How To Protect Your Creative Works In The UAE: Copyright Essentials

Intellectual property (IP) has become an invaluable corporate asset, often more valuable than most tangible assets. With the rise of more dynamic businesses, especially in the UAE, these IP assets play a crucial role in maintaining a competitive edge in the market.

While these assets include trademarks, copyrights, patents, industrial designs, and trade secrets, copyrights specifically protect creators, artists, and even businesses by safeguarding their creative works. However, to ensure effective protection of your creative works in the UAE, understanding what is protected, the nature of your rights, and how they are enforced, is essential.

Legal Framework of Copyrights in the UAE

For copyrights in the UAE, the Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (the 2021 Copyrights Law) is the major governing legislation. Aligning with international standards and the 1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the legislation plays a crucial role in establishing and safeguarding creative rights, protecting authors and their creative products, regulating neighbouring rights, facilitating licensing of such works, and enforcing effective legal compliance in cases of infringements.

What are the Different Types of Works Protected Under the 2021 Copyright Law?

‘Work’ as defined under Article 1, is ‘any creative product in the field of letters, arts or science, of whatever type, expression method, significance or purpose.’ It must be original, innovative and must be in a tangible form.

Further, as entailed under Article 2 of the 2021 Copyrights Law, Copyrights can be used to protect the following works:

• Article 2(1) – Literary works, which shall cover books, pamphlets, essays and other written works.
• Article 2(5) – Musical works, which can be with or without words.
• Article 2(8) – Artistic works, which shall include drawings, paintings, sculpture, lithography and printing on fabrics, or any other similar works that come within the scope of fine arts.
• Article 2(7) – Architecture Works such as engineering drawings and plans.
• Article 2(4) – Dramatic works, such as dramatico-musical works and dumb shows.
• Article 2(6) – Sound recordings, including audio or visual or audiovisual works.          
• Article 2(2) – Computer software, covering smart applications, software application, databases and similar works.

The Article also includes various other works such as oral lectures, photographic works, works of plastic arts, illustrations, geographical maps, etc., under the category of protected works.

However, it is pertinent to note that copyright protection in the UAE extends only to works of expression, wherein Article 3 expressly excludes mere ideas, procedures, methods of operation or even mathematical concepts from the scope of such protection. 

Who shall be a Copyright Owner?

The copyright owner is allowed to reproduce, make copies, market, perform, and adapt their copyrighted work. Generally, the copyright shall be owned by the creator of a work. However,

• An employer shall be deemed to be the owner if they created the work as part of their job.
• In cases where the work was commissioned, it shall belong to the buyer.
• If the creator has sold or transferred the copyright ownership, the transferee shall become the owner.

How To Protect Your Creative Works?

• Identify if your work is eligible: As mentioned earlier, the 2021 Copyright Law clearly enlists the various areas of protected works. Identifying whether your work qualifies for copyright protection is fundamental.
• Understanding your automatic rights: It is relevant to note that Copyright protection in the UAE can be obtained automatically, even without the need for formal registration. Hence, ‘works’ as under Articles 1 and 2 that are eligible for copyright protection, entailing an innovative character, do not strictly require registration to be valid, as entailed under Article 4(2). This means that a creator’s legal rights over their work are established the moment such work is created in a tangible form.
• Registration of your work: While protection is automatic upon the creation of an innovative work, a formal registration certificate from the Ministry of Economy can serve as a powerful tool for assertion of moral rights, public record, effective enforcement and also as proof of ownership.
• Creator’s Moral and Economic Rights: While moral rights include rights to attribution and integrity, ensuring that the creator’s personal connection to their work is respected, economic rights provide the exclusive right to authorise the use of the work, including its reproduction, electronic storage, broadcasting, public performance, translation etc.
• Managing ownership in employment or commissions: When works are created for others, such a contractual relationship plays a pivotal role. Drafting contracts of commission and employment contracts carefully, envisaging clear provisions as to the ownership and use of copyright, is important.
• Monitoring the term of protection: In the UAE, for literary, artistic, and musical works, the copyright lasts for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years after their death. For cinematographic, photographic, audiovisual works, and works created under employment or contracts, it lasts for 50 years from the date of creation.
• Monitoring Infringements and Enforcing your rights against them: Undertaking regular monitoring for unauthorised use of your work online and in the market is necessary.

In cases where a third person entails in unauthorized use of your copyrighted work, such as copying, reproducing, or distributing works without permission from the copyright holder, as the creator or owner or the copyright holder, you shall have several legal avenues for protection.

• Summary Proceedings: In such cases, the creator or the owner may apply to a judge requesting injunctions, suspend publication, seize original works or counterfeit copies, or attach revenues generated from the unauthorised use.
• Customs Protection: The creator or the owner may also request customs authorities to suspend the clearance of materials that violate their copyright for up to 20 days.
• Penalties: Even basic infringements may attract criminal penalties including imprisonment and fines ranging from AED 10,000 to AED 100,000.
• Compensation: The creator or the owner may also demand civil compensation for both moral and economic damages resulting from any such infringements.

An author who has obtained copyright protection automatically (without formal registration) can still seek judicial remedies such as injunctions or even compensation for infringements, provided they can prove they are the creator of the work.

Digital Works

The UAE Copyrights Law explicitly covers computer software, smart applications, software applications, and similar works to be protected under its Article 2. Further, the legislation also ensures that key concepts such as ‘reproduction of works’ include downloading and both permanent and temporary electronic storage, against which protection can be strictly enforced through Article 40, which penalises the unauthorised downloading or storage.

The legislation also clearly states that licensing of these digital assets is legally governed by the terms and conditions appearing on the screen during installation or storage.

Understanding the upcoming digitalisation era, to further strengthen copyright protection, the UAE also supports Digital rights Management (DRM) technologies and agreements, such as encryption, watermarking, and access controls, which effectively enable owners of the work to control unauthorised access, use, and distribution of their digital works, thereby protecting their IP assets.

Copyright is a valuable IP asset that safeguards a creator’s originality and economic and moral interests. However, effective protection requires timely registration, proper documentation, regular monitoring and legal enforcement. Therefore, seeking guidance from a legal expert ensures compliance with UAE copyright laws and provides strong remedies against infringement, thereby securing long-term value for your creative works.