Copyright registration in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and ranks fourth on the UN Human Development Index. The city has the largest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world, and its residents have some of the highest life expectancies in the world. The dense space has led to a highly developed transportation network with public transport rates exceeding 90%. Hong Kong is ranked 4th on the Global Financial Centres Index. 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 Hong Kong.
Copyright in Hong Kong
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The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.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 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 registered copyright in advance 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 to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 1997.
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 Hong Kong is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Hong Kong 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 Hong Kong 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 attempting to fight copyright issues and prove 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 Hong Kong
To obtain copyright registration in Hong Kong, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Hong Kong;
- 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 Hong Kong
The copyright law of Hong Kong is governed by the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) and the Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007 & 2009.
The related ordinance, regulations, and guidelines relating to the practice of copyright in Hong Kong include:
- Copyright exemptions on Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007
- Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2011
- Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014
- Booklet on Copyright & Education in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong’s Amended Copyright Law: A Guide for Teachers and Students
- Copyright & Education (video)
- Presentation on Education and Copyright by Intellectual Property Department, 28 November 2014
- Guidelines for Photocopying of Printed Works by Not-for-profit Educational Establishments
- FAQ on Guidelines for Photocopying of Printed Works by Not-for-profit Educational Establishments
You can see a list of Hong Kong IP Firms here.