Copyright law of Thailand

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Copyright law in Thailand governs the legally enforceable rights of creative and artistic works under the Copyright Act BE 2537 (1994). Copyright is automatically protected for 50 years after the death of a known author or 50 years after publication in the case of an unknown author. It does not need registration; however, it can be filed with the Department of Intellectual property (DIP). Disputes are first heard in the Intellectual Property and International Trade Court. [1] [2]

Contents

The Copyright Act BE 2537 (1994) governs the subject of copyright law in Thailand. [3]

The copyright term is the life of the author plus 50 years. [4] When the author is a legal entity or an anonymous person, the copyright term is 50 years from the date of publication. Works of applied art (defined as a work which takes a composition of works such as drawings, paintings, sculpture, prints, architecture, photography, drafts, or models for utility or functional use) have a copyright term of 25 years from publication. [5]

Public domain

Republication of works after the expiration of the copyright term does not reset the copyright term. Thai state documents are public domain, [6] though creative works produced by or commissioned by government offices are protected by copyright. [7]

Types of work protected

Copyright work by virtue of the copyright act means a work of authorship in the form of literary, dramatic, artistic, musical, audiovisual, cinematographic, sound recording, sound and video broadcasting work or any other work in the literary, scientific or artistic domain.

The following are not deemed copyrightable by the 1994 copyright act:

Any of the following acts against a copyrighted work (including audiovisual work, a cinematographic work or a sound recording, and computer program) without permission, would be considered an infringement of copyright:

  1. Reproduction or adaptation of the work
  2. Communication to the public
  3. Letting of the original or copies of the work
  4. Rebroadcasting whether whole or in part
  5. Making a work to be heard or seen in public by charging money or another commercial benefit
  6. Selling, occupying for sale, offering for sale, letting, offering for lease, selling by hire purchase or offering for hire purchase
  7. Distribution that may cause damage to the owner of a copyright

An act against a copyrighted work by virtue of the copyright act which does not conflict with a normal exploitation shall not be deemed an infringement of copyright:

  1. Research or study of the work without profit
  2. Use for personal benefit or for the benefit of herself and other family members or close relatives
  3. Comment, criticism or introduction of the work with an acknowledgement of the ownership of copyright in such work
  4. Reporting of the news through mass media with an acknowledgement of the ownership of copyright in such work
  5. Reproduction, adaptation, exhibition, or display for the benefit of judicial proceedings or administrative proceedings by authorized officials or for reporting the result of such proceedings
  6. Reproduction, adaptation, exhibition, or display by a teacher for educational purposes with no profit motive
  7. Reproduction, adaptation in part of a work, or making a summary by a teacher or an educational institution for distribution to students in a class or in an educational institution without gaining any profit
  8. Use of the work as part of questions and answers in an examination
  9. Reproduction for use in a library
  10. Reasonable reproduction for the benefit of research or study

Penalties

Whosoever infringes copyright or the performers shall be punished with a fine from 20,000 to 200,000 baht. If the offence is committed for commercial purposes, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment for a term from six months up to four years or a fine from 100,000 to 800,000 baht or both imprisonment and fine.

Whosoever infringes copyright by selling the work for profit, distribution which may cause damage to the owner of copyright, or communicating the work to the public by knowing that the work is made by infringing the copyright of another person shall be punished with a fine from 10,000 to 100,000 baht. If the offence is committed for commercial purposes, the offender shall be punished with imprisonment for a term from three months up to two years or a fine from 50,000 to 400,000 baht or both imprisonment and fine.

Thailand on the priority watch list

In 2014, Thailand remains on the US Priority Watch List. Thailand has stated its commitment to improve intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement. With the help of the National IPR Center of Enforcement, launched in March 2013, Thailand is expected to be able to improve coordination and allow more effective enforcement actions among Thai enforcement.

The US urged Thailand to take action against widespread piracy and counterfeiting in the country, and to engage with all relevant stakeholders, including IPR owners, to address Thailand's public health challenges, while maintaining a patent system that promotes innovation. [8]

Related Research Articles

A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No Electronic Theft Act</span> US federal law passed in 1997

The United States No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act), a federal law passed in 1997, provides for criminal prosecution of individuals who engage in copyright infringement under certain circumstances, even when there is no monetary profit or commercial benefit from the infringement. Maximum penalties can be five years in prison with fines.

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been acknowledged and protected in China since the 1980s. China has acceded to the major international conventions on protection of rights to intellectual property. Domestically, protection of intellectual property law has also been established by government legislation, administrative regulations, and decrees in the areas of trademark, copyright, and patent. Although this IP framework is developing quickly, as of 2023 it remains less developed than most industrialized countries.

A copyright is the legal protection extended to the owner of the rights in an original work. Original work refers to every production in the literary, scientific, and artistic domains. The Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) is the leading agency responsible for handling the registration and conflict resolution of intellectual property rights and to enforce the copyright laws. IPOPHL was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines which took effect on January 1, 1998, under the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos.

Copyright in the Netherlands is governed by the Dutch Copyright Law, copyright is the exclusive right of the author of a work of literature or artistic work to publish and copy such work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright Act of 1909</span>

The Copyright Act of 1909 was a landmark statute in United States statutory copyright law. It went into effect on July 1, 1909. The 1909 Act was repealed and superseded by the Copyright Act of 1976, which went into effect on January 1, 1978; but some of 1909 Act's provisions continue to apply to copyrighted works created before 1978. It allowed for works to be copyrighted for a period of 28 years from the date of publication and extended the renewal term from 14 years to 28 years, for a maximum of 56 years.

