The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

is the ''Copyright Act, 2000''. It is largely based on Pakistan's ''Copyright Ordinance, 1962''.

Copyright Act, 2000

Objects of copyright

According to section 15 copyright subsists in *literary works *dramatic works *musical works *artistic works (''i.e.'' painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving or a photograph, a work of architecture and any other work of artistic craftsmanship) *cinematographic films *sound recordings and includes computer programs (cf. s. 14 sub-s. 2) as well as addresses and speeches (cf. s. 17 cl. d). Foreign works are covered by section 69 read with the ''International Copyright Order, 2005''.

Owner of copyright

The first owner of copyright in general is author (exceptions: works for hire,''cf.'
''Suraiya Rahman vs. Skill Development for Underprivileged Women''
17 BLD ( HCD) 284 = 49 (1997) DLR (HCD) 222 Government works; s. 17). The owner of copyright may assign the copyright (s. 18) or grant any interest in the copyright by

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

(s. 48). Licenses may also be granted by the Copyright Board (ss. 50–54). 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. 60).

Term of copyright

Copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work published within the lifetime of the author subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the author dies ('' p.m.a.''; s. 24). Copyright in a cinematographic film (s. 26), a sound recording (s. 27), a photograph (s. 28), a computer program (s. 28A) or a work of the Government, a local authority or an international organisation (ss. 30–32) subsists until 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the publication of the work.

Meaning of copyright

Copyright means ''inter alia'' the exclusive right *to reproduce the work *to issue copies of the work to the public *to perform or broadcast the work *to make any translation or adaption of the work (for details see s. 14). In addition, special

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 pu ...

lie with the author (s. 78) as well as a ''

droit de suite ''Droit de suite'' ( French for "right to follow") or Artist's Resale Right (ARR) is a right granted to artists or their heirs, in some jurisdictions, to receive a fee on the resale of their works of art. This should be contrasted with policies such ...

'' (s. 23).

Copyright infringement

When copyright is infringed (s. 71), the owner of copyright (as well as the exclusive licensee) is entitled to certain civil remedies (

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...

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. 76). Jurisdiction lies with the court of District Judge of the place where the person instituting the proceeding resides or carries on business (s. 81). 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. 79). Infringing copies may be seized by the police (s. 93) and can be forbidden to be imported (s. 74). 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. 82 to 91) to be tried by no court inferior to that of a Court of Sessions (s. 92).

No infringement

Certain acts are said not to constitute an infringement of copyright (s. 72). These include ''inter alia'' *

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work for the purpose of private study, private use, criticism, review (sub-s. 1) or reporting current events (sub-s. 2) *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 (sub-s. 8) *the publication or performance of a literary, dramatic or musical work by the staff and students of an educational institution (sub-s. 9) *the making of up to 3 copies of a book by a non-profit or educational library for its use if such book is not available for sale (sub-s. 15) *the reproduction or publication of certain Government works (unless prohibited; sub-s. 17) *

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 architecture (sub-s. 19) or a sculpture or other artistic work if such work is permanently situated in a public place (sub-s. 20)

Related rights

Related rights include the ''broadcast reproduction right'' of broadcasting organisations (s. 33; term 25 years), the ''performer's right'' (s. 35; term: 50 years) and the right of ''publishers'' relating to the typographical arrangement of their editions (s. 38; term: 25 years).

Other provisions

*particulars to be included in sound recordings and video films (s. 73) *

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 reposit ...

of books (s. 62) as well as periodicals and newspapers (s. 63) with the

National Library of Bangladesh The National Library of Bangladesh (NLB; bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় গ্রন্থাগার, translit=Bānlādēśa jātīẏa granthāgāra) is the legal depository of all new books and other printed materials publi ...

References

External links

Copyright Office

IP Rights and Copyright Piracy in Bangladesh

Md. Milan Hossain (2012): ''Present Situation of Copyright Protection in Bangladesh''
Bangladesh Res.Pub.J. 7(2): 99–109

{{Copyright law by country

Law of Bangladesh