Copyright Malaysia
Copyright in Malaysia
Primus IP provides professional services designed to protect your copyright in Malaysia. With our considerable expertise and experience in intellectual property registration, we help clients make copyright claims and generate profitable income streams.
About Primus IP
Protecting Your Copyright in Malaysia
Copyright protection in Malaysia is governed under the Copyright Act 1987, which grants protection to any eligible individual or business. When an original work is created, the copyright exists and automatically belongs to the work’s creator. To qualify for copyright protection, the piece must:
- Be an original
- Be written down or reduced to material form (not an idea)
- Belong to a category of protected works
- Comply with the copyright qualifications
Claiming Ownership of Copyright in Malaysia
Registration of your copyright is not a legal requirement in Malaysia. However, it is recommended to register your copyright in Malaysia and protect your intellectual property. Copyright owners can claim the ownership by filing a Voluntary Notification at the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).
The Importance of Copyright Protection
Owners of copyright in Malaysia have broad rights to their works, including preventing unauthorised parties from reproducing your work in its entirety or substantial parts. Thus, copyright protects the creation of a person or business from being translated, adapted, transformed or utilised in other applications that may cause infringement.
Works Eligible for Copyright Protection
- Literary works
- Musical works
- Artistic works
- Films
- Broadcasts
- Sound recordings
- Derivative works
- Software programs
Works Eligible for Copyright Protection
Literary works
- Literary works
- Musical works
- Artistic works
- Films
- Broadcasts
- Sound recordings
- Derivative works
- Software programs
Need help with Copyright?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Copyright violation occurs when an unauthorised party imitates or recreates all or a portion of original works, including music, song lyrics, paintings or books.
While copyrights do not offer international protection of a work, Malaysia is a signatory of the Berne Convention. Hence, every country party to the Berne Convention would recognise copyrighted creations in Malaysia and vice versa.
Under the Berne Convention, copyright protection in Malaysia lasts for the entire lifetime of the creator plus an additional 50 years after.
However, if a work has not been published during the lifetime of the author, its copyright continues to subsist until the end of 50 years, starting from the year in which the work was first published.
After copyright in Malaysia expires, the work or creation enters the public domain and can be used without the authorisation of the copyright owners. It is free for all — to repurpose, republish or build upon.