The Copyright Act 1957 as amended governs the subject of copyright law in India. The Act is applicable from 21 January 1958. The history of copyright law in India can be traced back to its colonial era under the British Empire. The Copyright Act 1957 was the first post-independence copyright legislation in India and the law has been amended six times since 1957. The most recent amendment was in the year 2012, through the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988</span> United Kingdom law

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, also known as the CDPA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law in the United Kingdom, which had, until then, been governed by the Copyright Act 1956 (c. 74). It also creates an unregistered design right, and contains a number of modifications to the law of the United Kingdom on Registered Designs and patents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of panorama</span> Permissive provision in copyright laws

Freedom of panorama (FOP) is a provision in the copyright laws of various jurisdictions that permits taking photographs and video footage and creating other images of buildings and sometimes sculptures and other art works which are permanently located in a public place, without infringing on any copyright that may otherwise subsist in such works, and the publishing of such images. Panorama freedom statutes or case law limit the right of the copyright owner to take action for breach of copyright against the creators and distributors of such images. It is an exception to the normal rule that the copyright owner has the exclusive right to authorize the creation and distribution of derivative works.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to intellectual property:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright Act of 1976</span> United States law

The Copyright Act of 1976 is a United States copyright law and remains the primary basis of copyright law in the United States, as amended by several later enacted copyright provisions. The Act spells out the basic rights of copyright holders, codified the doctrine of "fair use", and for most new copyrights adopted a unitary term based on the date of the author's death rather than the prior scheme of fixed initial and renewal terms. It became Public Law number 94-553 on October 19, 1976 and went into effect on January 1, 1978.

The copyright law of the United States grants monopoly protection for "original works of authorship". With the stated purpose to promote art and culture, copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of their works, to create derivative works, and to perform or display their works publicly. These exclusive rights are subject to a time limit, and generally expire 70 years after the author's death or 95 years after publication. In the United States, works published before January 1, 1928, are in the public domain.

The laws of Thailand are based on the civil law, but have been influenced by common law.

The copyright law of South Africa governs copyright, the right to control the use and distribution of artistic and creative works, in the Republic of South Africa. It is embodied in the Copyright Act, 1978 and its various amendment acts, and administered by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission in the Department of Trade and Industry. As of March 2019 a major amendment to the law in the Copyright Amendment Bill has been approved by the South African Parliament and is awaiting signature by the President.

The Right to Make Transmittable is one of several rights granted to the creators of creative works by Japanese copyright law. The law defines copyright not as a single comprehensive right but as a bundle of various rights including right of reproduction, right of performance, right of screen presentation and right of public transmission.

Copyright law of South Korea is regulated by the Copyright Act of 1957. It has been amended several times, with a recent 2009 revision introducing a three strikes policy for online copyright infringement.

Criminal copyright laws prohibit the unacknowledged use of another's intellectual property for the purpose of financial gain. Violation of these laws can lead to fines and jail time. Criminal copyright laws have been a part of U.S. laws since 1897, which added a misdemeanor penalty for unlawful performances if "willful and for profit". Criminal penalties were greatly expanded in the latter half of the twentieth century, and those found guilty of criminal copyright infringement may now be imprisoned for decades and fined hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Remedies for copyright infringement in the United States can be either civil or criminal in nature. Criminal remedies for copyright infringement prevent the unauthorized use of copyrighted works by defining certain violations of copyright to be criminal wrongs which are liable to be prosecuted and punished by the state. Unlike civil remedies, which are obtained through private civil actions initiated by the owner of the copyright, criminal remedies are secured by the state which prosecutes the infringing individual or organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright Act (Ghana)</span>

The Copyright Act is the legal framework that protects the use of an individual's work once the idea has been physically expressed. It is a form of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. Ghana's current copyright law is Act 690 issued by the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana. It was enacted on 17 May 2005 and replaced Parliament's Act No. 110, the country's previous Copyright law from 1985. The Copyright law affords protection to a variety of works, grants Copyright holders rights to their work and defines the duration of that Copyright protection.

The Copyright law of El Salvador is legal rights to creative and artistic works under the laws of El Salvador. It was implemented in the Decree No. 604 of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on 16 of August 1993. This law aims to protect the economic and moral rights of Salvadoran authors and foreigners residing in El Salvador, granted by the mere fact of creating works that are literary, artistic and scientific.

References

  1. ↑ "IP System of Thailand". Department of Intellectual Property. 2009-01-01. Archived from the original on December 28, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  2. ↑ "Law of the Land" (PDF). Thailand Law Reform Commission. June–July 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-01-03.
  3. ↑ "Government Gazette, (1994). Copyright Act B.E. 2537(1994). Department of Intellectual Thailand".
  4. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติลิขสิทธิ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๗. Copyright Act of B.E. 2537 (1994), from Wikisource, in Thai. Section 4 governs copyright expiration terms
  5. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติลิขสิทธิ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๗. Copyright Act of B.E. 2537 (1994), from Wikisource, in Thai. Section 4, Article 22 states the copyright term for applied art works
  6. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติลิขสิทธิ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๗. Copyright Act of B.E. 2537 (1994), from Wikisource, in Thai. Article 7 governs works not copyrightable. The law refers specifically to Thai state rules, regulations, announcements, orders, explanations, and correspondence, and includes the constitution, laws, court decisions, examinations, and reports.
  7. ↑ พระราชบัญญัติลิขสิทธิ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๗. Copyright Act of B.E. 2537 (1994), from Wikisource, in Thai. Article 14 states that any government office receives a copyright on creative works produced by it or produced for it under contract, unless other arrangements regarding copyright have been previously agreed to by those involved.
  8. ↑ Froman, Michael (2014). "2014 Special 301 Report".
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