Copyright registration in the Syrian Arab Republic. Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. Syria is a unitary republic consisting of 14 governorates and is the only country that politically espouses Ba’athism. The economy is highly regulated by the government, which has increased subsidies and tightened trade controls. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Syrian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Mandaeans, and Greeks. 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 the Syrian Arab Republic.
Copyright in Syrian Arab Republic
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The creation must be visible in a certain material form, like content, quality, form, medium, language, published or unpublished, registered or unregistered.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 Syrian Arab Republic 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 Syrian Arab Republic 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 Syrian Arab Republic immediately to protect their rights and interests when there is an infringement.
Copyright registration in Syrian Arab Republic
Syrian Arab Republic is a member country of The Berne Convention for Copyright since 2004.
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 Syrian Arab Republic is a contracting party of the Berne Convention, any work originating in Syrian Arab Republic 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 Syrian Arab Republic 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 Syrian Arab Republic
To obtain copyright registration in Syrian Arab Republic, the author of the work needs to prepare the following documents:
- Declaration of copyright registration in Syrian Arab Republic;
- 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 Syrian Arab Republic
Copyright law in Syria is regulated by the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law issued by Legislative Decree No. 62 of 2013. The Syrian Ministry of Culture, through its Copyright Office, is generally in charge of proposing copyright legislation to Parliament.
On January 17, 1924, during the French Mandate over Syria and Lebanon, Decree 2385 was issued in which Article 145 defined works of art and literature as intellectual production.
On February 23, 1987, the Arab Society for Intellectual Property was founded, known at the time as the Arab Society for the Protection of Industrial Property with the mission of “promoting and developing Intellectual Property protection in the Arab world…”.
At the time, Syria was on the board alongside nine other Arab states. As of August 2017, Syria has one representative on the Society’s board. Syria’s first copyright law was issued in 2001. This law was repealed in 2013 by Legislative Decree No. 62 of 2013 on Law for the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights.
You can see a list of the Syrian Arab Republic IP firms here.