No copyright except by virtue of this Act
Subject to this Act, no copyright shall subsist otherwise than by virtue of this Act. * NOTE—The Deputy Controllers of Copyright, Assistant Controllers of Copyright and other officers appointed by the Corporation before the date of coming into operation of this Act shall be deemed to have been appointed under subsection 5(2) of the Copyright Act 1987 [Act 332]─see subsection 38(1) of the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012 [Act A1420].
Works eligible for copyright
(1) Subject to this section, the following works shall be eligible for copyright: (a) literary works; (b) musical works; (c) artistic works; (d) films; (e) sound recordings; and (f) broadcasts. (2) Works shall be protected irrespective of their quality and the purpose for which they were created. (2A) Copyright protection shall not extend to any idea, procedure, method of operation or mathematical concept as such. (3) A literary, musical or artistic work shall not be eligible for copyright unless— (a) sufficient effort has been expended to make the work original in character; and (b) the work has been written down, recorded or otherwise reduced to material form. (4) A work shall not be ineligible for copyright by reason only that the making of the work, or the doing of any act in relation to the work involves an infringement of copyright in some other work. (5) Copyright shall not subsist under this Act in any design which is registered under any written law relating to industrial design. (6) (Deleted by Act A1420). (7) For the purpose of this section, “any written law relating to industrial design” includes: (a) the United Kingdom Designs (Protection) Act 1949 [Act 214]; (b) the United Kingdom Designs (Protection) Ordinance of Sabah [Sabah Cap. 152]; and (c) the Designs (United Kingdom) Ordinance of Sarawak [SWK Cap. 59].
Derivative works
(1) The following derivative works are protected as original works: (a) translations, adaptations, arrangements and other transformations of works eligible for copyright; and (b) collections of works eligible for copyright, or compilation of mere data whether in machine readable or other form, which constitute intellectual creation by reason of the selection and arrangement of their contents. (2) Protection of works referred to in subsection (1) shall be without prejudice to any protection of the existing works used.
Copyright in published editions of works
(1) Copyright shall subsist, subject to the provisions of this Act, in every published edition of any one or more literary, artistic or musical work in the case of which either— (a) the first publication of the edition took place in Malaysia; or (b) the publisher of the edition was a qualified person at the date of the first publication thereof: Provided that this subsection does not apply to an edition which reproduces the typographical arrangement of a previous edition of the same work or works. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the publisher of an edition shall be entitled to any copyright subsisting in the edition by virtue of this section. (3) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the act restricted by the copyright subsisting by virtue of this section in an edition is the making of a reproduction of the typographical arrangement of the edition. (4) Reproduction of the typographical arrangement of a published edition for any purpose including research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of news or current events does not infringe the copyright subsisting by virtue of this section if such reproduction is compatible with fair dealing: Provided that if such reproduction is made public it is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the title of the work and its authorship, except where the work is incidentally included in a broadcast. (5) The Government, the National Archives, or any State Archives, the National Library, or any State library, or any public libraries and educational, scientific or professional institutions as the Minister may by order prescribe, may reproduce the typographical arrangement of a published edition without infringing the copyright subsisting by virtue of this section if such reproduction is in the public interest and is compatible with fair dealing and the provisions of any regulations.
Qualification for protection
(1) Copyright shall subsist in every work eligible for copyright of which the author or in the case of a work of joint authorship, any of the authors is, at the time when the work is made, a qualified person. (2) Copyright shall also subsist in every work which is eligible for copyright and which— (a) being a literary, musical or artistic work or film or sound recording is first published in Malaysia; (b) being a work of architecture is erected in Malaysia or being any other artistic work is incorporated in a building located in Malaysia; (c) being a broadcast is transmitted from Malaysia. (3) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), copyright shall subsist, subject to this Act, in every work eligible for copyright if the work is made in Malaysia.
Qualification for protection of performer
Performers’ right shall subsist in every performances of which the performer is— (a) a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia; or (b) not a citizen or permanent resident of Malaysia but whose performance— (i) takes place in Malaysia; (ii) is incorporated in sound recordings that are protected under this Act; or (iii) has not been fixed in a sound recording but is included in a broadcast qualifying for protection under this Act.
Copyright in works of Government, Government organizations and international bodies
(1) Copyright shall subsist in every work which is eligible for copyright and which is made by or under the direction or control of the Government and such Government organizations or international bodies as the Minister may by order prescribe. (2) Section 10 shall not be taken to confer copyright on works to which this section applies.
Administration of Government copyright
Where the copyright in any work is vested in the Government, the Ministry or Department concerned with the copyright shall be responsible for the administration and control of that copyright on behalf of the Government: Provided that the Ministry or Department concerned may authorize the Director of National Archives to administer and control that copyright on behalf of the Government.
Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Text as at 30 June 2022 (LOM reprint); amendments made after that date may not be incorporated. Read the official text ↗
Source: Laws of Malaysia, Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia (lom.agc.gov.my). Not a copy of the Gazette printed by the Government Printer (Interpretation Acts 1948 and 1967, s 61).