17 November 2021, Thimphu: The Department of Intellectual Property (DoIP), Ministry of Economic Affairs, conducted a one-day workshop on Copyright Enforcement   for the law enforcement agencies, viz the Judiciary, Customs and the Royal Bhutan Police, other relevant agencies and representatives from the copyright sector. The workshop was organised to foster and enhance a better understanding on the enforcement provisions under the Copyright Act of Bhutan, 2001 and build better and effective coordination among the law enforcement agencies and right owners when dealing with copyright infringement cases.

An effective copyright enforcement is crucial for the authors and owners to secure their rights granted under the Copyright Act, 2001. However, due to the lack of proper understanding and coordination among the law enforcement agencies, the authors and rights owners of copyright face challenges to effectively enforce their rights. Further, the increasing use of digital technologies and the internet has made the copyright protection online very vulnerable to infringement. Ease of copying and immediate distribution of such illegal copies to large numbers of people causes substantial harm and prejudice to the authors and owners of copyright. 

The workshop provided the timely and much required opportunity to the key-players in the copyright value chain to discuss the common challenges faced by the law enforcement agencies and rights holders as well as provided a platform to agree to a collective way forward in order to make copyright enforcement more effective. This workshop is part of the Department's initiative to improve the enforcement mechanism of copyright. 

The Department of Intellectual Property

Ministry of Economic Affairs