An intellectual property right called copyright gives the makers of original artwork or other tangible manifestations of ideas ownership rights. These terms frequently refer to written works, audiovisual works, computer programs, sculptures, paintings, works of architecture, and works of applied art.
In addition to the sole right to use, publish, and profit from their creations, copyright gives writers, painters, and other creators a moral right. Learn more about moral rights by clicking here.
Is your Mark Eligible to Get Copyright in Thailand?
How to Obtain Copyright in Thailand?
What Information to Provide for Copyright Registration in Thailand?
What Rights do a Copyright Confers in Thailand?
How Much Advantageous is a Recorded Copyright in Thailand?
For How Many Day is Copyright Protection Valid?
Help that you need to get Copyright in Thailand!
Eligibility for Copyrights in Thailand
Copyright is a legal concept in Thailand that safeguards the physical manifestations of authorship in all its many forms. The idea itself doesn’t get protection; rather, the expression of the notion gets so. To put it another way, copyright guards the style of expression rather than the content of the work. A work must exist in some physical form in order to get copyright protection.
Concepts, principles, discoveries, methods of use or operation, processes, systems, and scientific or mathematical theories are not eligible to receive copyright protection.
A wide variety of physical manifestations of ideas get copyright protection, such as the following:
- Literary works (advertisements, books, magazines, newspapers, website content, etc.)
- Computer software
- Musical works
- Dramatic works (choreography, dancing, acting, etc.)
- Artistic works (such as works of painting and drawing, sculptures, lithography, works of architecture, photographic works, illustrations, and other forms of applied arts)
- Audio-visual works
- Cinematographic works
- Audio recordings
- Broadcast works
Upon creation, a work has a copyright for a specific period of time, depending on the type of work. The only IP right that is enforceable without formal registration or recordation is copyright. However, it is crucial to highlight that efforts to commercialize or defend against infringement suffer a setback when there is no prior recordation of copyright ownership. You should remember that the copyright protection period clock starts running after publication for some types of works, and not from the time of their creation.
Process of Obtaining Copyright in Thailand
The creator of a work gets special rights through copyright. Therefore, ownership of the work to receive copyright and the existence of any prior publications are very significant factors to review a copyright recordation application.
Application for copyright recordation is only open to copyright owners. Even though the majority of copyright owners are the work’s creators, this isn’t always the case; in some instances, someone else may be the lawful owner(s). For instance, unless an agreement between the employer and employee specifies otherwise, employers are frequently the copyright owner of the creations of employees under the employer’s guidance. Assigned copyrights and inherited copyrights are two further instances in which copyright holders are not the original authors of the work. For instance, organizations typically file copyright applications for software rather than individual authors or producers (who are usually employees of such companies).
Copyright recording aims to build a legally valid basis for ownership of a created work. Recorded copyrights offer a defense against conflicting claims to ownership and use of a work.
In Thailand, the process of recording copyright entails filing an application, getting its review report, waiting for acceptance, storing it electronically, and receiving a certificate of recordation. Normally, it takes two to four months to finish the process.
Information Necessary to Register Copyright in Thailand
For the process of recordation of copyright in Thailand, submission of the following information to the authority is mandatory:
- A brief description of the type and content copyright work.
- Title of copyright work.
- Name, address, and nationality of the applicant.
- Name, address, nationality, and date of birth of the author.
- Information about the acquisition of copyright work, if applicable, as well as the country where the copyrighted work was created.
- Date of the work’s creation and date of the work’s publication in case of published works.
- Information about recordation and registrations of the work in foreign countries.
- Permission to publish the copyright.
You can submit the first ten pages and the last ten pages of the program or source code when applying for copyright for software (or the entire program as wished).
Rights Conferred by Copyright in Thailand
Copyright grants its creator a variety of exclusive rights to manage the utilization of his or her work. We can tell which of these rights are exclusive of others by:
- Reproduce a work in copies (e.g. printing of a book, reproduction of a movie on a DVD, etc.);
- Distribute copies of a work to the public;
- Rent copies of a work;
- Translate or adapt works without authorization;
- Hold (a) public performance(s) and communicate a work to the public.
In Thailand, copies and reproductions of works with copyright protection that are not for commercial gain are typically not violations in regard to the law. Additionally, moral rights are provided by copyright, safeguarding the author’s honor and reputation.
