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Maltese Laws |
COPYRIGHT ACT
To make new provision in respect of copyright and neighbouring rights and certain "sui generis" intellectual property rights in substitution of the provisions of the Copyright Act, Cap. 196.
14th August, 2000;
1st January, 2001
ACT XIII of 2000, as amended by Acts VI of 2001, IX of 2003, IX of 2009 and VIII of 2011.
PART I DEFINITIONS
"European Union" means the European Union referred to in the
Treaty;
"artistic work" shall include, irrespective of artistic quality, any of the following, or works similar thereto:
(a) paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, engravings and prints;
(b) maps, plans, diagrams and three-dimensional works relative to geography, science or topography, but excluding semiconductor
product topographies;
(c) works of sculpture;
(d) photographs not comprised in an audiovisual work;
(e) works of architecture in the form of buildings or models; and
(f) works of artistic craftsmanship, including pictorial woven tissues and articles of applied handicraft and industrial
art;
"audiovisual work" means a work that consists of a series of rel ated i ma ges w hi ch im part th e i mp ressi on of mo
ti on, wit h or without accompanying sounds, susceptible of being made visible and, where accompanied by soun ds, susceptible of
being made audible;
"author" means the natural person or group of natural persons who created the work eligible for copyright but in the case
of an audiovisual work it includes the principal director but excludes the producer of the first fixation of the audiovisual work;
"Board" means the Copyright Board established under article 45; "body of persons" means any company or association
of persons
whether corporate or unincorporated, whether vested with legal
personality or not, and includes any other body however called having legal personality;
Short title.
Interpretation. Amended by: IX. 2003.92; IX. 2009.2.
"broadcasting" means the transmission by wireless means for the pub lic recepti on of sou nds or of imag e s and sound s
or o f th e represent a t i on s th ereof, inclu d in g t r an smission by sat e l lit e. Broadcast does not include a rebroadcast;
"broadcasting authority" mean s t h e Broadcasting Aut hority established by article 118 of the Constitution;
"bro adcasti ng o rg a ni zat i o n " mean s an y br oad c ast e r w h et her licensed under the Broadcasting Ac t or under any other law, and includes a broadcasting contractor operating in Malta;
"cable retransmission" means the simultaneous, unaltered and unabridged retransmission by a cable or any other material
carrier for reception by the public of an initial transmission by wire or over th e air , i n cl uding that b y satellite, of television
or radio p r ogr amm e s intend ed fo r r ecep tion by the pu blic, fr om wit h in Malt a or fro m a Stat e in w hich t he exclusive
right to authorize cab l e ret r ansmissi on of wo rks el ig ib le fo r co pyr igh t or neighbouring rights is protected under
an international agreement to which Malta is also a party;
"collecting society" means any organization which manages or administers copyright or neighbouring rights as its sole purpose
or as one of its main purposes as regulated by the provisions of this Act;
"collective work" means a work which has been created by two or more physical persons at the initiative and under the direction
of a physical person or legal entity with the understanding that it will be disclosed by the latter person or entity under his or
its own name and that the identity of the contributing physical persons will not be indicated in the work;
"commercial exploitation" in relation to semiconductor product topographies means the sale, rental, leasing or any other
method of commercial distribution, or an offer for these purposes:
Provided that where exploitation takes place under conditions of confidentiality to the extent that no further distribution
to third parties occurs there shall not be deemed to have been "commercial exploitation";
"communication to the public" means the transmission of a work or performance or sound recording by wire or wireless means
to the p ubl ic an d for th e pu rpo s e of articl e 7 incl udes t h e m a ki ng available to the public of the work in such a way
that members of the public may access the work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them:
Provided that the mere provision of physical facilities for enabling or making of a communication does not in itself amount to an
act of communication to the public:
Provi ded fu rther th at for the pu rposes of art i cle 19, communication to the public also includes making the sounds or
the representations of sounds fixed in a sound recording audible to the public;
"commu nicatio n t o th e pub lic b y satelli te" m e ans t h e act of
introducing, under the control and responsibility of a broadcasting or g a nizat io n, th e program me-carryi ng si gnal s in tend
ed for reception by the publ ic into an uninterrupted chain of communication leading to the satellite and down towards the
earth and the State where such an act takes place shall be deemed to be the place of origin of that act of communication to the public
by satellite:
Provided that if the programme-carrying signals are encrypted, then there is communication to the public by satellite
if the means for decrypting the broadcast are provided to the public by the broadcasting organisation or with its consent:
Provided further that if the act of communication to the public by satellite takes place in a State other than Malta or other than
a State in which the exclusive right to authorize or prevent the satelli te bro a d c asti ng o f a work el igi b le fo r copy
rig h t o r neighbouring rights is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party, if the programme-carrying
signals are transmitted to the satellite from an uplink station situated in Malta, that act of communication to the public by satellite
shall be deemed to have occurred in Malta so that the rights provided for by this Act shall be exercisable against the person operating
the uplink station, or else in the absence of an uplink station in Malta, if a broadcasting organisation established in Malta has
commissioned the act of communication to the public by satellite, that act shall be deemed to have occurred in Malta and the rights
provided for by this Act shall be exercisable against that broadcasting organisation;
"computer program" includes computer programs whatever may be the mode or form of their expression including those which
are incorporated in hardware, interfaces which provide for the physical int ercon necti on and in teract ion or t he i nteroperabi
lit y b etween elements of software and hardware and preparatory design material leading to the development of a computer program:
Provided that the nature of the preparatory design material is such that a computer program can result therefrom at a later stage;
"copy" mean s a rep r od ucti on in wri tten or graphi c fo rm i n clud ing di git a l repro ducti on, i n t h e fo rm of
a reco rdin g o r audiovisual work, or in any other material form, so however that an ob ject shall not be take n to be a copy of
an architectural work unless the object is a building or model;
"copyright" means copyright under this Act;
"database" me ans a c ollection of i nd ep end ent w ork s, da ta or other materials arranged in a systematic or methodical
way and individua lly accessible by electronic or other means without it being necessary for these materials to have been physically
stored in an organized manner but does not extend to computer programs used in the making or operation of a database access i ble
by electronic means comprised within the term "computer program";
"distribution" means the making available to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership;
"fixation" means the embodiment of sounds, images, or both, or digital representations thereof, in any material form, from
which they can be perceived, reproduced or com m unicated through a device;
"lawful" means done in compliance with provisions of this Act, and "lawfully" shall be construed accordingly;
