They are certain exclusive rights of use and control granted to authors and creators over their original works. Copyright Act gives the author of a work a bundle of exclusive rights over his work for a limited period of time. These rights enable him to control the use of his work in a number of ways and to receive remuneration. The word `original' means that the work should be completely new and it should not be a copied work from some other already existing works.

The Copyright Act, 2001 provides protection for the literary and artistic works; For further details Refer Copyright Act, 2001 Part II- Copyright works

Copyright provides two sets of rights namely, economic rights and moral rights. Economic Rights give the owners the exclusive right to; a. reproduction of the work; b. translation of the work; c. adaptation, arrangement or other transformation of the work; d. the first public distribution of the original and each copy of the work by sale, rental or otherwise; e. rental or public lending of the original or a copy of an audiovisual work, a work embodied in a sound recording, a computer program, a data base or a musical work in graphic form, irrespective of the ownership of the original or the copy which is the subject of the rental or public lending; f. importation of copies of the work, even where the imported copies were made with the authorization of the author or other owner of copyright; g. public display of the original or a copy of the work; h. public performance of the work; i. broadcasting of the work; j. other communication to the public of the work. Moral Rights maintain personal link between authors and their works. They include; right of paternity, (i.e. to be recognized as the author of a work), and right of integrity (i.e. to object to any changes to the work, which could damage the author’s honor or reputation)

Copyright does not protect; 1. any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, principle, discovery or mere data, even if it is or they are expressed, described, explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; 2. any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as any official translation thereof. Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. However, copyright protection may be available for logo art work that contains sufficient authorship. In some circumstances, an artistic logo may also be protected as a trademark.

Also known as neighboring rights – Related rights are rights granted to a few categories of people for their important role in communicating and disseminating some types of works to the public. 6.What are the types of beneficiaries under related rights? The rights granted to the three beneficiaries of related rights are; 1. performing artists (such as actors and musicians) in their performances; 2. producers of sound recordings (for example, cassette recordings and compact discs) in their recordings; 3. broadcasting organizations in their radio and television programs.

Performers are provided the rights to prevent fixation (recording), broadcasting and communication to the public of their live performances without their consent, and the right to prevent reproduction of fixations of their performances under certain circumstances; the right in respect of broadcasting and communication to the public may be in the form of equitable remuneration rather than a right to prevent. The producers of sound recording are granted the rights to authorize or prohibit reproduction, importation and distribution of their phonograms and copies thereof, and the right to equitable remuneration for broadcasting and communication to the public of phonograms Broadcasting organizations are provided the rights to authorize or prohibit rebroadcasting, fixation and reproduction of their broadcast.

Originality is the only condition that a work must meet in order to be protected by copyright. This means that a work cannot simply be a copy of another work. All original works enjoy copyright protection and protection is automatic.

The Copyright Act, 2001 in keeping with international norm and practice does not require any formalities for the exercise and enjoyment of the rights. There is no need to register the work neither with the Intellectual Property Division nor with any other agency of the Government in order to avail copyright protection. However, we have started Voluntary Deposit and Registration System for Copyright and Related Rights to assist authors and owners to establish prima facie proof of theirs rights over their work in times of litigation.

Owners of copyright/related rights are 1. where the economic rights are vested in the author, the author, 2. where the economic rights are originally vested in a physical person other than the author or in a legal entity, that person or entity, 3. where the ownership of the economic rights has been transmitted to a physical person or a legal entity, that person or entity; 4. In respect of a work of joint authorship, the co-authors be the original owners of the economic rights. If, however, a work of joint authorship consists of parts that can be used separately and the author of each part can be identified, the author of each part shall be the original owner of the economic rights in the part that he has created. 5. In respect of a collective work, the physical person or legal entity at the initiative and under the direction of whom or which the work has been created shall be the original owner of the economic rights. 6. In respect of a work created by an author employed by a physical person or legal entity in the course of his employment, the original owner of the economic rights shall be, unless provided otherwise in a contract, the employer. 7. In respect of an audiovisual work, the original owner of the economic rights shall be, unless provided otherwise in a contract, the producer of the audiovisual work. The co-authors of the audiovisual work and the authors of the pre-existing works included in, or adapted for, the making of the audiovisual work shall, however, maintain their economic rights in their contributions or pre-existing works, respectively, to the extent that those contributions or pre-existing works can be subject of acts, covered by their economic rights, separately from the audiovisual work.

