Hong Kong Copyright Law (point form)
Copyright is a kind protection to the creators/owners of Intellectual Property (IP). Here is a brief concept of Copyright Law in Hong Kong:
General idea of Copyright?
- A form of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
- Protects only the expression or product of concept (e.g. an article by a writer)
- Protects owners of original work of intellectual properties from being copied or performance without consent of owners
- Supports the owners to make wealth from their work
- Encourages the owners to develop on their work (i.e. protects creativity)
Who is the owner of a Copyright-item? (i.e.
Ownership of
Copyright)
- Author of a work is the first owner of any copyright – E.g. Producer (sound recording), publisher (publication), and director (film)
- Employer (or commissioner) owns the copyright of work produced by employee
How is the protection powered by Copyright
Law?
- Copyright Law is governed by the Copyright Ordnance
- The Copyright Tribunal (http://www.ct.gov.hk) provides a forum for resolving disputes about the use of copyright works
- Copyright Tribunal is an independent quasi-judicial body
- Automatically protects an original work (i.e. need not apply, unlike patents & trademarks)
- Protection for recognized categories of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, films, television broadcasts, cable programs, works which are delivered to public on the Internet, and software
- Owners of work has exclusive control in coping, issuing/rental of copies to public, perform/play/broadcast the work to public
Copyright protection to works and their
owners in other countries
because Hong Kong is a member of:
- Berne Convention
- Universal Copyright Convention
- The Phonograms Convention and the World Trade Organization – Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
Validity period of Copyright:
- Literary, and artistic work: 50 year after the death of owner
- Photographs, sound recording, film, and broadcast: 50 years after the debut
- Edition of publication: 25 years after the publication of that edition
Type of Copyright Infringement:
Primary infringement:
- The infringer is performed by a person or an individual who is authorized
- Direct “copying” without the consent of the owner in any material form (i.e. the 1st creator to produce infringing copies or infringing performance)
Secondary infringement:
- The infringer is performed by a person
- Trading, possessing, importing to, and exporting from infringing copies/performance
- Involves in or providing means for marking of infringing copies/performance
Exemption:
- Private or household study
- Criticism, review and news reporting
- Use of works in library and school
Remedies for infringement:
Copyright owner may take civil legal action against infringer for compensation of losses, to prevent further infringement.
Criminal offense for situations as follows:
- Copyright privacy: Infringers are subjected to a maximum fine of HKD 50,000 per infringing article and a term of imprisonment of up
to four years - Importing or exporting of private work: Infringers are subjected to a maximum fine of HKD 50,000 per infringing article and a
term of imprisonment of up to eight years - Parallel importation of articles containing copyright work: Protection during the 18 months commencing from the work’s first
publication anywhere in the world
Assignment of Copyright:
- Assignment of copyright means transfer of ownership of copyright from original copyright owner (i.e. copyright owner) to new
owner (i.e. assignee) - Writing and signed document by the assignor is required to make the transfer effective
Licensing of Copyright:
- Does not involve the transfer of ownership of copyright Copyright owner (i.e. licensor) permits the others (i.e. licensee) the right to use the work for a period, including copying and sell the copies.
- The licensee maybe exclusive or non-exclusive
- Writing and signed document by the assignor is required to
make the licensing effective