In Malaysia, protection of copyrights are governed under the Copyright Act 1987. Despite copyright is an exclusive right given to the owner of the copyright, however the legislation does not provide for the requirement of official copyright registration for any type of composition or work of literature, art, or music, or for any other cultural activity.
A work is eligible for protection automatically upon fulfilment of the following conditions:
- That sufficient effort has been expected to make the work original in character;
- That the work has been written down, recorded or reduced to a material form;
- That the author is a qualified person or the work is made in Malaysia or the work is first published in Malaysia.
Nevertheless, since 1 June 2012 onwards, the Copyright (Voluntary Notification) Regulations 2012 came into effect which provides allows authors’ works to be deposited with the MYIPO.
At ABASAN, we have the resources and expertise to provide all the services necessary for the depositing of works of art.