Copyright registration in Qatar. Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. In the 21st century, Qatar emerged as a significant power in the Arab world through its resource wealth, as well as its globally expanding media group. For its size, Qatar wields disproportionate influence in the world and has been identified as a middle power. 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 Qatar.
Copyright in Qatar
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The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.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 Qatar 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 Qatar 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 Qatar immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Qatar
Qatar is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 2000.
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 Qatar is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Qatar 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 Qatar 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 Qatar
To obtain copyright registration in Qatar, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Qatar;
- 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 Qatar
In Qatar, the main national laws and regulations relating to copyrights are:
- Law No. 7 of 2002 on the Protection of Copyright and Related Rights (Copyright Law).
- Decree of the Council of Ministers No. 9 of 2013 on Amendments to Certain Provisions of the Executive Regulations of the Customs Law issued by Decree No. 21 of 2004.
- Executive Regulations of the Customs Law (issued by the Decree of the Council of Ministers Council No. 21 of 2004 and amended by Decree of Ministerial Council No. 9 of 2013).
- Law No. 17 of 2011 on Border Measures for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.
- Electronic Commerce and Transactions Law (approved by Decree Law No. 16 of 2010).
- Law No.21 of 2009 issuing the Income Tax Law.
- Emiri Decree No. 53 of 2009 establishing the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.
- Commercial Law No. 27 of 2006.
- Customs Law (issued by Law No. 40 of 2002).
- Law No. 27 of 2004 on the Protection of the Signs, Slogans, Works and Related Rights of the Fifteenth Asian Games – Doha 2006.
You can see a list of Qatar IP firms here.