Copyright registration in Myanmar. Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, also called Burma, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas, teak, and other mineral resources. Myanmar is also endowed with renewable energy; it has the highest solar power potential compared to other countries of the Great Mekong Subregion. Myanmar is a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN, and BIMSTEC. 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 Myanmar.
Copyright in Myanmar
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The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.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 Myanmar 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 Myanmar 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 Myanmar immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Myanmar
Myanmar is currently not a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright. Therefore, individuals and organizations wishing to obtain copyright protection in Myanmar will find that the law on copyright is slightly different.
However, Myanmar has joined the TRIPS Agreement since 1995.
Documents for copyright registration in Myanmar
To obtain copyright registration in Myanmar, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Myanmar;
- 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 Myanmar
On May 24, 2019, Myanmar’s copyright law was eventually signed into law, thereby erasing the previous copyright laws from 1914. The law establishes a new legal framework for the protection of creative works and other relevant rights, which will be put into effect by administrative agencies and supplemental rules that will be released in due course.
According to the copyright law of Myanmar, when published in Myanmar for the first time or within 30 days of being published elsewhere, works written by non-citizens or non-residents are protected. This is quite ‘bizarre’ for most people as the copyright is usually protected globally (or most countries in the world), not just within a jurisdiction like a trademark and patent.
This is due to the fact that Myanmar has not yet joined the Berne Convention.
Nonetheless, Myanmar still abides to the international standard on copyright, in which the copyright for literary and creative works lasts for the duration of the author’s life and for 50 years after their passing, whereas the protection for works of applied art lasts for just 25 years. Films and other audiovisual works are only protected for 50 years after the date of publication.
You can see a list of Myanmar IP firms here.