Copyright Act 1987 s 17
s 17 Duration of copyright in literary, musical or artistic works
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, copyright in any literary, musical or artistic work which subsists in such work under this Act shall subsist during the life of the author and shall continue to subsist until the expiry of a period of fifty years after his death.
(2) Where a literary, musical or artistic work had not been published before the death of the author, copyright which subsists in such work under this Act shall continue to subsist until the expiry of a period of fifty years computed from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work was first published.
(3) Where a literary, musical or artistic work is published anonymously or under a pseudonym, copyright which subsists in such work under this Act shall continue to subsist until the expiry of a period
of fifty years computed from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the work was first published or first made available to the public or made, whichever is the latest:
Provided that in the event of the identity of the author becoming known, the duration of copyright shall be calculated in accordance with subsection (1).
(4) In this section, a reference to βauthorβ shall, in the case of a work of joint authorship, be construed as a reference to the author who dies last.
Malay text (authoritative)
Jangka masa hak cipta mengenai karya sastera, muzik atau seni
(1) Kecuali sebagaimana yang diperuntukkan selainnya dalam Akta ini, hak cipta mengenai mana-mana karya sastera, muzik atau seni yang wujud mengenai karya itu di bawah Akta ini wujud semasa hayat pencipta dan hendaklah terus wujud sehingga habis tempoh lima puluh tahun selepas kematiannya.
(2) Jika sesuatu karya sastera, muzik atau seni tidak pernah diterbitkan sebelum kematian penciptanya, hak cipta yang wujud mengenai karya itu di bawah Akta ini hendaklah terus wujud sehingga habis tempoh lima puluh tahun yang dihitung dari permulaan tahun kalendar berikutan dengan tahun yang karya itu mula-mula diterbitkan.
(3) Jika sesuatu karya sastera, muzik atau seni diterbitkan tanpa nama atau dengan menggunakan nama samaran, hak cipta yang wujud mengenai karya itu di bawah Akta ini hendaklah terus wujud sehingga habis tempoh lima puluh tahun yang dihitung dari permulaan tahun kalendar berikutan tahun karya itu diterbitkan atau mula-mula dijadikan tersedia kepada orang awam atau dibuat, mengikut mana-mana yang paling kemudian:
Dengan syarat bahawa sekiranya identiti pencipta telah diketahui jangka masa hak cipta hendaklah dikira menurut subseksyen (1).
(4) Dalam seksyen ini, sebutan mengenai βpenciptaβ hendaklah, dalam hal karya ciptaan bersama, ditafsirkan sebagai sebutan mengenai pencipta yang meninggal dunia terkemudian.
Read this section in the full act β Β· Open Part III β
Find Act 332 on lom.agc.gov.my β
Text as at 30 June 2022 (LOM reprint); amendments made after that date may not be incorporated.
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).