"lending" means making available for use, for a limited period of t ime and n o t for di rect o r i ndi rect eco nom ic
or com m e rcial adva ntage, when it is made th roug h establishm ents wh ich are accessible to the public:
Provided that even when lending by such an establishment gives rise to payment of an amount, as long as this amount does not go beyond
what is necessary to cover the operational costs of the establ ishm en t, ther e is no di rect or in direct econo mic or commercial
advantage within the meaning of this Act;
"licence" means a lawfully granted licence permitting the doing of an act controlled by copyright or neighbouring rights;
"literary work" shall include, irrespective of literary quality, any of the following, or works similar thereto:
(a) novels, stories and poetical works;
(b) plays, stage directions, choreographic works or entertainment in dumb show, film scenarios and broadcasting
script;
(c) textbooks, treatises, histories, biographies, essays and articles;
(d) encyclopaedias and dictionaries; (e) letters, reports and memoranda; (f) lectures, addresses and sermons; (g) computer programs,
but save as provided in article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act,
1980, does n o t include any writ te n law, law report or j udicial decisions;
"Malta" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it by article
124 of the Constitution of Malta;
" M em ber S t ate " mea n s a s t ate which is a m e m b er of the
European Union;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the protection of copyright and neighbouring rights and includes to the extent
of the a u t h o r i t y g i ve n, an y p e rson au th o r i s ed by th e Mi ni st er in th at behalf for any purpose of this Act
other than for the purpose of article 59;
"musical work" means any musical work, irrespective of musical quality, and includes works composed for musical accompaniment;
"owner of copyright" means the author who is first owner, an as signe e or an e x clus ive lice n se e, as t h e ca se ma
y be, of a
and direction the work has been created;
"perceptual disability" means a disability th at p r ev ents or inh i bits a person fr o m reading or hearing a literary,
musical, dramatic or artistic work in its original format, and includes such a disability resulting from:
(a) severe or total impairment of sight or hearing or the inability to focus or move one’s eyes;
(b) the inability to hold or manipulate a book; or
(c) an impairment relating to comprehension.
"performance" means the direct rendition of the work to a public which takes place under such ci rc umstance s tha t the
works performed can be perceived by the public without any intermediate communication;
"perform ers" includes singers, musi cians, dancers, actors or other artists who sing, deliver, declaim, play in, act in,
interpret or o t herwise p e rfo rm literary, mu si cal and artistic work s or expressions of folklore and includes also singers,
musicians, actors or other artists who sing, play in or perform in variety, circus and folklore shows or exhibitions;
"person" includes a body of persons;
"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made under article
59;
"producer of a sound recording" means the legal entity who or which takes the initiative and has the responsibility for
the first fixati on of the sounds of a pe rformance or other sounds or the representation of sounds;
"rebroadcast" means si m u ltaneous broad casting by one broadcasting organization of the broadcast of another broadcasting
organization not under its control, whether situated in Malta or abroad, and "rebroadcasting" shall be construed accordingly:
Provided that "later rebroadcast" shall mean only any such subsequent broadcast and "later rebroadcasting" shall
be construed accordingly;
"rental" means making available for use, for a limited period of time and for direct or indirect economic or commercial
advantage;
"reproduction" means the making of one or more copies in any material form of a literary, musical or artistic work, audiovisual
work or sound recording and includes storing such work in any medium by electronic means;
"ri ght s- man a g e ment in formatio n" means any info rmatio n provided by rightholders which identifies the work or other
subject- matter referred to in this Act, the author or any other rightholder, or information about the terms and conditions of use
of the work or other subject-matter, and any numbers or codes that represent such information;
"satellite" means any satellite oper ating on frequency bands which, under international telecommunications law are reserved
for the broadcast of signals for reception by the public or which are
Cap. 460.
reserved for closed, point-to-point communication. In the latter case, however, the circumstances in which individual reception of
the signals takes place must be comparable to those which apply in the first case;
"semiconductor product" means the final or an intermediate form of any product consisting of a body of material which includes
a l a yer of sem i con duct i ng m a teri al, h a vin g o n e o r more l a yers composed of conducting, insulating or semiconducting
material, the layers being arranged i n a ccordanc e with a prede t e r mined three-dimensional pattern and intended to perform,
exclusively or together with other functions, an electronic function;
"semiconductor product topography" means a series of related images, h o wev e r fix e d or encoded, representin g the three
dimensional pattern of the layers of which a semiconductor product is composed and in which series, each image has the pattern or
part of the p attern o f a surface of t he sem icondu ctor p rodu ct at any stage of its manufacture;
"sound recording" means the fixation of a sequence of sounds or of a digital representation of sounds capable of being
perceived aurally and of being reproduced, but does not include a soundtrack associated with an audiovisual work;
"technological m e asures" m e ans any technology, device or component that, in the normal course of its operation, is designed
to prevent or restrict acts, in respect of works or other subject- matter, which are not authorised by the rightholder of any copyright
or neighbouring right or the sui generis rights as provided for by th is Act. Techno logical m e asur es shall b e deem ed "eff ectiv e" where th e use of a protected
w o rk or o t her sub j ect-matt er is controlled by the rig hthold ers thro ugh app lication of an access control or protection
process, such as encryption, scrambling or other transformation of the work or other subject-matter or a copy control mechanism,
which achieves the protection objective;
"the Treaty" has the same meaning assigned to it by the European
Union Act;
"w or k o f j o i n t auth or sh ip " mean s a w o rk p r od uced by th e collaboration of two or more authors in which
the contribution of each author is not separable from the contri bution of the ot her author or authors.
(2) For the purposes of this Act the following provisions shall apply with respect to publication:
(a) a work or a sound recording shall be deemed to have been published if copies thereof have been made available in a
reasonable quantity for sale, rental, lending or in any other manner sufficient to render the work accessible to the public:
Provided that in the case of a work, the making available to the public had taken place with the consent of the
author or other owner of copyright, and
title;
(b) for the purposes of article 19, a sound recording made available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a way that members
of the public may access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, shall be considered as if it had been
published for commercial purposes;
(c) where in the first instance a part only of a work is published, that part shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as a
separate work;
(d) a publication in any country shall be treated as being a first publication notwithstanding that there has been an earlier first
publication elsewhere, if the two publications took place within a period of not more than thirty days.
