Copyright registration in Oman. Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. By regional standards, Oman has a relatively diversified economy. Tourism is the fastest-growing industry in Oman. Other sources of income, agriculture, and industry are small in comparison and account for less than 1% of the country’s exports, but diversification is seen as a priority by the government. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of copyright registration in Oman.
Copyright in Oman
Unlike other intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents, industrial designs, plant varieties, etc., copyright does not need to be registered for protection but will be automatically protected from the time the works are created.
The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.
Accordingly, whether registered or not, the copyright to the work will still be protected. However, the creator should still apply for copyright registration in Oman early because early registration will give the author/owner of the work many advantages in the event of a dispute.
When unauthorized use of work occurs around the world, the owner of a work who has made a copyright registration in Oman will not have to waste time and complicate matters with proving himself/herself to be the legitimate owner of the work.
Thereby, in order to avoid passivity, the owner of the work should make a copyright registration in Oman immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Oman
Oman is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 1999.
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (the Berne Convention) is an international agreement governing copyright. The agreement was first accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.
As Oman is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Oman will be given copyright protection in each of the Berne Convention member countries.
In most countries, copyright protection is automatic as soon as the work existed in material form. However, the copyright registration in Oman is critical in order for the copyright owner to obtain evidence of copyright.
Evidence of copyright is extremely important even when the works are automatically protected according to copyright law.
When registering, the work will get an application submission date, as well as information about the creation and proof of creative concept and development. This provides unambiguous proof of authorship and ownership that can’t be denied.
Proof of copyright is essential in an age when the publishing, dissemination, and theft of material is extremely easy with the exposure of the Internet.
If copyright registration is not made, copyright owners will lose a big amount of money as well as time needed to resolve issues related to copyright, proving ownership of the original work.
If the copyright owner has already registered for copyright protection to the IP office, they would have a strong legal foundation which would increase their chance of winning against the violating parties.
Documents for copyright registration in Oman
To obtain copyright registration in Oman, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Oman;
- Two copies of copyrighted work;
- Documents proving the right to apply;
- Written consent of co-authors, if the work has co-authors;
- Written consent of the co-owners, if the copyright is jointly owned;
- Notarized identity card of the author or owner of the work;
- Power of Attorney, if the applicant is an authorized person;
- Notarized copy of the company’s business registration certificate (if the owner is a company).
The copyright law of Oman
Copyright in Oman is regulated by the Law for the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights issued by Royal Decree No 65/2008[1] which was later amended by Royal Decree No 132/2008.
The first copyright law in Oman was passed in the year 1996 by Royal Decree No 47/1996, this law was later revamped in anticipation of Oman’s membership to the WTO in 2000 when Royal Decree No 37/2000 issued the second copyright law of Oman, and then in fulfilment of Oman’s prerequisites to the entry into a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S., Royal Decree No 65/2008 issued the third and current Omani copyright law.
You can see a list of Oman IP firms here.