The new Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012 provides for the voluntary notification of copyright. S. 26A of the Act states that a notification of copyright in any work may be made to the Controller by or on behalf of the author of the work, the owner of the copyright in the work, an assignee of the copyright, or a person to whom an interest in the copyright has been granted by licensee.
A notification of copyright shall contain the following particulars:
(a) the name, address and nationality of the owner of the copyright;
(b) a statutory declaration that the applicant is the author of the work, or the owner of the copyright in the work, or an assignee of the copyright, or a person to whom an interest in the copyright has been granted by licence;
(c) the category of the work;
(d) the title of the work;
(e) the name of the author and, if the author is dead, the date of the author’s death, if known;
(f) in the case of a published work, the date and place of the first publication; and
(g) any other information as the Minister may determine.
The Act changed the requirements of a statutory declaration for prima facie evidence of copyright. The new s. 42 provides that an affidavit, certified extracts of the Register of Copyright or statutory declaration made before any person having authority to administer oath by or on behalf of any person claiming to be –
(a) the owner of the copyright in any works eligible for copyright under this Act stating that-
(i) at the time specified therein copyright subsisted in such work;
(ii) he or the person named therein is the owner of the copyright; and
(iii) a copy of the work annexed thereto is the true copy thereof; or
(b) the performer in a live performance eligible for performers’ right under this Act stating that –
(i) at the time specified therein performers’ right subsisted in such live performance;
(ii) he or the person named therein is the performer; and
(iii) a copy of the document annexed thereto is the document which proves that he or the person named therein performed in the live performance,
shall be admissible in evidence in any proceedings under the Act and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.
The Act was enforced on 1 March 2012 but the registration of copyright regime is not in place yet.
We spoke to the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia and we have been informed that the registration regime will be in place in June this year.
[Postscript: The Malaysian Copyright (Voluntary Notification) Regulations 2012 which provides for the forms, fees and procedures for voluntarily notification of copyright is now in effect from 1 June 2012]
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