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WHAT A COPYRIGHT ACTUALLY IS?

Copyright is literally, the right to copy, though in legal terms the right
to control copying is more accurate. Copyright are exclusive statutory
rights to exercise control over copying and other exploitation of the
works for a specific period of time. Your exclusive packaging design or
main page of your website may also be copyrightable in addition to
trademark registration.
Copyright initially only granted the exclusive right to copy a book,
allowing anybody to use the book to, for example, make a translation,
adaptation or public performance. At the time print on paper was the
only format in which most text based copyrighted works were
distributed. Therefore, while the language of book contracts was
typically very broad, the only exclusive rights that had any significant
economic value were rights to distribute the work in print. The exclusive
rights granted by copyright law to copyright owners have been gradually
expanded over time and now uses of the work such as dramatization,
translations,

and

derivative

works

such

as

adaptations

and

transformations, fall within the scope of copyright.

Copyrights are a form of protection provided to the authors of original
works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and
certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both
published and unpublished works.
WHAT CAN BE REGISTERED AS A COPYRIGHT?
As defined by Pakistans Copyright Law, Copyright is a form of protection
provided to the authors of original works of authorship, including:

Literary

COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

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Dramatic

Musical

Artistic

Calligraphy

Product Packaging

And certain other intellectual works.

This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.

WHAT

RIGHTS

DOES

COPYRIGHT

OWNER

EARN

AFTER

COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION IN PAKISTAN?

The copyright owner is given two sets of rights, a positive one and a
negative one:
1.

POSITIVE RIGHT

An exclusive, positive right to copy and exploit the copyrighted work, or

license others to do so,
2.

NEGATIVE RIGHT

Negative right is to prevent anyone else from doing so without consent,

with the possibility of legal remedies if they do.
In general the owner of copyrights has the exclusive right to do and to
authorize others to do the following:

COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

Page | 3

To reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;

To prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

To distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to

the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease,
or lending;

To perform the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary,

musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and
motion pictures and other audiovisual works;

To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary,

musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and
pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual
images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and

In the case of sound recordings*, to perform the work publicly

by means of a digital audio transmission.

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the

copyrights law to the owner of copyrights. These rights, however, are
not unlimited in scope, the copyrights law establishes limitations on
these rights. In some cases, these limitations are specified exemptions
from copyrights liability. One major limitation is of fair use, In other
instances, the limitation takes the form of a compulsory license under
which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon
payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions.
For further information about the limitations of any of these rights,
consult the copyrights law.
HOW

IS

COPYRIGHTS

ENFORCED

AND

WHAT

IS

ANTI

INFRINGEMENT MECHANISM?
COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

Page | 4

Copyrights are generally enforced by the holder in a civil law court, but
there are also criminal infringement statutes.
An unskippable anti-piracy film included on movie DVDs equates
copyright infringement with theft. Copyright infringement, or copyright
violation, is the unauthorized use of works covered by copyright law, in a
way that violates one of the copyright owners exclusive rights, such as
the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make
derivative works.
For electronic and audio-visual media, unauthorized reproduction and
distribution is also commonly referred to as piracy.

WHO CAN CLAIM COPYRIGHTS?

Copyrights protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed
form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the
property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those
deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyrights.
In the case of a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or
her employment; the employer and not the employee is considered to
be the author, if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument
signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.
The authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyrights in the work,
unless there is an agreement to the contrary.
Note:

Mere ownership of a book, manuscript, painting, or any other

copy or phonorecord does not give the possessor the copyrights. The

COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

Page | 5

transfer of ownership of any material object that embodies a protected

work does not of itself convey any rights in the copyrights
WHAT WORKS ARE PROTECTED?
Copyrights protects original works of authorship that are fixed in a
tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible
so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device.
Copyrightable works include the following categories:
1.

Literary works;

2.

Musical works, including any accompanying words

3.

Dramatic works, including any accompanying music

4.

Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works

5.

Motion pictures and other audiovisual works

6.

Sound recordings

7.

Architectural works

These categories should be viewed broadly. For example, computer

programs and most compilations may be registered as literary
works.
WHAT IS NOT PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHTS?
Many items although intellectual are generally not eligible for copyrights
protection. These include among others:

Works that have not been fixed in a tangible form of Ideas,

procedures, methods, systems, processes, concepts, principles,
COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

Page | 6

discoveries, or devices, as distinguished from a description,

explanation, or illustration

Works consisting entirely of information that is common

property and containing no original authorship (for example:
standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and
rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other
common sources)

HOW LONG COPYRIGHTS PROTECTION ENDURES?

A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time)
protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term
enduring for the authors life plus an additional 50 years after the
authors death. In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more
authors who did not work for hire, the term lasts for 50 years after the
last surviving authors death. For works made for hire, and for
anonymous and pseudonymous works the duration of copyrights will be
50 years from publication.

IS THE TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHTS POSSIBLE?

Any or all of the copyrights owners exclusive rights or any subdivision of
those rights may be transferred, but the transfer of exclusive rights is
not valid unless that transfer is in writing and signed by the owner of the
rights conveyed or such owners duly authorized agent.
WHAT LAW REGULATES COPYRIGHTS LAW IN PAKISTAN

COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

Page | 7

In Pakistan, copyright registration and ancilliary regulation is employed

by the Intellectual property office of government of Pakistan under the
following statutes.

Copyrights Ordinance, 1962

Copyright Rules

WHO MAY FILE AN APPLICATION FORM?

The following persons are legally entitled to submit an application form
in person or through a legal representatives and attorneys(lawyers):
1. THE AUTHOR.
This is either the person who actually created the work or, if the work
was made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was
prepared.
2. THE COPYRIGHTS CLAIMANT
The copyrights claimant is defined in Copyrights regulations as either
the author of the work or a person or organization that has obtained
ownership of all the rights under the copyrights initially belonging to the
author. This category includes a person or organization who has
obtained by contract the right to claim legal title to the copyrights in an
application for copyrights registration.

3. THE OWNER OF EXCLUSIVE RIGHT(S)

COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E

Page | 8

Under the law, any of the exclusive rights that make up a copyrights and
any subdivision of them can be transferred and owned separately, even
though the transfer may be limited in time or place of effect. The term
copyrights owner with respect to any one of the exclusive rights
contained in a copyrights refers to the owner of that particular right. Any
owner of an exclusive right may apply for registration of a claim in the
work.
WHAT IS THE COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION PROCESS IN PAKISTAN?
Copyrights Registration in Pakistan is regulated by the IPO Office.
Registration helps establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity
of the copyrights and of the facts stated in the certificate.

COPYRIGHT LAW IN PAKISTAN

By: Umar Saddam & Hassan Masood

Subject: Corporate Law

NCBA & E