Rights on literary and artistic works like novels, poems, and plays, films, musical works, artistic works like paintings and drawings, photographs, sculptures, and architectural designs come under the copyright. Copyrights protect the expressive arts. They give owners exclusive rights to reproduce their work, publicly display or perform their work, and create derivative works. The owners are given economic rights to financially benefit from their work and prohibit others from doing or copying their arts without their permission.
Copyright Law in Nepal
The copyright is protected by the Copyright Act, 2059 B.S., and Copyright Rules, 2061 has been framed according to the Act. According to the Act, the registration of the copyright is not mandatory to acquire the right. It is, however, voluntary. If the owner of the copyright wants to register it, then, an application is to be made to the Office of the Registrar. The subject- matters that can be protected are:
- Literary works like book, pamphlet, article, thesis, lecture, computer programs etc.
- Artistic works like photography, painting, architectural design, woodcarving, sculpture, lithography, map, etc.
- Musical notation with or without words, sound recordings, etc.
- Drama, dramatic music, performance etc.
Section 4 of the Act excludes some subject matters that are not protected as copyright and they are any thought, religion, news, method of operation, concept, principle, court judgement, administrative decision, folksong, folktale, proverb and general data despite the fact that such subject matters are expressed or explained or interpreted or included in any work. The Act has provided the economic right and moral right to the owner over the creation. Section 7 provides the economic right to the author or the owner to carry out the following acts:
- To reproduce the work,
- To translate the work,
- To revise or amend the work,
- To make arrangement and other transformation in the work,
- To sell, distribute or rent the original and copy of the work to the general public,
- To transfer or rent the audiovisual work, work embodied in sound recording, computer program or musical work in graphic form conferred to that author or owner,
- To import copies of the work,
- To have public exhibition of the original or copy of the work,
- To perform the work in public,
- To broadcast the work,
- To communicate the work to the general public.
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Section 8 provides the moral right to the author of the work as following:
- To get his or her name mentioned in copies of the work or in his or her work where it is used publicly,
- In case where the pseudonym has been used instead his/ her real name, then to get that pseudonym mentioned while using such work publicly,
- To prevent the acts that undermines the reputation or goodwill earned by the author by mutilating his/ her work or presenting it in a distorting manner,
- To make necessary amendment or revision in the work.
Such rights remain with the author during his/ her life. After death, the rights devolve to the nominated person or organization if nominated and if not, then to the nearest heir. Section 11 provides for the remuneration in cases where a sound recording published for commercial purpose or a reproduced copy of such sound recording is directly used for broadcasting or other communications and it is so performed to the people publicly, the producer shall get a reasonable remuneration from the user of the same as per the agreement made between the performer and the producer. The term of the right to receive reasonable remuneration shall be for fifty years from the year of publication of such a sound recording.
