Summary:
Copyright in the UAE is protected under the Copyright and Authorship Protection Law No. 7 for the year 2002. The UAE is a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
For obtaining protection, copyrightable works have to be deposited with the Ministry of Information and Culture. Protection is granted to authors of literary, artistic and scientific works of whatever the value or kind or purpose or way of expression is.
Generally, protection is provided for works whose means of expression is writing, sound, drawing, image, motion pictures, creative titles or computer software. Translation of original works is also protected.
The duration of the protection is for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years after his death or 50 years from the date of publication in cases of cinematographic works, works of corporate bodies and works published for the first time after the death of the author.
An unauthorized publication of an author's work of art is penalized by imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than 50.000 Dirhams. A publisher who contravenes the author's instructions through unauthorized addition, omission or modification shall be punished by imprisonment and/or a fine not less than 10.000 Dirhams.
Requirements:
Filing Requirements
1. A Power of Attorney in the name of the applicant(s), legalized up to the UAE Consulate.
2. The name of the author, or authors in case of joint-works.
3. Identification documents of the applicant.
4. The subject of the work.
5. Three copies of the work.
6. A detailed statement of the work's specifications.
