IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS
of Copyright Law
Issued by
The Minister of Culture and Information's decision no. (1688/1) dated 10/04/1425H (29 May 2004)
and amended by
His Excellency's decision no. (1640) dated
15/05/1426H (22 June 2005)
Unofficial Translation
Article 1: Definitions
The following words and phrases, whenever mentioned in the articles of these Regulations, shall have the meanings stated next to them:
(1) Proprietary right of the author: Aggregate material and immaterial interests vested in the person to his work.
(2) Author: Every person who innovates by his own effort, any of the literary, artistic or scientific works such as the man of letters, the poet, the painter or the musician or any other artist, according to the form of expression.
(3) Innovation: The personal style displayed by the author in his work, which makes the work distinctive and novel and presents the work through the elements of the concept displayed or the method employed to present the concept.
(4) Infringement of copyright: Any use of the work unauthorized by the copyright owner and conflicting with the instructions of usage determined by the copyright owner, or committing one or more of the violations provided for in the Law and these Regulations.
(5) Work: It is the literary, scientific or artistic production irrespective of its type, importance, form of expression or purpose.
(6) Literary works: Works which are expressed in words whatever their content may be, whether written or oral.
(7) Artistic works: Works which appeal to the sense of beauty of the public, such as painting, coloring, movement, sound, picture, viewing or music.
(8) Performers: Actors, players of musical instruments, singers, dancers, reciters and others who perform an artistic activity of other literary or artistic works in one way or another.
(9) Publication: Transmittance or communication of the work directly or indirectly to the public or making copies or photo copies of it or of any part of it which may be read, viewed, listened to or performed.
(10) Producer: A natural or corporate person who undertakes to transform the artistic, audio or audio-visual work into a material means for the purpose of displaying it to the public under its financial responsibility.
(11) The Law: Copyright Law.
(12) Regulations: The implementing regulations of the Copyright Law.
(13) General Department of Copyright: The competent department in the Ministry which exercises the powers granted to the Ministry by the provisions of the Law and these Regulations, including the technical and administrative tasks necessary for implementing their provisions.
(14) Ministry: Ministry of Culture and Information.
(15) Minister: Minister of Culture and Information.
Chapter One
Protected Works and the Rights of Public Performance
Article 2: Protected Works
A- The Following shall be among the protected works:
7- News Reports. Daily News Facts are excluded of this protection.
Article 3: Folklore
Article 4: Provisions Governing Circulation of Documents
Authors shall observe the provisions governing circulation of official documents issued in the Kingdom and shall obtain official approvals for their publication or translation, including the provisions of laws, regulations, judicial judgments and decisions of administrative agencies.
Article 5: Rights of Acting and Public Performance
Authors of dramatic works, musicals and musical works or their representatives shall have the right to authorize the following:
Article 6: Right of Tracing
Authors of original plastic art and of original musical manuscripts shall have the right to share by a percentage in the returns of any sale transaction of these works, even if they have assigned the ownership of the original copy of their works. This shall not apply to works of architecture nor to works of applied art.
Article 7: Protection of Performers, Producers of Sound Recordings,
and Broadcasting Organizations
First: Performers and Producers of Sound Recordings
Performers and producers of sound recordings shall enjoy the exclusive right to authorize the following:
Broadcasting organizations shall have the right to prohibit any of the following acts if undertaken without their authorization:
Article 8: Claiming Rights
Article 9: Rental Rights
Copyright owners may rent them in the Kingdom in coordination with the Ministry, upon obtaining its prior approval and its taking the necessary precautions, such as:
Article 10: Protection of Data Bases
The original data bases shall be protected by reason of the selection and arrangement of their contents as intellectual creations. This protection shall not extend to the data or the materials themselves.
Chapter Two
Violations and Procedures of Detection
Section One
Violations and Liability for Copyright Infringement
Article 11: Infringement Liability
First: Any person who obtains an original copy of any intellectual work and exploits it by means of renting, adaptation or permitting others to copy or reproduce it or any other acts which affect or obstruct the author from exercising his rights shall be deemed to have infringed the Copyright.
Second: Firms shall be deemed liable for any violations committed by an employee against any intellectual work if their knowledge or negligence is established, such as keeping forged or copied computer programs, audio or visual tapes, or conducting maintenance on an electronic equipment loaded with forged programs, decoded or similar works.
Third: Anyone who reproduces, sells, imports, exports, transports, publishes or rents protected works with knowledge of the violation shall be deemed to be committing an infringement of copyright and in violation of the provisions of the Law and these Regulations.
Article 12: Infringement of Literary Works
First: It shall be deemed within the scope of personal use any use of intellectual works for personal use only, such as reproducing the work for the purpose of preserving the original copy, for writing on the reproduced copy, for translating some paragraphs or writing comments expressing personal opinion. Any use beyond these purposes shall not be deemed personal use.
