WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
27 January 2011 
 (11-0440) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English/ 
 anglais/  inglés 
 
  
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
OMAN 
  The present document reproduces the text
1 of the Law of Copyrights and Neighbouring 
Rights (Royal Decree 65/2008), as notified by Oman on 22 July 2010 under Article 63.2 of the 
Agreement (see document IP/N/1/OMN/2). 
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA 
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
 
OMAN 
  Le présent document contient le texte
1 de la la Loi sur le droit d'auteur et les droits voisins 
(Décret royal n° 65/2008), notifiée par Oman le 22 juillet 2010 au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord 
(voir le document IP/N/1/OMN/2). 
 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA PROPIEDAD 
INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD DEL PÁRRAFO 2 
DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
 
OMÁN 
  En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de la Ley del derec ho de autor y derechos 
conexos (Real Decreto N° 65/2008), que Omán notific ó el 22 de julio de 2010 de conformidad con lo 
dispuesto en el párrafo 2 del artículo 63 de l Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/OMN/2). 
                                                      
1 In English only.  En anglais seulement.  En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 2  
 
  LAW OF COPYRIGHTS AND NEIGHBORING RIGHT 
 
Royal Decree 65/2008: 
Promulgating the Law of Copyrights and Neighboring Rights 
 
 
We, Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman,  After perusal of the Basic Law of the State promulgated by Royal Decree 101/96;  
The Financial Law promulgated by the Royal Decree no. 47/98;  
The Judiciary Authority Law promulgated by the Royal Decree no. 90/99;  The Public Prosecution Law promulgate d by the Royal Decree no. 92/99;  
The Law of Penal Procedures promulgated by the Royal Decree no. 97/99;  The Law of Copyrights and Neighboring Rights promulgated by the Royal Decree no. 37/2000;  The Law on Civil and Commercial Procedure promulgated by the Royal Decree no. 29/2002;  
And the Law of Telecommunications Regulatory pr omulgated by the Royal Decree no. 30/2002;  
 And according to the exigencies of public interest,  
We decree the following: 
 
 
Article I:   The attached law shall apply to Copyrights and Neighboring Rights. 
 Article II:   The Minister of Commerce and Industry sh all issue the regulations implementing the 
attached law. Pending the issue of the regulations, pr evailing regulations and decisions shall remain in 
force insofar as they do not contradict its provisions.  
 Article III:   The above said Law of Copyrights and Ne ighboring Rights promulgated by the Royal 
Decree no. 37/2000 shall be repealed, together with  anything that contradicts or contravenes the 
attached law. 
 
Article IV:   This Royal Decree shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall come into 
effect from the day following the date of its publication.   
 
Qaboos bin Said     Issued on: 4
th of May 2008 
Sultan of Oman 
  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
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  Chapter I 
 
Definitions 
 
Article (1):  
 
For the purposes of the application of the provision s of this Law, the following words and expressions 
shall have the meanings given below, unless otherwise required by the context: 
  1. The Ministry: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry 
 
 2.  The Minister: The Minister of Commerce and Industry   3.  Author: The natural person who creates the work.  
 4.  Work: Any production in the literary, artis tic, or scientific domain, of whatever type, 
way of expression, importance, or purpose.   5.  Creation: The creative nature, which gi ves originality and distinction to the work. 
  6.  Collective work: Any work created by a group of authors under the supervision of a 
natural or legal person who undertak es to publish under his own liabilit y and supervision. The efforts 
of authors shall be integrated in the general objec tive when it is not possible to separate the share of 
all authors and distinguish it independently.   7.  Joint work: Any work created with the contribution of many persons irrespective of 
whether it is possible or not to distinguish the shar e of each, unless otherwise agreed, and which is not 
classified under collective works.   
 
 8.  Derivative work: Any new work created and produced from an existing one, like 
translations, musical adaptations, a rrangements, and other alterations.  
 
