Copyrights In Pakistan

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights over use of a particular expression of an idea or information and this may subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms that include literary, musical, choreographic, artistic and even print and broadcast media copyrights.

In Pakistan, copyright protection is governed by the provisions of the Copyright Ordinance, 1962 ("the Ordinance") which is modelled on the English Act of 1914. Pakistan is a member of Berne Copyright Union and the Universal Copyright Convention.

What Works Are Protected?

Copyrights protect “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”.

How to Secure a Copyright?

Copyrights Secured Automatically upon Creation

The way in which copyrights protection is secured is frequently misunderstood, registration is not compulsory to secure copyrights. There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. A copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

Regards,
Waqas Waheed