. 72). The

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency ( ur, ; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdi ...

can take cognizance of such cases where violation of some Government work is involved.

No infringement

Certain acts are said not to constitute an infringement of copyright (s. 57). These include ''inter alia'' *

fair dealing Fair dealing is a limitation and exception to the exclusive rights granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. Fair dealing is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations. Fair dealing is an en ...

with a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work for the purpose of research, private study, criticism, review (cl. a) or reporting current events (cl. b) **in relation to a literary or dramatic work in prose: single extract up to 400 words, or a series of extracts (with comments interposed) up to a total of 800 words with no one extract exceeding 300 words (expl. i) **in relation to a literary or dramatic work in poetry: extract up to a total of 40 lines and in no case exceeding one fourth of the whole (expl. ii) *the reproduction or adaptation of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work by a teacher or a pupil for the purpose of instruction or examination (cl. h) *the performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work by the staff and students of an educational institution (cl. i) *the making of up to 3 copies of a book by a public or non-profit library for its use if such book is not available for sale (cl. o) *the reproduction or publication of certain Government works (unless prohibited; cl. q) *

freedom of panorama Freedom of panorama (FOP) is a provision in the copyright laws of various jurisdictions that permits taking photographs and video footage and creating other images (such as paintings) of buildings and sometimes sculptures and other art works ...

: the making or publishing of a painting, drawing, engraving or photograph of an architectural work of art (cl. r) or a sculpture or other artistic work if such work is permanently situated in a public place (cl. s)

Related rights

Related rights include the rights of ''performers'' and ''producers of phonograms'' (s. 24A; term: 50 years), of ''broadcasting organizations'' (s. 24; term: 25 years) and of ''publishers'' relating to the typographical arrangement of their editions (s. 28; term: 25 years).

Other provisions

*particulars to be included in records and video films (s. 57A) *

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposi ...

of books (s. 47) as well as periodicals and newspapers (s. 48) with public libraries (

National Library of Pakistan The 'National Library of Pakistan'' (Urdu:) is located in the vicinity of the Red Zone, Islamabad, Pakistan. Argued to be the country's oldest cultural institution, the library is a leading resource for information— ancient and new. The Nation ...

)

Economic, political and diplomatic implications

Copyright protection in Pakistan is a major economic, political and diplomatic issue. In a country like Pakistan where laws are very difficult to implement,

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

has always been a concern, and the country has been on the Special 301 Watch List since 1989.

Legislative response

Pakistan updated its

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

law with amendments in 1992.Act XX of 1992
/ref> However, no significant progress against pervasive copyright piracy was made until 1994, when raids against video piracy began. The

International Intellectual Property Alliance The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), formed in 1984, is a private sector coalition of seven trade associations representing U.S. companies that produce copyright-protected material, including computer software, films, televisio ...

recommended last year that Pakistan remain on the Watch List, and USTR agreed, while noting "greater efforts to combat copyright piracy".

Loss estimates due to "Piracy"

References

External links

Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan)

Faisal Daudpota: ''Fundamentals of Pakistan's Copyright Law''
(April 2013)
IIPA 2007 Report

''How piracy is entrenched in Pakistan'', BBC News, May 8, 2005

Digital law Library (Pakistan Law Library)
{{Copyright law by country

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

Law of Pakistan