As per the Copyright Act of the kingdom of Bhutan; 1. The economic and moral rights shall be protected during the life of the author and for fifty years after his death. 2. In the case of a work of joint authorship, the economic and moral rights shall be protected during the life of the last surviving author and for fifty years after his death. 3. In the case of a collective work, other than a work of applied art, and in the case of an audiovisual work, the economic and moral rights shall be protected for fifty years from the date on which the work was first published or, failing such an event within fifty years from the making of the work, from its making; 4. In the case of a work published anonymously or under a pseudonym, the economic and moral rights shall be protected for fifty years from the date on which the work was first published, provided that where, before the expiration of the said period, the author's identity is revealed or is no longer in doubt, the provisions of subsection (1) or subsection (2) shall apply, as the case may be. 5. In the case of a work of applied art, the economic and moral rights shall be protected for twenty-five years from the making of the work. 6. The rights of performers are to be protected for 50 years from the date of the fixation or the performance, 7. The producers of sound recording shall be protected for 50 years from the date of the fixation. 8. and the broadcasting organizations are to be protected for 50 years from the date of the broadcast

As per the Copyright Act of the kingdom of Bhutan; 1. Economic rights shall be assignable in whole or in part. 2. Any assignment of an economic right shall be in writing signed by the assignor and the assignee. 3. An assignment, in whole or in part, of any economic right shall not include or be deemed to include the assignment of any other rights not explicitly referred to therein. 4. Moral rights are independent of economic rights and always remain with the author, even when the economic rights are sold.

The public domain consists of all the works that are not protected by copyright and are therefore free to use without permission from, or payment to, the original author. This means that public domain works can be freely copied, distributed, adapted, performed and displayed in public as if they were owned by the public. Works enter the public domain when: 1. Their copyright protection expires 2. Copyright works enter public domain when the duration of copyright expires as mentioned in Q 9 above

In terms of enforcement of rights, remedies for infringement or violation of copyright and related rights are namely, conservatory and provision measures, civil remedies, criminal sanctions against abuses in respect of technical means. For further details refer the Copyright Act, 2001

The Copyright symbol © is often used as a reminder that a work is protected by Copyright. This symbol is often followed by the name of the owner of the copyright and the year in which the work was created. For example, “KMT © 2012” would be used for a publication produced by KMT in the year 2012.

The purpose of the Voluntary Deposit and Registration system is to: Provide copyright and related rights owners with a simple and effective means of establishing prima facie proof of authorship and/or ownership of their work, Maintain database/repository of copyright and related rights information, and Serve the public interest by providing statistical information on copyright and related rights works.

You can come to Intellectual Property Division in person; or you can download the Forms and fee schedule from our website www.ipbhutan.gov.bt

Every application for registration of copyright and related rights shall be made in accordance with Form CR1 (Annexure I) and shall be submitted in triplicate and Every application shall be in respect of one work only and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee (Annexure II) based on category of work and you will need to deposit 2 copies of your work.

The applicant shall deposit two original copies of each work. In certain cases such as works of the visual arts, identifying materials such as photographs etc. may be deposited. The copies shall be duly sealed and signed by the Intellectual Property Division and the applicant/owner. One copy shall be retained by the Division and the other copy shall be returned to the applicant/owner.

Upon fulfillment of the conditions referred to in point no. 12 of Guideline for Voluntary Deposit and Registration of Copyright and Related Rights Works, 2012 the Intellectual Property Division shall publish notifications in its website (www.ipbhutan.gov.bt ) inviting any opposition/objection to the application for registration of a work to be filed with the Division within one month from the date of publication of such notifications. If there are no oppositions/objections filed within one month from the date of notification, the application is accepted for registration by the Intellectual Property Division and accordingly issue a certificate of registration signed by the Director to the applicant within one week from the date of expiry of the notification period. The certificate shall bear the seal of the office, the signature, the registration number and the effective date of registration. The effective date of registration shall be the date on which the registration certificate is issued by the office.

It is not necessary for a work to be registered in order to get copyright protection. But if you do register the work you will receive a certificate which can be used to your advantage if your work is infringed. Registration is valid for as long as the copyright for the work exists. Once you register your copyright, you do not have to renew it or pay additional fees to maintain.

The prime responsibility of protecting the copyrights lies with the right holders themselves, as they are the direct loser due to copyright piracy or infringement. Therefore, the right holders should take proper and adequate precaution to protect copyright works. The owners have to take legal action on their own if they believe their rights have been infringed. Please note that, The Intellectual Property Division is not responsible for policing, or checking on registered works and their use, and will not guarantee that the legitimacy of ownership or originality in a work will never be questioned.