Member Article

The Copy Right Act 1987 provides a framework for the protection of copy right and enforcement through civil redress, as well as outlines the powers granted to state authorities for the enforcement of copy right and prosecution of copy right offences. The Copy Right Amendment Act 2012 (“2012 Amendment Act”) came into operation on 1st March 2012. The following is a summary of some of the amendmentspursuant to the 2012 Amendment Act.

Register of Copyright

Currently, there is no formal registration system for copyright in Malaysia. The 2012 Amendment Act seeks to put in place a mechanism f or a Register of Copy right. The proposed Register of Copy right will contain all particulars relating to a copyright in a work, as notified to the Controller. This notification shall contain the following particulars:

(a) The name, address and nationality of the owner of the copyright;

(b) A statutory declaration that the applicant is the author of the work, or the owner of the copyright in the work, or an assignee of the copy right, or a person to whom an interest in the copy right has beengranted by licence;

(c) The category of the work;

(d) The title of the work;

(e) The name of the author and if the author is dead, the date of the author’s death, if known;

(f ) in the case of a published work, the date and place of the first publication; and

(g) any other information as the Minister may determine.

Additional Relief

In addition to granting an order for injunction, damages and account of prof it’s, the 2012 Amendment Act has introduced a maximum statutory damage in the amount of RM25, 000 (USD8621) for each work and amaximum of RM500,000 (USD172,414) in the aggregate.

Anti-camcording provisions

The 2012 Amendment Act prohibits the recording of films with a camcorder in a screening room.