IP Rights in Macao: The basics

• Pages: 4-11

A. Copyrights

WHAT are Copyrig hts?

Copyrights ar e rights that g uarantee the ow ner exclusive uses

of literary an d artistic work s, sound and vid eo recordings, ra dio

and TV broad casts, artistic p erformances and public spe ctacles.

Literary an d artistic work s are underst ood very broadly an d

potentially incl ude any creative te xts (includi ng computer

soware), images (photos, paint ings, drawings, etc.), shapes

(for example, sculp tures), sounds (especially musical work s) and

compilations (for exam ple, databases).

Use of a literary or ar tistic work is also a ver y broad legal concept

that includes n ot only copying but al so any form of public

exploitatio n of the work (translat ing, broadca sting, leasing t o

the public, e xhibiting, etc.). Ind ustrial designs and design er works

can also be prot ected by copyright.

Copyright s in Macao: What you n eed to know

Copyrights i n Macao are grante d automatically by l aw to the

creators of literar y and artistic work s, performers, broadca sters,

producers of sou nd or video recordin gs and producer s of

spectacle s, irrespective of any formalit y.

In case original wor k is created under an employm ent contract or in

th e cou rs e of ful lli ng the o cial du ties , the own ers hip of ec ono mic

rights must be d ecided according to the agreem ent in advance.

In principle, xation of the literar y or artistic work in a material

form (pa per, canvas, stone, lm, etc.) is not required, however,

for copyright to subsis t and be protec ted by the relevant l aws,

the original work s hall be reduced int o a material and tan gible

form of expression .

How LONG does leg al protectio n in last?

As a general ru le, copyrights last the lifet ime of the creator plus

50 years. A few main excep tions should be ta ken into account

however:

Nature of work Duration of Copyright

Audio-visual works (for example,

movies) as well as copyrights

acquired by legal persons on

literary or artistic works

50 years aer publication of

the work

Applied arts works

(for example, designs)

25 years aer the making of

the work

Collective works 50 years aer the rst

disclosure or publication

Artistic performances

(for example, a piano recital)

25 years aer the performance

is recorded in audio or video

Sound and video recordings

50 years aer the publication of

the recording or, in case there

is no publication, 50 years aer

the recording is made

Radio and TV broadcasts 20 years aer the broadcast

All the above ex piry terms are calcula ted from the 1st of January

of the year that follows t he relevant event.

HOW do I registe r?

There is no registr ation. Literar y and art istic works are

automatically p rotected by law o nce they are create d and

expressed in a ny form (for example, public ation of a text ,

exhibition of an ima ge, broadcast of a mo vie, live performan ce

of a song, etc). Radio a nd TV broadc asts are prot ected once

they star t. Sound an d video recordings a re protecte d once the

recording is made. A rtistic per formances are prot ected once t he

performance ha ppens or is recorded.

3. IP Rights in MACAO: THE BASICS

IP Factsheet: Macao

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