PART II
COPYRIGHT
(a) artistic works;
(b) audiovisual works; (c) databases;
(d) literary works; (e) musical works.
(2) A literary, musical, or artistic work shall not be eligible for copyright unless the work has an original character and it
has been writ ten dow n, recorded, fixed o r oth erwise red uced to m ateri al form.
Works eligible for copyright. Amended by:
IX. 2009.3.
Furthermore, copyright protection shall not extend to ideas, procedures, methods of operations or mathematical concepts as such.
(3) A work shall not be ineligible for copyright by reason only that the making of the work, or the doing of any act in relation
to the wo rk , i nvo lv ed an inf r in gem ent o f cop yr ig ht in so me ot her work.
(4) A database shall not be eligible for copyright unless by reason of the selection or arrangement of its contents, it constitutes
the author ’s intellectual creation. Moreover the copyright conferred to a database shall not extend to its contents and shall
be without prejudice to any rights subsisting in such contents themselves.
(a) an individual who is a citizen of, or is domiciled or
Qualification for copyright protection by virtue of authors.
permanently resident in Malta or in a State in which copyright is protected under an international agreement to which
Malta is also a party;
(b) a body of persons or a commercial partnership constituted, established, registered and vested with legal personality
under the laws of Malta or of a State in which copyright is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party.
(2) The terms of copyright protection conferred by this article shall be calculated according to the following table:
TABLE
Type of Work Date of Expiration of Copyright
(i) Literary, musical
Seventy years after the end of the
or arti st ic wo rks and ye ar in which the author dies ,
database
irrespective of the date when the work is lawfully made available to the public.
(ii)Audiovisual works S eventy years after the end of the year in which the last of the following person dies: the principal
director, the author of the screenplay, the author of the dialogue and the composer of music sp ecifical ly created fo r use in
t h e audiovisual work.
(3) In the case of an anonymous or pseudonymous literary, musical or artistic work, or in the case of a collective work,
the copyright in the work subsists until the end of the expiration of 70 y e ars from the en d of th e year in w h ich it w a s lawfu
lly made available to the public or after the end of the year in which the work was made if it has not been made available to the
public:
Provided that when the pseudonym adopted by the author leaves no doubt as to his identity or in the event of the identity of the author
becoming known during the period referred to in the prece ding pa ragra ph of this s ub-article or whe re in the case of collective
works by a body of persons the natural persons who have created the work are individually identifiable in the versions of the work
made available to the public the terms of copyright protection shall be calculated in accordance with the provision of paragraph
(i) of the last preceding sub-article.
(4) In the case of joint authorship reference in the preceding table to the death of the author shall be deemed to refer to the
joint author who dies last, whether or not he is a qualified person in terms of article 4(1).
(5) In the case of a person who for the first time lawfully publis he s or lawfully communicates to the public a previously
unpublished work the copyright protection of which has expired, he shall benefit from a protection equivalent to the economic rights
covered by copyright but limitedly for a period of twenty-five years f r om th e tim e wh en th e wor k was f i r s t lawf ully pub
lished or lawfully communicated to the public.
(6) Where a work is published in volumes, parts, instalments, issues or episodes and the term of protection runs from the time
when the work was lawfully made available to the public, the term of protection shall run for each such item separately.
(2) Copyright conferred on a work by this article shall have the same duration as is provided for in article 4 in relation to the same type of work.
Qualification for copyright protection by reference to country where work is made or published.
(2) Copyright conferred by this article on databases or on a literary, musical or artistic work shall subsist until the end of
the expiration of seventy years from the end of the year in which it was first published.
(3) Copyright conferred by this article on an audiovisual work shall ha ve the same duration as is pro v i d ed fo r by a r t
i c l e 4 in relation to the same type of work.
(4) Article 4(5) shall apply in like manner to works eligible for co py ri gh t to whi c h th is arti cle ap pl ies wh ich ,
h a vi ng b een unpublished, are lawfully published or lawfully communicated to the public for the first time after copyright protection
has expired.
(5) Articles 4 and 5 shall not be deemed to confer copyright on works to which this article applies.
Copyright works of Government and international bodies.
(a) the direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction by any means and in any form, in whole or in part;
(b) the rental and lending; (c) the distribution;
(d) the translation in other languages including different computer languages;
(e) the adaptation, the arrangement and any other alteration and the reproduction, distribution, communication,
display or performance to the public
Nature of copyright in an audiovisual work, database, literary, musical and artistic work.
Substituted by: IX. 2003.93.
Amended by: VIII. 2011.16.
Cap. 399.
of the results thereof;
(f) the broadcasting or rebroadcasting or the communication to the public or cable retransmission;
(g) display or performance to the public:
Provided that the right to authorise or prohibit the cable retransmission of a television broadcast shall be exercisable only through
a collecting society.
(2) The right to authorise or prohibit cable retransmission shall not apply when the transmission is made in Malta:
(a) if the retransmission is in pursuance of a ‘must carry’ requirement in conformity with the Electronic Communications (Regulation) Act; and
(b) if and to the extent that the transmission is made for reception in the area in which the cable retransmission may be received.
(3) The right to authorise or prohibit the cable retransmission of a tel e vi sio n br oad cast shal l be exercisable o n l y
th ro ug h a collecting society.
(4) In the case provided for in subarticle (2) where a rightholder has not transferred the management of his
rights to a collecting society, the collecting society which manages rights of the same category shall be deemed to be mandated to
manage his rights. Such rightholder shall have the same rights and obligations resulting from the agreement between the cable operator
and the collecting society which is so deemed to be mandated to manage his rights as the rightholders who have mandated that collecting
society and he may claim such rights within a period of three years from the date of the cable retransmission which includes his
work or other protected subject-matter.
(5) Where no agreement is concluded regarding authorization of the cable retransmission of a broadcast, either party may call
u pon th e assist ance o f one or m ore med iat ors appo in ted by the chairman of the Malta Arbitration Centre, unless otherwise
agreed to by all the parties. The tasks of the mediators shall be to provide assistance with negotiation. They may also submit proposals
to the parties. It shall be assumed that all the parties accept a proposal as referred to i n this subarticle if none o f th em
expresses its opposition within a period of three months. Notice of the proposal an d of an y opp osit io n t h ereto shall b e ser
v ed o n the parti e s concerned by judicial act, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties. The mediators sh all be so selected
that their independence and impartiality are beyond reasonable doubt.
