Categories
Copyright

Three Exceptions I Wish Omani Copyright Law Had

Like the majority of countries around the world, Oman does not have a concept of “fair use” in its copyright law. The default position under copyright law is that any use of a copyrighted work requires the prior permission of the author, even if that use is private, non-commercial, or does not affect the interests of the author. To ensure that the rights of the author do not restrict the ability of society to enjoy culture and exercise certain fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, copyright law permits the public to use copyrighted works in certain circumstances without the need to acquire the permission of the author.

Categories
Copyright

Tunisia: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

  • Law No. 33 of 2009 Concerning the Amendment of Law No. 36 of 1994 Concerning Literary and Artistic Property [قانون عدد ٣٣ لسنة ٢٠٠٩ مؤرخ في ٢٣ جوان ٢٠٠٩ يتعلق بتنقيح وإتمام القانون عدد ٣٦ لسنة ١٩٩٤ المؤرخ في ٢٤ فيفري ١٩٩٤ المتعلق بالملكية الفكرية والفنية]: Arabic Text.
  • Law No. 36 of 1994 Concerning Literary and Artistic Property [قانون عدد ٣٦ لسنة ١٩٩٤ مؤرخ في ٢٤ فيفري ١٩٩٤ يتعلق بالملكية الأدبية والفنية]: Arabic Text.

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Law No. 3 of 1967 Concerning the Amendment of Law No. 12 of 1966 Concerning Literary and Artistic Property [قانون عدد ٣ لسنة ١٩٦٧ مؤرخ في ٤ جانفي ١٩٦٧ يتعلق بتنقيح القانون عدد ١٢ لسنة ١٩٦٦ المؤرخ في ١٤ فيفري ١٩٦٦ المتعلق بالملكية الأدبية والفنية]: Arabic Text.
  • Law No. 12 of 1966 Concerning Literary and Artistic Property [قانون عدد ١٢ لسنة ١٩٦٦ المؤرخ في ١٤ فيفري ١٩٦٦ يتعلق بالملكية الأدبية والفنية]: Arabic Text.

Note: Tunisia inherited from France the Tunisian Artistic and Literary Property Law of 1889 during its time as a French colony.

Categories
Open Data

Oman Needs Open Data

Open Data can provide great opportunities to Oman. The government has massive amounts of data about all aspects of life in the country that remain stored without ever getting used or, at best, remain constantly under-utilised.
As part of its normal way of conducting business, the government collects and creates a lot of information. This information includes basic details about the number of accidents that happen on the road, what time of the day they happened, and their exact location; the number of schools in the country, the number and age of students attending these schools; the number of mosques in each city; the locations of hospitals, forecast details, and so many other details about everything in the country.

Categories
Copyright

Morocco: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

  • Law No. 2-00 of 2000 Relating to Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Includes 2006 and 2014 Amendments) [قانون رقم ٢,٠٠ يتعلق بحقوق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة]: Arabic Text.

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Dahir Sharif No. 1.69.135 of 1970 Concerning the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works [ظهير شريف رقم ١.٦٩.١٣٥ بتاريخ ٢٥ جمادى الأول ١٣٩٠ (٢٩ يوليوز ١٩٧٠) بشأن حماية المؤلفات الأدبية والفنية]: Arabic Text.
  • Dahir Sharif Issued on 21 Chabaan 1334 (23 June 1916) Concerning the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works [الظهير الشريف الصادر في ٢١ شعبان ١٣٣٤ (٢٣ يونيه ١٩١٦) بشأن حماية المؤلفات الأدبية والفنية]: Not Available.

Photo credits: “Port” by Délirante bestiole – CC-BY 2.0

Categories
Copyright

All Music is Legally Free in the Arab World

Online piracy remains a serious issue for many industries worldwide due to the difficulties of enforcement and the lack of reasonable online legal alternatives to piracy. Services such as Mawaly and Yala prove that the Arabic music industry is willing to do whatever it takes to survive: Let everyone download all the music they want free of charge.
Mawaly, a website affiliated with Rotana (the biggest record label in the Arab world) allows anyone to download music from all of Rotana’s signed artists, as well as artists from other labels, directly free of charge and with no strings attached. Yala is music a streaming service similar to Spotify that works on a freemium model, but unlike Spotify, it does not require users to register to listen to music on its website and also allows users to legally download complete mp3 files of the music free of charge.

The arguments against the damage that piracy causes to the music industry have been going on for years, but can the Arab music industry prove that it is possible for the industry to survive even when the all of the actual music is given away free of charge?

Categories
Copyright

Syria: Copyright Country Profile

Current Copyright Law:

  • Legislative Decree No. 62 of 2013 on Law for the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights [المرسوم التشريعي رقم ٦٢ لعام ٢٠١٣م بشأن قانون حماية حقوق المؤلف والحقوق المجاورة ]: Arabic Text.

Previous Copyright Laws:

  • Law No. 12 of 2001 Relating to the Protection of Copyright [القانون رقم ١٢ للعام ٢٠٠١ المتعلق بحماية حق المؤلف]: Arabic Text.

Photo credits: “Aleppo/Syria” by seyr-ü zafer – CC BY 2.0