 9.  Audio-visual work: The work compo sed of a series of linked images giving the 
impression of motion and recorded on medium or any other devices, either along with audio or not, 
like movies.   10.  Work of Applied Arts: Any artistic creati on of useful functions or integrated into a 
tool for use concerning a work for produ cing traditional or industrial crafts. 
  11.  Work of Photography: Any recording of light or any other radiation on a medium producing an image or from which an image can be  produced, whatever is the technical nature 
through which the recording was accomplished.  
 12.  Expressions of national folklore: An y expression or production of distinguishable 
elements reflecting the traditional popular heritage that was originated developed and maintained in 
the Sultanate of Oman to express the traditional cultural identity which is communicated through 
generations, including particularly the following expressions:  
 a) Oral expressions such as popular stories, anecdotes, sayings, mysteries, poems, and 
other folklores. 
  b)  Musical expressions such as folk songs accompanied by musical instruments.   IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 4  
 
   c)   Movement performances such as dances, popular artistic presentations, and 
traditional popular rituals.  
  d)   Concrete expressions including all produc ts of folk fine arts such as drawings or 
paintings, sculptures, pottery, porcelain, te xtiles, clothing, carpets, traditional musical 
instruments, architectural forms. 
  13.  Reproduction: Making one or more copi es of a work, performance, sound recording, 
or a broadcasting program, directly or indirectly by any means and in any form, including permanent or temporary electronic storage, printing and photocopying of a work or sound recording.   
 
 14.  Publication: Making available or offering, to the public, in reasonable quantities, tangible copies of a work, sound recording, broadcasting programs or performance by any means, with the consent of the right owner,  in an appropriate quantities, for sale, rental, public lending, or 
other transfer of the ownership or the possession of the copies. 
 
 15.  Sound recording: The fixation of the sounds of a performance or of other sounds, or of a representation of sounds, other than in the form  of a fixation incorporated in an audio-visual 
work.   16.  Producer of sound recording: The natural or legal person, who assumes the 
responsibility for the first fixation of the sound recording. 
  17.  Producer of audio-visual work: Th e natural or legal person, who takes the 
responsibility for making the audio-visual work.  
 18.  Neighboring rights: The rights of the performers, producers of sound recordings and 
broadcasting organizations.   19.  Performers: The persons, who act, sing, orate, recite, play, dance, or otherwise 
perform other works and national folklore expressions.  
 20.  Public domain: The property, which in clude all works excluded from protection or of 
which the term of protection of economic rights expires at the date of enforcing this law, or of which 
the term is so reduced in accordance with the provisions of this law. 
  21.  Broadcasting: Transmission of sounds or sounds and images, or transmission of any 
representation thereof, by wireless means - including transmission by satellite – to the public. It is 
considered as broadcasting the wireless transmissi on of encrypted signals if the means for decoding 
are provided to the public by the broadcasting organi zations or with their consent.  Broadcasting does 
not include transmissions over computer networks or any transmission where the time and place of reception may be individually chosen by members of the public.   
 22.  Public Performance: Any action presenti ng the work to the public of any variety 
whereby a contact is established between the public  and the work through direct performance or any 
other means.   23.  Communication to the public: Transmi ssion of images, or sounds, or images and 
sounds, by wired or wireless means of a work , performance, sound recording or broadcasting 
program, in a way to allow individuals, other than fa mily members and their closest friends, to receive 
the transmission in any place other than the origina tion point of the transmission, and regardless of the 
time and place of reception, including making them  available to the public in such a way that  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 5 
 
 
  members of the public may access them at a time or place chosen by the individual as received by a 
computer or any other means.    24.  Broadcasting organizations: The authority,  which transmits, by wireless means, audio 
or audio-visual broadcasting, or any representation thereof. 
 