Second: Any use beyond the scope of personal use shall be deemed an infringement, such as the following:
fourth: Reproducing the work to make copies available for commercial exploitation or for selling them to students, to educational institutions or to others is deemed an infringement of copyright.
Fifth: An employer’s ownership of the original copy of the work does not grant him the right to reproduce and distribute it among his employees, under the pretext of personal use.
Article 13: Infringement of Audio, Visual and Broadcasting Works
Any use beyond that specified by the owner of audio, visual and broadcasting works shall be deemed an infringement of copyright, such as the following:
Article 14: Infringement of Rights of Performance
Article 15: Decoding of Electronic Equipment
It shall be an infringement of copyright any act resulting in removal of the original precautionary information from the electronic equipment produced by the manufacturer, and any person who facilitates this is deemed to be committing an act of infringement, such as:
Article 16: Infringement of Computer Programs
First: Considered as literary works, computer programs and games shall enjoy protection whether in the source code or in the object code.
Second: It shall be deemed an infringement of copyright any use of the programs different from that specified by the owner of the right, such as:
Article 17: Liability of Maintenance Centers
Workshops that provide maintenance service for display and receiving electronic equipment are deemed liable for and in infringement of copyright if detected to have in their possession decoded equipment or equipment loaded with forged programs, or to use forged programs in maintenance works.
Section Two
Procedures of Detection and Investigation of Violations
Article 18: Detection of Violations
Detection of violations of provisions of the Law and the Regulations shall be carried out in any of the following cases:
Article 19: Procedures of Detection and Inspection
When performing detection and inspection, detecting officers shall follow these procedures:
Article 20: Detection Tasks
First: The officials of the General Department of Copyright in Riyadh and its branches in the Kingdom’s provinces or the departments and offices of printed materials in provinces where there are no branches for the Department shall be responsible for the task of detecting violations and securing the evidence proving the existence of an infringement of copyright, such as equipment, works or commodities.
Second: A record for detecting the violation shall be drafted and signed by the drafter, and it shall contain the following information:
Article 21: Analysis of Evidence
The General Department of Copyright or the competent branch shall, immediately upon receiving the evidence, take the following procedures:
Article 22: Report of Evidence Analysis
The competent department which detected the works whose copyright is proved to be infringed shall prepare a report containing the following detailed information:
Article 23: Investigation of Violations
Article 24: The Right to Claim Compensation
The copyright owner or his representative is entitled to claim compensation for damages incurred as the result of the infringement of any of his rights protected by law, and shall submit a written memorandum to the competent department, if he desires, in which he explains in detail the damages incurred as a result of this infringement and how they occurred, as well as the estimated amount of compensation claimed by him and the basis for such estimation. In all cases, he shall present the evidence and documents supporting his statements. The officer investigating the violation shall cross-examine him regarding such evidence and documents and check the gravity of the violation, and inform the defendant of what is brought against him, and grant him the ability to present his views and answers in this respect, and then refer the claim to the violation review committee for decision.
Article 25: Procedures and Rules of the Violation Review Committee
The committee shall exercise its jurisdiction in reviewing all violations of the provisions of the Law and these Regulations and shall determine the punishments according to what is stipulated in Article (22) of the Law in proportion to the gravity of infringement and the number of violations recorded with the committee against the violating party, and compensate owners of copyrights for the damage incurred by them, subject to the following:
Article 26: Restrictions on the Execution of Punishments
Section Three
Protective Seizure
Article 27: Provisional Protective Measures
Article 28: Measures at Borders
Article 29: Precautionary Protective Seizure
The Ministry’s office at the point of entry at the border may stop the procedure for release of works upon having prima facie evidence proving existence of copyright infringement, after coordination with the customs department at the point of entry. The office shall immediately notify the General Department of Copyright to take the necessary measures, in coordination with the committee.
Chapter Three
General Provisions
Article 30: Mandatory Licenses
The provisions regulating the procedures of issuing mandatory licenses shall apply to works published for the first time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and licenses shall not be granted before the expiration of three years from the publication date of the edition in question, in accordance with the following procedures:
Article 31: Public Property
First: All unprotected works by Saudi authors or whose period of protection has expired in accordance with the provisions of the Law and these Regulations shall become public property, and the Ministry shall act as the copyright owner thereon.
Second: Copyrights in this law applies to all foreign works which, as of the date of entry into force of this law, have not yet fallen into the public domain in the country of origin through the expiry of term of protection.
Article 32: Nature of Protection
Article 33: Calculation of Protection Period
Article 34: Expiration of Protection Period
The author may object to reproduction or sale of his works or making a work derived from his original work upon expiry of financial rights and protection period, in case of damage to his honor and reputation or distortion and alteration of the work.
Article 35: Effectiveness of the Regulations
These Regulations shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall be effective after two months from the date of publication.