Copyright
1
LAWS OF MALAYSIA
REPRINT
Act 332
COPYRIGHT ACT 1987
Incorporating all amendments up to 1 January 2006
PUBLISHED BY
THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA
UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968
IN COLLABORATION WITH
PERCETAKAN NASIONAL MALAYSIA BHD
2006
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COPYRIGHT ACT 1987
Date of Royal Assent
... ... ... ... ...
30 April 1987
Date of publication in the Gazette ... ...
21 May 1987
PREVIOUS REPRINT
First Reprint
...
...
...
...
...
2001
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LAWS OF MALAYSIA
Act 332
COPYRIGHT ACT 1987
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Section
1.
Short title, application and commencement
2.
Extent of application
3.
Interpretation
4.
Publication
5.
Controller, Deputy Controllers and Assistant Controllers
PART II
GENERAL PROVISIONS
6.
No copyright except by virtue of this Act
7.
Works eligible for copyright
8.
Derivative works
9.
Copyright in published editions of works
10.
Qualification for protection
10A. Qualification for protection of performer
11.
Copyright in works of Government, Government organizations and
international bodies
12.
Administration of Government copyright
PART III
NATURE AND DURATION OF COPYRIGHT
13.
Nature of copyright in literary, musical or artistic works, films and
sound recordings
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Section
13A. Design documents and models
13B. Effect of exploitation of design derived from artistic work
13C. Things done in reliance on registration of design
14.
Nature of copyright in works of architecture
15.
Nature of copyright in broadcasts
16.
Broadcasting of works incorporated in films
16A. Nature of performers' right
16B. Equitable remuneration
17.
Duration of copyright in literary, musical or artistic works
18.
Duration of copyright in published editions
19.
Duration of copyright in sound recording
20.
Duration of copyright in broadcasts
21.
(Deleted)
22.
Duration of copyright in films
23.
Duration of copyright in works of Government, Government organizations
and international bodies
23A. Duration of performers' rights
23B. Duration of an equitable remuneration
24.
(Deleted)
25.
Moral rights
25A. Moral right of a performer
PART IV
OWNERSHIP AND ASSIGNMENT OF COPYRIGHT
26.
First ownership of copyright
27.
Assignment, licences and testamentary disposition
PART IVA
COPYRIGHT LICENSING
27A.
Licensing schemes to which sections 27B to 27G apply
27B.
Reference of proposed licensing scheme to Tribunal
27C.
Reference of licensing scheme to Tribunal
Copyright
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Section
27D. Further reference of licensing scheme to Tribunal
27E. Application for grant of licence in connection with licensing scheme
27F. Application for review of order as to entitlement to licence
27G. Effect of order of Tribunal as to licensing scheme
27H. Licences to which sections 27I to 27L apply
27I. Reference to Tribunal of terms of proposed licence
27J. Reference to Tribunal of expiring licence
27K. Application for review of order as to licence
27L. Effect of order of Tribunal as to licence
PART V
COPYRIGHT TRIBUNAL
28.
Establishment of Copyright Tribunal
29.
Appointment of Chairman and members of Tribunal
30.
Proceedings before the Tribunal
30A. Reference of questions of law to High Court
31.
Licence to produce and publish translation
32.
(Deleted)
33.
Tribunal may request for information
34.
No action to lie against Tribunal
35.
Regulations relating to Tribunal
PART VI
REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENTS AND OFFENCES
36.
Infringements
37.
Action by owner of copyright and relief
38.
Proceedings in case of copyright subject to exclusive licence
39.
Restriction on importation of infringing copies
39A. Application of sections 36, 37, 38 and 39 to performers' right
40.
Back-up copy of computer program
41.
Offences
41A. Compounding of offences
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Laws of Malaysia
Section
42.
Affidavit admissible in evidence
43.
Penalty
PART VII
ENFORCEMENT
44.
Entry by warrant or otherwise
45.
Effecting entry, removal and detention
46.
List of things seized
47.
Sealing of things
48.
Obstruction to search, etc.
49.
Warrant admissible notwithstanding defects, etc.
50.
Powers of investigation
50A. Power of arrest
51.
Admissibility of statement
52.
Disclosure of information
53.
Institution of prosecution
54.
Forfeiture of articles
55.
Proportional examination of articles seized to be accepted
56.
Protection of informers from discovery
57.
