Copyright protection covers mainly literary works, musical works, dramatic works, artistic works, photographic works, computer programs and software, and cinematographic works. In order to be qualified, your work must be original in its expression and fixed in some material form.
Copyright protection covers mainly literary works, musical works, dramatic works, artistic works, photographic works, computer programs and software, and cinematographic works. In order to be qualified, your work must be original in its expression and fixed in some material form.
No registration is required. Copyright automatically subsists once the work is completed. Therefore, it is important for the author to keep evidence of the production as well as completion date of your work.
Always place copyright notice (e.g. © 2020 LIM CHONG CHUAN & ASSOCIATES SDN BHD) on your work at all times.
Make a Statutory Declaration to adduce evidence of the completed work.
Information required in the Statutory Declaration:
1. Full name and address of the Owner.
2. Full name and address of the Author(s).
3. If the Owner is not the Author, please justify the Owner's right to own (e.g. by employment / assignment / commission).
4. Date of completed work.
Copyright Filing in Malaysia (Voluntary Notification of Copyright).
Filing Requrements:
1. Statutory Declaration (as stated in Option 2).
2. Completed work.
Copyright grants moral and economic rights to the author of the work, unless that author was commissioned or employed by another party (in which case the commissioner or employer gains copyright). There is no formal requirement for the work to be registered in Malaysia in order for the copyright to be claimed or recognised. Nevertheless, as of year 2012 a copyright owner may voluntarily register their copyright in Malaysia by notifying the Malaysia’s Copyright Controller of their claims and giving the MyIPO a copy of the copyrighted work.
Voluntary registration is strongly recommended for foreign SMEs, as the registration can be extremely useful in enforcement proceedings as evidence of your ownership. Without registration, it may be difficult for the foreign SMEs to prove the ownership of the copyright. However, it should be kept in mind that voluntary registration can only be done by a citizen or by a permanent resident of Malaysia. As such foreign SMEs need to use agents with Malaysian permanent residency to register their copyright works.
Copyright registrations are not subject to substantive examination, so the application itself is taken as proof that the facts within the application are true. If the notification is in order, a notice will be sent to the applicant that the information and work has been recorded in the copyright register. After examination, an applicant may ask for a certificate which can be presented to Malaysian courts as evidence in cases of enforcement.
As according to the Berne Convention, in Malaysia, copyrights extend protection for the life of the author and an additional 50 years thereafter. For unpublished works, copyright protection lasts for 50 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the publication date.