 25.   Effective Technological Measures:  Any technology, device or component that, in the ordinary course of its operation, controls acc ess to a work, performance, sound recording, or 
broadcasting program, or protects any copyright or neighboring rights.  
 26.   Rights Management Information:  Information that identifies: 
  (a)  a work, performance, sound recording, or broadcasting program;   (b) the author of the work, the performer of the performance, the producer of the sound 
recording, or the broadcasting organization; 
  (c)  the owner of any right in the work, pe rformance, sound recording, or the broadcasting 
program; 
  (d)  information about the terms and cond itions of the use of the work, performance, 
sound recording, or the broadcasting program; or 
  (e)  any numbers or codes that represent such information.  When any of these items is attach ed to a copy of the work, perfo rmance, sound recording, or a 
broadcasting program, or appears in connection with  the communication or making them available to 
the public.   27.  Fixation: The embodiment of sounds, or of the representations thereof, from which 
they can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated through a device.  
 28.   The Service Provider: 
 
 A) A provider or operator of online servi ces, network access, or associated facilities 
services 
 
 B)  With regard to transitory connections, a provider of transmission, routing, or 
connections for direct digital online comm unications, without modification of their 
content, between or among points specified by the user, of material of the user's possession and a content of his choice. 
 
 
Chapter II 
 
Scope of Protection 
 Article (2):  
 
The created works of literature, arts and science sh all enjoy protection under this law regardless of 
their value, type, and way of expression or purpose of their production. The protection shall include: 
  a.  Books, booklets, articles, pamphlets and other written works. IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 6  
 
   b.  Computer programs and databases whether readable from the computer or other. 
  c.  Works that are orally recited such as lectures, speeches, discussions and other oral 
works. 
 
 d.  Dramatic, musical and choreographic wo rks, silent shows (pantomimes) and other 
works made for acting performance. 
  e.  Musical compositions with or without words.  
 f.  Audio-visual works. 
  g.  Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, lithography, printing on fabric, 
wood or metals, and any similar works in fine arts. 
 
 h.  Photographic works and similar. 
  i.  Works of applied and plastic ar ts either handcrafted or industrial. 
  j.  Illustrations, geographical maps, plans, sketches, and three-dimensional works related 
to geography, topography, or architecture.  
 
 The title of the work also enjoys protection if created.  
Article (3):  
 The following shall enjoy the protection under this law: 
  a.  Derivative works.   b.  Collections of works, such as encycl opedias, which by reason of the selection and 
arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations. 
 
 c.  Compilations of data or other material , whether in machine readable or other form, 
which by reason of the selection and arra ngement of their contents constitute 
intellectual creations.  
 
 The protection, stipulated in the three previ ous paragraphs shall be without prejudice to any 
copyright subsisting in the underlying content.  
Article (4): 
 
Protection shall not cover mere ideas, procedur es, working methods, mathematical concepts, 
principles, discoveries and data.  
  Additionally, protection shall not cover the following:   a.  Official documents of whatever original  language or translated language, as texts of 
laws, regulations, decisions, agreements, in ternational conventions, judicial orders, 
judgments of arbitrators and decisions issued by administrative committees with judicial competence, as well as official translations. 
  b.  News of the day and current events  which are mere journalistic information.  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 7 
 
 
   Notwithstanding, all of the above in the previ ous paragraphs shall enjoy protection if their 
compilation or arrangement, or any creation or in tellectual effort, eligible for protection, is 
distinguished.   
Chapter III 
 
Author's rights 
 First: Moral rights 
 
Article (5):  
 
The author shall enjoy non-prescriptive and non-transferable moral rights, such as: 
 
 a.  Right to claim authorship of the work in the manner he determines. 
  b.   Right to object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of, or other 
derogatory action in relation to, the work, wh ich would be prejudicial to his honor or 
reputation.   
 
It is absolutely void and null to dispose of any of  these rights, whether such disposition results or does 
not result in compensation.  The author's general successor shall enjoy these right s, and the Ministry shall succeed to these rights 
in the absence of a public successor to the author. 
 