Advantages of Recorded Copyright in Thailand
Whether or not the copyright has been recorded, the rights granted to the owner are the same. Recordation, however, provides a tactical advantage and holds strong grounds to prove ownership or even the invention or publication date (information that is useful in cases of claims of concurrent independent creation). The recording of copyright also makes it simpler to pursue monetary and legal sanctions against an infringer in order to enforce rights.
The holder of a recorded copyright is exempt from providing evidence in opposition to that right. The violator must demonstrate that it has a superior claim or that the copyright holder is not the rightful owner of the copyright in question. In other words, the burden of proof rests with the person with the allegations to violate the laws.
Length of Protection for Copyright in Thailand
Irrespective of the status of the publication of the work, as well as whether the copyright owner is an individual or a legal company, will determine what rights and protections it should get.
Unpublished works owned by specific individuals are protected by copyright for as long as they are alive and for 50 years after their passing. When numerous authors share ownership of a piece of writing, copyright protection is for the lifetime of the last surviving joint author and for 50 years after that.
For 50 years following the date of the work’s initial publication, published works that belong to certain individuals are protected by copyright. Unpublished works owned by legal entities are protected by copyright for 50 years following the date of creation.
A legal entity’s published works are protected by copyright for 50 years after the date of their initial publication. The copyright protection of applied arts is an exception to the 50-year protection rule generally. For 25 years following the date of creation or publication, whichever comes first, applied arts receive copyright protection.
Assigning or Licensing Copyright in Thailand
Owners of copyrights may license or assign their works in addition to using them directly for commerce.
Assignments are long-term changes in ownership and are distinct from copyright licensing. Treating a copyright transfer transaction as a sale and purchase agreement is in the best interest of both parties. The parties’ discussions and wording of the assignment agreement should get serious consideration. Assignments must be registered with the DIP in order for them to be recognized in Thailand.
The licensor (the owner of the copyright) may provide authorization to a licensee (the recipient of the rights) to use, reproduce, or otherwise commercialize the copyrighted material on a temporary basis.
The licensing of copyrights can occasionally be more challenging than the simple assignment or transfer of copyright. You can take copyright licensing arrangements leases; whereby, the property on lease is the intellectual property of the creative work, and the rights to use it are similar to those of other leased properties. The exclusivity of the license, the length of the license, and the uses of the intellectual property put on the lease must have their mentions in a copyright licensing agreement as well as licensing agreements in general.
Exclusive or non-exclusive licensing arrangements are also possible. Exclusive license agreements forbid the licensor from granting the same rights to other parties for the life of the agreement and grant the licensee exclusive rights, whether for scope, context, area, market, or time. The phrase “single distributor” or “exclusive distributor” is common in marketing luxury items in Thailand’s marketplaces. In contrast to exclusive licenses, non-exclusive licensing allow the licensor to simultaneously give rights to multiple licensees in the same location or at the same time, some of whom may overlap. Although recording copyright licenses at the DIP is not mandatory in Thailand, it is generally a good business practice, especially when a local licensee holds the authorization.
Help That You Need for Copyright Registration in Thailand!
By now, it must be clear to you that the issuance of copyright in Thailand is strictly according to the local laws. Additionally, you must be able to understand the inherent challenges in the process. Let us point out those to you:
- The Department of Intellectual Property of Thailand amends the IP laws randomly. Therefore, it can be pretty difficult for you to track the updates.
- You may not have detailed information about the procedure of a Copyright Application and may accidentally land in front of an irrelevant authority.
- Only an experienced Intellectual Property Law practitioner can help you all across the various stages of the application. But finding a reliable and trustworthy one can be a challenging task!
- Even if your Mark is eligible for a Copyright, the mode you present it matters a lot to the authority. You may not be able to proceed in the format that is deemed essential by the authorities. This will lead to a series of re-applications.
- If you are a foreigner, you need notarization and translation of all the relevant documents. Only a Certified Notarial Attorney has the authority to do so.
However, if you have reached this part of the article, we have a solution for you that can bust all of these challenges. Contact Us!
Being a premium law and accounting firm in Thailand, we have 1000+ local and international clients who got benefitted from our elegant services. For your Copyright in Thailand, we can help you with the following aspects:
- Start with a Free consultation
- Complete the entire documentation for you
- Make your application fool-proof to avoid any or all types of rejections
- Guide you to the right authority to submit your application
- Documentation and legal support as long as you don’t receive your Copyright Certificate in Thailand
Isn’t this enough to protect your intellectual property, to develop which you have invested that much time and effort? Feel free to consult us by sharing your requirements at [email protected].