Exhaustion of the distribution rights. Substituted by:
IX. 2003.94.
(2) For the purposes of this article "market" means the market in Malta and as from the 1st May 2004 the European Union.
(a) temporary acts of reproduction, which are transient or incidental and an integral and essentail part of a technological
process and whose sole purpose is to enable:
(i) a transmission in a network between third parties by an intermediary, or
(ii) another lawful use of a work or other subject- matter to be made, and which have no independent economic significance;
(b) reproductions on paper or any similar medium, effected by the use of any kind of photographic technique
or by some other process having similar effects, with the exception of sheet music, provided that the rightholders received
fair compensation;
(c) reproductions on any medium made by a natural person for private use and for ends that are neither directly nor indirectly
commerical, on condition that the rightholders receive fair compensation which takes account of the application or non-application
or technological measures to the work or subject-matter concerned;
(d) specific acts of reproduction made by publicly accessible libraries, educational establishments or museums,
or by archives, which are not for direct or indirect economic or commercial advantage;
(e) ephemeral recordings or works made by broadcasting organisations by means of their own facilities and for their own broadcasts:
Provided that any reproduction of a work made under this paragraph may, if it is of exceptional documentary character
be preserved in official archives;
(f) reproduction of broadcasts made by social institutions pursuing non-commercial purposes, such as hospitals or prisons, on condition
that the rightholders receive fair compensation;
(g) the performing, playing or showing of a work in a place where no admission fee is charged in respect of such an act
by any club whose aim is not profit- making;
(h) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of a work for the sole purpose of
illustration for teaching or scientific research only to the extent justified by the non- commercial purpose to
be achieved, and as long as the source, including the author ’s name, is, unless this is impossible, indicated;
Restriction with regard to certain works. Substituted by: IX. 2003.95. Amended by:
IX. 2009.4.
(i) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of a work for the benefit of people
with a disability, which are directly related to the disability and on a non-commercial nature, to the extent required by the specific
disability;
(j) the reproduction by the press, translation, distribution or communication to the public of published articles on current economic,
political or religious topics or of broadcast works or other subject-matter of the same character, in cases where such use
is not expressly reserved, and as long as the source, including the author ’s name, is indicated, or use of works or
other subject-matter in connection with the reporting of current events, to the extent justified by the informatory
purpose and as long as the source, including the author ’s name, is, unless this is impossible, indicated;
(k) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of quotations for purposes
such as criticism or review, provided that they relate to a work or other subject-matter which has already been lawfully made
available to the public, as long as, unless this is impossible, the source, including the author ’s name, is indicated, and that
their use is in accordance with fair practice, and to the extent required by the specific purposes;
(l) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of a work for the
purposes of public security or to ensure the proper performance or reporting of administrative, parliamentary
or judicial proceedings;
(m) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of political speeches as well as
extracts of public lectures or similar works or subject-matter to the extent justified by informatory purposes and provided
that the source, including the author ’s name, is, except where this is impossible, indicated;
(n) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of a work for use during religious
celebrations or official celebrations organized by a public authority;
(o) the reading or recitation in public by a person of any reasonable extract from a published literary work if accompanied by
a sufficient acknowledgement;
(p) the inclusion in a communication to the public, the making of a graphic representation and the making of a photograph or
film, of a work of architecture or sculpture or similar works made to be located permanently in public places;
(q) the incidental inclusion of a work or other subject
matter in other material;
(r) the reproduction, distribution or communication to the public of a work for the purpose of advertising the public exhibition
or sale of artistic works, to the extent necessary to promote the event, excluding any other commercial use;
(s) the reproduction or communication to the public of a work by way of caricature, pastiche or parody;
(t) the reproduction, translation, distribution or communication to the public of a work in connection with the
demonstration or repair of equipment;
(u) the reproduction, distribution or communication to the public of an artistic work in the form of a builidng or a drawing or
plan of a building for the purposes of reconstructing the building;
(v) the communication to the public, for the purpose of research or private study, to individual members of the public by dedicated
terminals on the premises of establishments referred to in paragraph (d) of works and other subject-matter, not subject to purchase or licensing terms, which are contained in their
collections;
(w) in the case of a database, the performance of those acts which are normally necessary in order that the licensed user obtains access
to the contents of the database and normal use thereof, in respect of the whole or part of the database which the user is licensed
to use; and any contractual provisions running counter to what is prescribed in this paragraph shall be null and void.
(2) Copyright in a computer programme shall not include the right to authorize or prohibit:
(a) the observation, the study or testing of the functioning of the program by the licensed user in order to determine
the ideas and principles which underlie any element of the program if this is done whilst performing any of the
acts of loading, displaying, running, transmitting or storing the program which he is entitled to do;
(b) the reproduction by the licensed user of the code and translation of its form where this is indispensable to obtain the
information necessary to achieve the interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs,
provided that these acts are confined to the parts of the original program which are necessary to achieve interoperability
and the information necessary to achieve interoperability has not previously been readily available to the licensed user:
Provided that any information obtained from the reproduction of the code and the translation of the
form of a computer program made under this paragraph shall not:
(i) be used for purposes other than to achieve the interoperability of the independently created computer program;
(ii) be given to other persons, except when necessary for the interoperability of the independently
created computer program;
(iii) be used for the development, production or marketing of a computer program substantially similar in its expression
to the original program or for any other act which infringes copyright;
(c) the making of a copy or a back-up copy, the translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other alteration
of a computer program and the reproduction of the results thereof, in so far as this is necessary for the licensed user to make proper
use of the program in accordance with its intended purpose, including the correction of errors; and the right of the licensed
user to make a back-up copy of a computer program may not be restricted or excluded by contract in so far as it is necessary for
the use of that computer program.
(3) The exceptions and limitations provided for in this article shall only be applied in such particular cases which do not conflict
with a normal exploitation of the work or other subject-matter and do not unreasonably r e j udice the legitim ate interests of the
rightholder.
Copyright in a work of architecture.
First ownership of copyright.
Provided that the copyright in any such work shall not include the right to authorise or prevent the reconstruction, in the same style as the original, of a building to which that copyright relates or the right to authorize or prevent the rental or lending of buildings or works of applied art.
Provided that in the case of computer programs and databases where a work is made in the course of the author ’s em p
l oy m e nt , in t h e exec uti o n o f hi s du ti es o r fo ll ow in g the instructions given by his employer, the economic rights
conferred by copyright shall be deemed to be transferred to the author ’s employer, subject to any agreement between the parties
excluding o r lim it in g su ch t ran sfer. In r espect of other works eligible for copyright, in such circumstances, subject to
any agreement to the contrary between the parties, the copyright shall always vest in the author or joint authors.