Second: Economic Rights 
 
Article (6): 
 
The author or his general successor shall have th e right to enjoy the following economic rights: 
 
 a) The reproduction of his work   b) Translation of his work into anothe r language, prepare derivative works based upon 
the copyrighted work, musical re-composition, or modification in another form. 
 
 c) The disposition of the original or a copy of his work to the public through sale or 
other transfer of ownership. 
  d) Rental of the original or a copy of his work embodied in sound recording, of his 
movie work, or computer program, for commercial purposes. 
 
 e) Public performance of his work.   f) Communication to the public.  
 g) Broadcasting of his work. 
 IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 8  
 
  Article (7): 
 
The right of rental shall not apply to computer progr ams, if the program itself is not the main object of 
rental, and shall not apply as well to audio-visual works if it will not damage the normal use thereof. 
 Article (8): 
 
The right owner or his successor shall have the right to  transfer to a third party, all or part of his 
economic rights, stipulated under this law, or perm its him to utilize such rights, according to a written 
contract that shall specify the right subject to disposal, the purpose, duration of use, and the location 
of the clearance. 
 Without prejudice to his moral rights stipulated in this  law, the author shall not, in any way, retracts 
any assignment of rights.  Article (9):  
 
The author or his successor may obtain compensation in money or in kind against the transfer of one or more rights to another party or be authorized to use his economic rights of the work on the basis of a relative share in the royalties deri ved from the use, and he shall have the right to contract on the 
basis of a recorded amount, or on both bases. 
 
Article (10):   
 
The authorization to utilize a work  embodied in a sound recording shall be granted by the consent of 
the author and all the owners of other rights on the work such as the performer or the producer 
collectively,  the need for the authorization of any of them  does not cease to exist because the 
authorization of the others.   
Article (11):  
 
Without prejudice to the provisions of article (8) of th is law, the transfer of economic rights, in respect 
to the works of computer programs and applications or  databases, shall be subject to authorization of 
the contract which is mentioned or attached to  the program, either shown on the medium of the 
program or shown upon loading or storing the pr ogram in the computer screen, and the program's 
buyer or user shall comply with the cond itions stipulated in such authorization. 
 Article (12):  
 
Disposal by the author of the original version of his work, shall not, in any way, result in transferring 
any of his economic rights, unless otherwise agreed upon.  However, without  prior agreement, the 
transferee of the ownership of this copy shall not  be compelled to allow the author to reproduce, 
transfer, or present such. 
 
Article (13):  
 
Author's rights may not be seized pursuant to a cour t decision. However, copies of a published work 
may be seized. Works the owners of which die before publication may not be seized unless it is 
proven beyond any doubt that those owners intended to publish those works before their death. 
 
Article (14): 
 
Disposal by the author of all his future works shall be completely null and void.  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 9 
 
 
  Chapter IV 
 
Protection of Neighboring Rights 
 
Article (15): 
 
Performers shall enjoy non-transferable and n on-prescriptive eternal moral rights, including: 
  a-  Right to claim authorship of their perfo rmances, whether live or recorded, as done by 
them, except where omission is dictated by  the manner or use of the performance; 
 
 b-  Right to object to any distortion,  mutilation or other modification of their 
performance, which would be prejudicial to their honor or reputation. 
 Any disposal of such copyrights either compensated or not, shall be void. 
 
The performers' public successor shall succeed the rights stipulated in this article, and the Ministry 
shall succeed to these rights, in the absence of a general successor for the performers. 
 
Article (16): 
 Performers shall enjoy the following exclusive economic rights: 
  a.  Broadcasting and communication to the public of their unfixed (live) performances. 
  b.  Fixation of their unfixed performances 
 
 c.  Preventing the use of their unfixed (live) performance in any way unless a prior 
written authorization is obtained. 
  d.  Making available to the public of the orig inal or copies of their performances through 
sale or other transfer of ownership. 
 
 e.  Renting their broadcasted performan ces to the public, for commercial purposes. 
  f.  Broadcasting or any communication to the public of their performances fixed in a 
sound recording. 
 
 g.  Reproduction of their fixed performances.  The provision of this article does not apply in  case the performers agr ee to incorporate their 
performances within an audio-visual work.  Article (17): 
 
Producers of sound recordings shall enjoy the following exclusive economic rights:   a.  The use of their recordings in any way, including reproduction and rental.  
 IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 10  
 
    b.  Making available to the public of the original and copies of their sound recordings 
through sale or other transfer of ownership. 
  c.  Broadcasting or any communication to the public of their sound recordings.  Article (18): 
 
Broadcasting organizations shall enjoy the following exclusive economic rights:   a.  Fixing, reproducing, broadcasti ng and rebroadcasting their programs and 
communicating them to the public; 
  b.  Prohibiting others from communicating the television recording of their programs to 
the public without a prior written authorization. 
 