Protection of Assistant Controllers and police officers
PART VIII
MISCELLANEOUS
58.
(Deleted)
59.
Regulations
59A. Extension of application of Act
59B. Power of Minister to exclude from definition of "broadcast"
60.
Savings
61.
Repeal
Copyright
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LAWS OF MALAYSIA
Act 332
COPYRIGHT ACT 1987
An Act to make better provisions in the law relating to copyright
and for other matters connected therewith.
[1 December 1987,P.U.(B)586/1987]
BE IT ENACTED by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan
Agong with the advice and consent of the Dewan Negara and
Dewan Rakyat in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of
the same, as follows:
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title, application and commencement
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Copyright Act 1987 and shall
come into force on such date as the Minister may, by notification
in the Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for
the coming into force of different provisions of this Act.
(2) This Act shall apply throughout Malaysia.
Extent of application
2. (1) Subject to this section and section 59A and regulations
made under section 59A, this Act shall apply in relation to works
made before the commencement of this Act as it applies in relation
to works made after the commencement of this Act:
Provided that this section shall not be construed as reviving any
copyrights which had expired before the commencement of this
Act.
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Laws of Malaysia
(2) Where only by virtue of subsection (1) copyrights subsist
in works that were made before the commencement of this Act,
nothing done before the commencement of this Act shall be taken
to constitute an infringement of those copyrights.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a work the making of
which extended over a period of time shall not be deemed to have
been made before the commencement of this Act unless the making
of the work was completed before such commencement.
Interpretation
3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires--
"adaptation" includes any of the following, that is to say--
(a) in relation to a literary work, a version of the work
(whether in its original language or a different language)
in which it is converted into a dramatic work;
(b) in relation to a dramatic work, a version of the work
(whether in its original language or a different language)
in which it is converted into a literary work;
(c) in relation to a literary or dramatic work--
(i) a translation of the work;
(ii) a version of the work in which the story or action
is conveyed wholly or mainly by means of pictures
in a form suitable for reproduction in a book or in
a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical;
(d) in relation to a literary work in the form of a computer
program, a version of the work, whether or not in the
language, code or notation in which the work was originally
expressed not being a reproduction of the work;
(e) in relation to a musical work, an arrangement or
transcription of the work;
(f) in relation to a literary or artistic work, a version of the
work (whether in its original language or a different
language) in which it is converted into a film;
Copyright
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"appointed date" has the same meaning as is assigned to that
expression in the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia
Act 2002 [Act 617];
"artistic work" means--
(a) a graphic work, photograph, sculpture or collage,
irrespective of artistic quality;
(b) a work of architecture being a building or a model for
a building; or
(c) a work of artistic craftsmanship,
but does not include a layout-design within the meaning of the
Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Act 2000 [Act 601];
"Assistant Controller" means the person appointed or deemed
to have been appointed to be an Assistant Controller under subsection
5(2) or (3);
"author"--
(a) in relation to literary works, means the writer or the
maker of the works;
(b) in relation to musical works, means the composer;
(c) in relation to artistic works other than photographs, means
the artist;
(d) in relation to photographs, means the person by whom
the arrangements for the taking of the photograph were
undertaken;
(e) in relation to films or sound recordings, means the person
by whom the arrangements for the making of the film or
recording were undertaken;
(f) in relation to broadcasts transmitted from within any
country, means--
(i) the person transmitting the programme, if he has
responsibility for the selection of its contents; or
(ii) any person providing the programme who makes
with the person transmitting it the arrangements
necessary for its transmission;
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ACT 332
Laws of Malaysia
(g) in relation to any other cases, means the person by whom
the work was made;
"broadcast" means a transmission, by wire or wireless means,
of visual images, sounds or other information which--
(a) is capable of being lawfully received by members of the
public; or
(b) is transmitted for presentation to members of the public,
and includes the transmission of encrypted signals where the means
for decrypting are provided to the public by the broadcasting
service or with its consent;
"broadcasting service" means any service of radio or television
broadcast, operated under the general direction and control of or
under licence by the Government, in any part of Malaysia;
"building" includes any fixed structure, and a part of a building
or fixed structure;
"citizen" includes a person who, if he had been alive on the
relevant day, would have qualified for citizenship under the Federal
Constitution;
"communication to the public" means the transmission of a
work or live performance through wire or wireless means to the
public, including the making available of a work or live performance
to the public in such a