(2) Subject to the provision of the last preceding sub-article-
(a) the name on a work purporting to be the name of its author shall be considered as such, unless the contrary is proved;
(b) in the case of an anonymous or pseudonymous work, the publisher whose name is indicated in the work as such shall be deemed
to be, unless the contrary is proved, the legal representative of the anonymous or pseudonymous author and shall be entitled
to exercise and protect the rights belonging to the author under this Act.
PART III
MORAL RIGHTS OF AUTHORS
(2) The author of a work eligible for copyright shall, until the expiry of copyright, in addition to copyright conferred in relation
to that work, and also in those cases where copyright shall have been transmitted by assignment or by testamentary disposition enjoy
the moral right -
(a) to claim authorship of his work, in particular, the right that his name as far as practicable, be indicated in a prominent way
on the copies, and in connection with any public use of that work; or
(b) that his name be not indicated on the copies, and in connection with any public use, of his work, or that his pseudonym be so
indicated:
Provided that during the lifetime of the author of a work it shall not be lawful to transmit any of the aforesaid moral rights.
(3) On the death of the author -
(a) the right passes to such person as he may by testamentary disposition specifically direct, provided that on
this person’s death the right passes to his successor;
(b) if there is no such direction but the copyright in the work in question forms part of his estate, the right passes to
the person to whom the copyright passes;
(c) if or to the extent the right does not pass under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) it would be exercisable by the owners of the copyright.
Author’s right to prohibit the mutilation, modification, distortion or subjecting to derogatory treatment of any work.
PART IV
Nature of performer’s rights.
Term of protection for performers’ rights.
Nature of producer’s rights. Amended by:
IX. 2009.5.
Term of protection for producers’ rights.
Nature of broadcasters’ rights.
NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
(a) the fixation of their performances;
(b) the direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction by any means and in any form, in whole or in part of a
fixation of their performances;
(c) the rental and lending of their fixed performances;
(d) the distribution of the original performances fixed in phonograms and of copies thereof;
(e) the making available to the public of the fixation of their performances, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members
of the public may access them from a place and a time individually chosen by them;
(f) the broadcasting and the communication to the public of their performances, except where the performance is itself already a
broadcast performance or is made from a fixation.
(a) the direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction by any means or form in whole or in part;
(b) the rental and lending, even after their distribution, or pursuant authorization, by the producer;
(c) the distribution;
(d) the making available to the public by wire or wireless means in such a way that members of the public may access them from
a place and a time individually chosen by them.
following acts:
(a) the fixation of their broadcasts or initial cable transmissions;
(b) the direct or indirect, temporary or permanent reproduction by any means or form in whole or in part of fixations
of their broadcast or initial cable transmissions as set out in paragraph (a) above;
(c) the distribution of fixation of their broadcasts or initial cable transmissions as set out in paragraph (a) above;
(d) the rebroadcasting of their broadcasts as well as the communication to the public of their broadcasts if such communication is
made in places accessible to the public against payment of an entrance fee;
(e) the making available to the public, of fixations of their broadcast or initial cable transmissions as set out in (a) above, by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually
chosen by them.
(2) A broadcasting organisation shall not have the right provided in sub-article (1)(a) above when it merely retransmits by cable the broadcasts of broadcasting organisations.
Provided that for the purpose of this article, sound recordings made available to the public by wire or wireless means, in such a way that members of the public may access them from a pl ace and at a ti m e individually cho s en by them, shall be considered as if they have been published for commercial purposes.
Term of protection of broadcasters’ rights.
Remuneration for performers and producers of sound recordings. Amended by:
IX. 2009.6.
Exhaustion of distribution rights. Substituted by:
IX. 2003.96.
Exceptions to neighbouring rights. Substituted by: IX. 2003.97.
Qualification for neighbouring rights protection.
his consent.
(2) For the purposes of this article, "market" means the market in Malta and as from the 1st May 2004 the market in
any othe Member State.
21. The provisions of article 9 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the neighbouring rights conferred by this Act in like manner as they apply to copyright in a literary, musical or artistic or audiovisual
work, or database.
(a) of which the performer, the producer or broadcaster is -
(i) an individual who is a citizen of, or is domiciled or permanently resident in Malta or in a State in which such works are
protected by neighbouring rights under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party;
(ii) a body of persons or a commercial partnership constituted, established, registered and vested with legal personality under
the laws of Malta or of a State in which such works are protected by neighbouring rights under an international agreement
to which Malta is also a party;
or
(b) which are made, first published, broadcast or communicated to the public in Malta or in a State in which such works
are protected by neighbouring rights under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party;
or
(c) which are made by or under the direction or control of the Government of Malta and also such governments of other States,
international bodies or other inter- governmental organisations as may be prescribed.
PART V
Performer’s rights to be identified and to prohibit the distortion, mutilation and modification of performances.
MORAL RIGHTS OF PERFORMERS
to claim to be identified as the performer of his performa nces, except where omission is dictated by the manner of the use of the
performances, and to prohibit any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performances that would be prejudicial to his
reputation:
Provided that during the lifetime of the performer it shall not be lawful to transmit any of the aforementioned moral rights.
(2) On the death of the performer -
(a) the right passes to such person as he may by testamentary disposition specifically direct, provided that on
this person’s death the right passes to his successor;
(b) if there is no such direction but the copyright in the work in question forms part of his estate, the right passes to
the person to whom the copyright passes.
PART VI
TRANSFER OF COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS
(2) An assignment or testamentary disposition of copyright or neighbouring rights may be limited so as to apply to some only of
the acts which the owner of the copyright or neighbouring rights has the exclusive right to authorize or prevent, or to a part only
of the period of the copyright or neighbouring right, or to a specified country or other geographical area.
(3) When an author in relation to the original or copy of his work or a performer in relation to the fixation of his performance
assigns his exclusive right to authorize or prevent the rental thereof to the produ cer of th e sou n d record in g o r the produ
cer of th e audiovisual work containing the author ’s work or the performer ’s fixed performance, that author or performer shall
retain the right to obtain individually or through a collecting society an equitable remuneration for the rental of the said sound
recording or original or copy of the said audiovisual work from the producer concerned and such right may not be waived. In the absence
of agreement on the remuneration payable under this sub-article, the amount of such remuneration shall be determined by the Board.