It shall be considered prohibited for others to record, reproduce, rent, re-broadcast, distribute or 
communicate such to the public by any means.   
Article (19):  
 
The provisions of articles (8, 9, 10, 12, and 14) of this law shall be applied to disposals of economic 
rights of owners of neighboring rights.  Provi sions of article (13) apply to these rights.  
  
Chapter V 
 
Free Uses of Works 
 
Article (20):  Subject to the moral copyrights, stipulated under this law, the following uses of works 
shall be lawful even without the c onsent of the author provided that  the source and the name of the 
author are mentioned if listed in the work, and provid ed that a free use shall not be allowed if the use 
conflicts with the normal exploitation of the work, performance, or phonogram or unreasonably 
prejudices the legitimate interests of the au thor, performer, or producer of phonograms: 
 1. Quoting paragraphs from a protected work lawf ully made available to the public in another 
work for clarification, explanation, or criticism pur poses, to the extent of the desired purpose and as 
much as justified by such goal.  
 
2. Use of the work in meetings within the family or through an educational institution for 
clarification during face-to-face educational or teac hing purposes, within the limits justified by such 
goal, provided that this would be done with no direct or indirect compensation.   3. Reproduction, to the extent justified by th e purpose and without the purpose of direct or 
indirect financial gain, of a single copy by reprogr aphic means of protected works by public libraries, 
non-commercial documentation centers, educationa l establishments and scientific and cultural 
institutions, provided that such reproduction shall be:   a-  For a published article or short work whereas the purpose of reproduction is to meet 
the need of a natural person for use in a study or research and provided that 
reproduction shall be for one time, or at vary ing intervals.  Reproduction shall also be 
considered if repeated, on separate and unrelated occasions, and that there is no collective license available under which such reproduction can be made, or; 
  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 11 
 
 
   b.  Reproduction for the purpose of maintaining the original copy or replacing a lost or 
damaged copy for which it is not possible to obtain a substitute.  
 4.  Reproduction, broadcasting, or making available to the public by the press of portions of articles published in newspapers or periodicals on current economic, political, or religious topics and 
of broadcast works of the same ch aracter, in cases in which the re production, broadcasting, or such 
communication thereof is not expressly reserved for the right owner at the time of publication.    5.  Reproduction of a single copy of a computer program by the lawful owner of the copy, provided that it is necessary for the use of the comput er program for the purpose and extent for which 
the computer program was obtained, or for archival purposes and for the replacement of the lawfully 
owned copy of the program in the event that the or iginal copy is lost, destroyed or rendered unusable, 
or making an adapted, altered, or modified copy of the program, or translated into another computer language, whenever deemed necessar y to match with a certain computer, and provided that it is 
exclusively used by the legitimate owner of the original copy.   
 
6.   Public performance of a dramatic, musical or dramatic musical, c horeographic, pantomime 
works or any other work, created for dramatic performance, if:   a-  Religious ceremonies to the extent jus tified by the nature of these celebrations.  
 
 b-  Purposes of face-to-face learning activities in approved non-profit educational 
institutions, in classrooms or similar places dedicated to education.  
  In both cases, it is provided not  to obtain, directly or in directly, any financial gain. 
 
7.  Broadcasting organizations may, by thei r own means, for the purposes of use in their 
broadcasts, make a temporary recording of a work, provided that:   a-  The broadcasting organization is entitled to broadcast this work; 
  b-  The broadcasting organization destroys this recording after six months from 
execution thereof, unless the right owner ag rees to extend this period, except for 
keeping one single copy of this recording for archive purposes.  
  
