Copyright registration in Malaysia. Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. After independence, the Malaysian GDP grew at an average of 6.5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fueled by its natural resources but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce, and medical tourism. Malaysia has a newly industrialized market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia and 33rd-largest in the world. It is a founding member of ASEAN, EAS, OIC, and a member of APEC, the Commonwealth, and the Non-Aligned Movement. 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 Malaysia.
Copyright in Malaysia
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The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.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 Malaysia 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 Malaysia 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 Malaysia immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Malaysia
Malaysia is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 1990.
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 Malaysia is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Malaysia 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 Malaysia 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 Malaysia
To obtain copyright registration in Malaysia, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Malaysia;
- 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 Malaysia
Copyright laws safeguard the creative works of any photographer, author, producer, musician, artist, sculptor, or other individuals. It is given to an artist who can present adequate evidence that his or her creations are unique.
This regulation assures that a copyright is granted to a person as soon as the original piece of work is created. The Copyright Act 1987 is the principal copyright legislation in Malaysia.
Other legislation enacted in Malaysia to safeguard copyrights includes the Industrial Designs Act 1996, which protects industrial designs, and the Industrial Designs Regulations 1999.
Copyright holders may either claim their ownership through a statutory declaration or by filing a voluntary notification with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
You can find the list of Malaysia IP Firms here.