(4) Subject to the provisions of article 52 no assignment of copyright or neighbouring rights and no licence to do an act the
doing of which is controlled by copyright or by neighbouring rights shall have effect unless it is effected by an agreement in writing
between the parties:
Provided that when a contract is concluded between a pe rformer and a producer of audi ovisual wo rks conc erning the production
of an audiovisual work the performer shall be deemed to have assigned to the producer his exclusive rights on the fixation of his
performance, unless agreed otherwise, subject only to the right, w h i c h may not be w a ived, of th e perfor m er to an eq uit
a ble remunerati on payable on t h e co ncl u si on of t h e co ntract by t h e producer to the performer or should he so desire
to a collecting society representing him, which remuneration shall, in the absence of agreement between the parties, be determined
by the Board.
Provided further that, when a contract is concluded between the author of an audiovisual work or the authors of the
Assignment and licences.
underlying works used as the basis for the audiovisual work and the producer of the audiovisual work concerning the production of
that audiovisual work such authors shall be deemed to have assigned to the producer their exclusive rights on their copyright works,
unless agreed oth e rwise, subject only to the ri ght, which m a y not b e waived, of the authors to an equitable remuneration payable
on the conclusion o f the cont ract by the prod ucer to the author individually or should the author so desire, to a collecting
society represen ti ng hi m, wh ich remu nera tion shall, in the absence of agreement between the parties, be determined by the Board.
(5) An assignment or licence of copyright granted by a joint author or an assignment or licence of a neighbouring right granted
by a joint rightholder shall have effect as if granted by the other joint authors or joint rightholders respectively:
Provided that, where any other joint author in the case of copyright or joint rightholder in the case of neighbouring rights is not
satisfied with the terms on which such assignment or licence has been granted, he may, within three months from the day on which
the said terms have been communicated in writing to him, apply to the Board for the determination by it of such terms as the Board
may consider fair and reasonable.
(6) An assignment, licence or testamentary disposition may be eff e ctiv ely granted or made in respect of a futu re w o rk or
an existing work in which copyright or a neighbouring right does not yet subsist, and the prospec tive copyri ght or pr osp e ctiv
e neighb ourin g ri ght in any such wor k shall b e tran sm i s sib l e as movable property:
Provided that in the case of copyright such assignment or licence shall not be deemed to include a copyright which in terms of article
11(1) vests in the author ’s employers, unless the parties expressly include it.
(7) A testamentary disposition of the material on which a work is first written or otherwise recorded shall, unless the testator
has provided otherwise, be deemed to inc l ude any copyright or neighb ourin g rig h t o r prospective copyri ght or pro s p e ctiv
e neighbouring right in the work which is vested in the deceased.
PART VII
Nature of sui generis right in respect of databases.
SUI GENERIS RIGHT IN RESPECT OF DATABASES
Provided that the repeated and systematic extraction or re- utilization of insubstantial parts of the contents of the database im
plying acts which conflict with a normal exploitation of that database or which unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests
of the maker of the database shall not be permitted.
(2) Notwithstanding article 25, a licensed user may, without the authorization of the maker of a database made available to the
public in whatever manner, extract or re-utilize a substantial part of its contents for the following purposes:
(a) extraction for private use in the case of a non- electronic database;
(b) extraction for the purposes of illustration for teaching or for scientific research to the extent justified by the non-commercial
purpose to be achieved provided the source is indicated;
(c) extraction or re-utilization for the purposes of public security or an administrative or judicial procedure.
Provided that any substantial change, evaluated qual itat i vel y o r quan tit ativ ely, to the cont ents of a dat a base, including any substantial change resulting from the accumulation of successive additions, deletions or alterations, which would result in the datab a se bei ng con s i d er ed t o b e a su bstan tial new investment, evaluated qualitatively or quantitatively, shall give rise to the creation of a new database, which shall be entitled from that moment to its own term of protection of fifteen years.
(a) whose maker or rightholder is at the time when the
Exceptions to the sui generis right in respect of databases.
Term of protection of sui generis right in respect of databases.
Assignment and licences.
Qualification for protection sui generis right in respect of databases.
database is made -
(i) an individual who is a citizen of, or is domiciled or permanently resident in Malta or in a State in which such a sui generis
right in respect of databases is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party;
(ii) a body of persons or a commercial partnership constituted, established, registered and vested with legal personality
under the laws of Malta or of a State in which such a sui generis right in respect of databases is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party;
or
(b) which is made or first made available to the public in Malta or in a State in which such a sui generis right in respect of databases is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party;
Definition of extraction and re- utilization.
Exhaustion of resale right.
Nature of sui generis right in respect of semiconductor topographies.
Exceptions to the topography right.
or
(c) which is made by or under the direction or control of the Government of Malta and also such governments of other States, international
bodies or other inter- governmental organisations as may be prescribed.
(2) Provided that public lending shall not be deemed to be an act of extraction or re-utilization.
PART VIII
SUI GENERIS RIGHT IN RESPECT OF SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCT TOPOGRAPHIES
(a) reproduction of a topography privately for non-
commercial aims;
(b) reproduction for the purpose of analyzing, evaluating or teaching the concepts, processes, systems or techniques bodied
in the topography or the topography itself;
(c) any act in relation to a topography meeting the requirements of article 35 and created on the basis of an analysis
and evaluation of another topography carried out in conformity with the preceding paragraph (b).
Provided that where the semiconductor product topography consists of elements that are commonplace in the semiconductor indu st ry,
i t shall be p r ot ect e d on ly to t h e exten t th at th e combination of such elements, taken as a whole, fulfils the above-
mentioned conditions.
36. The right conferred by article 32 shall apply in favour of a creator or his successor in title who is an individual who is a citizen
of, or is domiciled or permanently resident in Malta or in a State in which su ch a sui generis right as is co nferred by article 32 on semiconductor product topographi es is protected under an international agreement to which
Malta is also a party.
Provided that the creator ’s employer or his successor in title must also satisfy the crit eria of arti cle 36 or be a body of perso n s o r a com m e rci a l part nership con s tit ut ed, estab lish e d, registered and vested with legal personality under the laws of Malta or of a State in which such a sui generis right as is conferred by arti cle 32 on semico nduct o r pro duct top ographi es is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party.
Exhaustion of topography right.
Application of topography right only in respect of creator’s own intellectual effort.
Qualification for protection of topography right.
Topographies created in course of employment.
Where no right to protection exists.
Assignment and licences.
Term of protection for topography right.
Right of remuneration.
Infringing acts. Substituted by: IX. 2003.98.
conferred by article 32 on semiconductor product topographies is protected under an international agreement to which Malta is also a party, a topography which has not yet been exploited commercially an yw here in t h e wo rl d and h a s been exclusivel y au th or ize d to exploit commercially the topography throughout such territory by the person entitled to dispose of it.
Provided that in the case where the term of protection commences from the date of first commercial exploitation in the wo rld rath er th an from the first fix a tion or encodin g of the topography, the legal remedies provided for by article 43(1) shall also be available in favour of a rightholder who can prove to the satisfaction of the Court that the defendant fraudulently reproduced or comm ercially exploit e d or i m ported fo r th at purp o se a semiconductor product topography even though such acts occurred prior to the comm encem e nt of the term of protection and t h e coming into existence of the right conferred by article 32.
Provided that, at the suit of the rightholder or his successors in title, the C i vil Cour t, First Hall, shall
o r der that person to pay adequate compensation to the plaintiff in respect of the acts committed by him after he became aware or
had reasonable grounds to believe that the semiconductor product is protected by such a sui generis right.
PART IX
INFRINGEMENT
42. (1) Copyright, neighbouring rights and sui generis rights are infringed by:
(a) any person who does or causes another person to do, without a licence from the owner or holder thereof, an act the doing of
which is controlled by copyright, neighbouring rights or sui generis rights;
(b) any person who, without the licence of the copyright owner or right holder, imports into Malta otherwise than for private
and domestic use, or distributes
therein by way of trade, hire or otherwise, or by way of trade exhibits in public or is in possesssion or manufactures
in the course of business or offers or exposes for sale or hire an article in respect of which copyright, neighbouring rights
or sui generis rights are infringed under the preceding paragraph;
(c) any person who, without the licence of the copyright owner or rightholder does anything which circumvents any effective technological
measures, which the person concerned carries out in the knowledge, or with reasonable grounds to know, that he or she is pursuing
that objective;
(d) any person who, without the licence of the copyright owner or rightholder maufactures, imports, distributes, sells, rents, advertises
for sale or rental, or possesses for commercial puposes, devices, products or components which:
(i) are for the purpose of circumvention of, or
(ii) have only a limited commerically significant purpose or use other than to circumvent, or
(iii) are primarily designed, produced, adapted or performed for the purpose of enabling or facilitating the
circumvention of, any effective technological measures;
(e) any person who, without the licence of the copyright owner or rightholder provides, promotes, advertises or markets a service
which serves for the purpose of circumvention of any effective technological measures;
(f) any person who, without the licence of the copyright owner or right holder, knowingly performs any of the following acts:
(i) the removal or alteration of any electronic rights-management information;
(ii) the distribution, importation for distribution, broadcasting, communication or making available to the public
of works or other subject- matter protected under this Act from which electronic rights-management information has been
removed or altered without authority,
if such person knows, or has reasonable grounds to know, that by so doing he is inducing, enabling, facilitating or concealing
an infringement of any copyright or any neighbouring right, or of the sui generis rights as provided by this Act:
Provided that any of these items of electronic rights-management information:
(i) is associated with a copy of a copyright work under the terms of this Act, or
(ii) appears in connection with the communication
Liability for infringement of copyright, neighbouring rights and sui generis rights.
of this Act, or
(iii) is covered by a sui generis right under the terms of this Act.
(2) (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subarticle (1)(c), (d) and ( e ), where the applicat i o n of a ny ef fect ive technologic al meas ure to a copyright work prevents any beneficiary of an exception
provided for in article
9(1)(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (i), (l) or (h) from benefiting from t h at except ion, t h e righth o lder shall make
available to the beneficiary the means of benefiting from that exception, to the extent necessary to benefit
from that exception or limitation:
Provided that the beneficiary shall have legal access to the protected work or subject-matter concerned:
Provided further that there is no voluntary measure taken by th e ri ght ho lder or exclus ive licencee or agreement between the rightholder
and the other party co ncerned, the purp o se of which is to en able th e b e nefici ary (o r person s of a cl ass to w h i c h the
b enefi ciary bel ong s) t o b e nefit from the exceptions specified in the above paragraph.
(b) The provisions of subarticle (2)(a) do not apply to copyright works made available to the public on agreed contractual terms in such a way that members of the
public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
43. (1) Where any person infringes the copyright, neighbouring rights or sui generis rights in respect of a work, he shall be liable, at the suit of the copyright owner or right holder to b e co nd em ne d by t h e
C iv i l Co urt , Fi rs t Ha ll t o t he p aym e nt o f damages or to the payment of a fine to be determined in accordance with
a scale of fines to be prescribed by the Minister, as the said Court, having regard to the circumstances of the case, may deem pro
p er and to th e restit uti on of al l t h e p r ofi t d e r i ved from th e infringement of the copyright, neighbouring rights
or sui generis rights:
Provided that where the defendant proves to the satisfaction of the Court that at the time of the infringement he was
not aware and could not reasonably be expected to be aware that copyright, neighbouring rights or sui generis rights subsisted in the work to which the action relates, the Court shall not condemn him to the restitution of the profit.
(2) The Civil Court, First Hall may in an action for infringement of copyright, neighbouring rights or sui generis
rights hav i ng r e gar d t o all th e ci r c u m st ances and in particular to the flagrancy of the infringement and any benefit
accruing to the defendant by reason of the infringement, award such additional damage as the justice of the case may require.
(3) The Court may, moreover, in a suit instituted under this artic l e, on the appli cat io n of t h e pl ai nt if f, or der
th at all t h e infringing articles still in possession of the defendant be delivered to the plaintiff.
(4) In an action for infringement of copyright in respect of the construction of a building, no prohibitory injunction or other
order shall be made -
(a) after the construction of the building has been begun, so as to prevent it from being completed; or
(b) so as to require the building, in so far as it has been constructed, to be demolished.
(2) In any proceedings under the last preceding sub-article the Court shall order the destruction of all the infringing articles
still in possession of the defendant where it is satisfied that the prejudice caused to the author is so serious as to justify such
measure.
(3) The provision of the last preceding sub-article shall not apply where the infringing article is a building.
(4) Any person who contravenes the provisions of article 12(1) and (2) and article 23(1) shall be liable at the suit of the author
or the physical person to whom, or the legal entity to which, the right to exercise the aforesaid moral rights has been transmitted
under the proviso to article 11(2), to be condemned by the Civil Court, First Hall to t h e p a yment of a fi ne, and fo r dam a
ges to be determined in accordance with a scale of fines to be prescribed by
the Minister.
PART X
THE COPYRIGHT BOARD
(2) The Chairman of the said Board shall be a retired Judge or a retired Magistrate or a person who has practised as an advocate
in Malta for a period of, or periods amounting in the aggregate to, not less than seven years.
(3) The Minister shall also appoint two other persons to act as members of the Board, one to replace the chairman and the other
to replace any of the other two members, whenever the chairman or any of the other members, as the case may be, is, for any reason,
unable to carry out his functions.
(4) Every member of the Board shall hold office during the
Liability for infringement of moral rights.
Appointment of the
Board.
reason, revoke the appointment of any member and appoint a new member whenever he deems it to be necessary.
(5) The members of the Board, with the exception of the Chairman if he is a Magistrate, shall, before entering upon their
office, take before the Attorney General the oath to examine and decide any matter referred to them with equity and impartiality.
Absention and challenge.
Cap.12.
Power to summon.
Cap. 12.
46. The Chairman or any other member of the Board may abstain or may be challenged by any of the contending parties for any of
the causes m e ntioned i n article 73 4 of t h e Code of Organizatio n and Civil P r ocedure. Any question re garding any cause of abstention or challen g e and an y question which is a question of law alone shall be decided
by the Chairm an of the Board.
47. The Board shall have the power to summon any person to give evidence or to produce books or other documents before it, and the Chairm
an of the Board shall have, in regard to the summoning and examining of witnesses before the Board, the same powers as are by the
Code of O rg a nizatio n and Civil Procedure conferred on the Civil Court, First Hall.
Proceedings. 48. (1) Proceedings of the Board shall be held in public and the Board’s decision shall be notified to the parties by registered post to their respective business or private addresses and, unless the contrary is proved, such decision shall be deemed to have been serv ed on the party con c erned n o t lat e r th an the t h ird day succeeding the day when it was posted to such party.
(2) The Minister may make regulations governing proceedings before the Board and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing,
may make regulations -
(a) prescribing the manner in which any matter may be referred to the Board;
(b) prescribing the procedure to be adopted by the Board in dealing with any matter referred to it under this Act and the records
to be kept by the Board;
(c) prescribing the manner in which the Board shall be convened and the place where the Board shall hold its sittings;
(d) prescribing a scale of fines, costs and fees; and
(e) generally for the better carrying out of the functions assigned to the Board by this Act.
Right of appeal.
Amended by:
VI. 2001.34.
Cap. 12.
(2) Any appeal shall be brought before the Court of Appeal composed in the manner provided in article 41(6) of the Code of O rganizati on and Civil Procedure by app licati on wi thin fi fteen days of service of the Board’s decision.
(3) The Minister responsible for justice may make rules go verning appeals to th e Court of A ppeal under this
Act, and
prescribing a scale of costs and fees in relation to such appeals.
(a) is unreasonably refusing to grant a licence in respect of cable retransmission or rebroadcasting, or
(b) is imposing unreasonable terms or conditions for the granting of such licence,
the Board may direct that, as respects the doing of any act relating to a work with which the collecting society or the owner, as
the case may be, is concerned, a licence shall be deemed to have been granted by the collecting society or by the owner at the time
the act is done, provided the appropriate fees fixed by such Board are paid or tendered before the expiration of such period or periods
as the Board may determine.
(2) The Minister may by regulations order that the provisions of this article shall not remain in force as from the date mentioned
in such order.
PART XI
COLLECTIVE ADMINISTRATION OF RIGHTS
Costs and fees.
Unreasonable refusal or unreasonable terms in respect of cable retransmission or rebroadcasting.
Authorisation of collecting societies.
Establishment and incorporation of collecting societies.
Tasks of collecting societies.
Methods of operation of collecting societies.
Obligations of users of works towards collecting societies.
Supervision of collecting societies.
Dissolution of collecting societies.
Power to make regulations. Substituted by: IX. 2003.100.
Application to works.
REGULATIONS
(a) prescribe any matter that may be prescribed under this
Act;
(b) introduce changes to extend the protection granted by this Act to any other form of intellectual property not otherwise protected
by this Act as may be provided by any international instrument that is binding in Malta;
(c) change and revive the terms of the duration of protection as may be provided in any international instrument
that is binding in Malta;
(d) alter the rights and limitations thereof as may be provided in any international instrument that is binding
in Malta;
(e) prescribe the functions of the Copyright Board;
(f) provide for matters relating to collecting societies, in particular their establishment, tasks, manner of operation,
setting and approval of fees and their supervision.
PART XIII
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
(a) in relation to works made after the coming into force of this Act; and
(b) saving the provisions of sub-article (2), to works made before the coming into force of this Act where the term of protection
has not, upon the coming into force of this Act, expired under the Copyright Act repealed by this Act.
(2) (a) The rights of performers in respect of a fixation of their perform ance on a phonogram to prevent the fixation of their
unfixed performance which took place pr ior to t h e comm encement of this Act an d the reproduction of such fixation when undertaken
without
t h e i r a u t h o r i s at io n an d th e ri gh ts o f pe rform e rs to prevent the broadcasting by wireless means and the
communication to the public of their live performance when undertaken without their authorisation shall be protected under this Act
until the end of a period of
fifty years computed from the end of the calendar year in whi ch th e perform ance to ok p lace. Pro vided that these rights are
exercised through a collecting society.
(b) The right of producers of sound recordings made prior
t o the commencement o f this Act to au thorize or prohibit the rental of the said sound recordings shall be protected under this
Act fo r a t e rm of fi ft y years computed from the end of the calendar year in which the sound recording was made. Provided that
th ese rights are exercised through a collecting society.
(c) The right of the holder of copyright in respect of a literary work consisting of a computer programme to authorise or prohibit
the rental of the said programme shall be protected unti l the end of a period of fifty years computed from the end of the calendar
year in which the author of the said computer programme dies.
(3) No action may be taken under this Act in respect of an action which took place prior to the commencement of this Act in
r e spect of rig h ts recogn ised by th is Act but whi c h were no t recognised by the Copyright Act repealed by this Act.
Cap. 196.
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