Chapter VI 
 
Special provisions 
 
Article (21):  
 
Everyone who participates in making a joint work, wh ereas the part of each cannot be separated, shall 
be equally considered as right owner of such work, unless agreed otherwise in writing.  In this case, 
any of them shall not individually exercise the copyrights unless agreed otherwise in writing.  If the participation of all authors in the joint work concerns  a different type of art, each of them shall have 
the right to separately use the part of his contribut ion, provided that such does not cause damage to the 
use of the joint work, unless ag reed otherwise in writing. 
 
 If any of the authors passes away with no pub lic successor, his part shall go to the other 
authors or their successors, unless agreed otherwise in writing.  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 12  
 
  Article (22):  
 
The natural or legal person, who took the initiative to create the collective work and undertook to 
publish it under his name, shall be owner of the mo ral and economic rights of the work, unless agreed 
otherwise in writing. 
 
Article (23): 
 
The author, who completed the derivative work, sh all be considered the owner of the moral and 
economic rights of such work, without prejudice to the rights of the author of the original work. 
 
Article (24):  
 
The following shall be considered as co -author of the audio-visual work:  
 
 a. The author of the scenario, or the innovated written idea;    
  b.  The person who adapts an existing literary work to make it appropriate to 
audio-visual; 
  c.  The author of the script;  
 
 d.  The arranger of the music if specifically composed for the work; 
  e.  The director if he actually supervised the realization of the work;  
 f.  If the work was extracted or taken out of another existing one, the author of the 
previous work shall be considered as co-author of the new one.  
 
Article (25):  
 
Without prejudices to the right of the author of the literal or music portion to publish his work in a 
way different from publishing the audio-visual work – unless otherwise agreed upon in writing – the 
co-authors rights in the audio-vi sual work shall be as follows: 
  a-  Where the author of a literary work or  musical work has licensed the creation of a 
derivative screenplay or audiovisual work, that authorization shall be deemed to 
include the authorization to publicly perfo rm the derivative work, unless the license 
specifically provides otherwise.  
  b-  Where one of the participants in making an audio-visual work abstained to finish his 
part, the other co-authors may use the part which he made, without prejudice to any rights derived from his participation in the creation. 
 
 c-  The producer of the audio-visual work sh all represent the authors of this work and be 
entitled to exercise all of the economic right s, except for the composers of musical 
works, in the use of their rights of this  work, unless agreed otherwise in writing. 
 
  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
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  Chapter VII 
 
Term of Protection of the Economic Rights and Neighboring Rights 
 
First: Term of protection of the Economic rights 
 
Article (26):  
 
The term of protection for the economic copyrights, sti pulated under this law, shall be the life of the 
author and seventy years starting from the beginning of the Gregorian calendar year following the 
year of his death. 
 
Article (27):  
 
The economic rights of authors of joint works sha ll be protected for their life and seventy years 
starting from the beginning of the Gregorian calendar y ear following the year of the death of the last 
surviving author.  
Article (28):  
 
The economic rights of the audio-visual works and co llective works shall be protected for ninety-five 
years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following the year during which these 
works were legally published the first time, and if  such works were not published during twenty-five 
years starting from the date they were completed, the economic rights of these works shall be protected for one hundred twenty years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following their creation. 
 
Article (29):  
 
The economic rights of the works published anonymous ly or under a pseudonym, shall be protected 
for ninety-five years starting from the first day of  the Gregorian calendar year following the year 
during which these works were legally published for the first time. If such works were not published 
during twenty-five years starting from the date of completion, the economic rights of these works 
shall be protected for one hundred twenty years st arting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar 
year following their creation, and if the identity of the author is known or revealed during the mentioned period, the term of protection shall be  according to the provisions of article (26, 27) 
according to circumstances. 
 
Article (30):  
 
The economic rights of the works of applied arts sh all be protected for ninety-five years starting from 
the first day of the Gregorian calendar year followi ng the year during which these works were legally 
published for the first time. If such works were not  published during twenty-five years starting from 
the date of completion, the economic rights of these works shall be protected for one hundred twenty 
years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following their creation.  
Second: Term of protection of the neighboring rights 
 
Article (31):   
The economic rights of the performers shall be prot ected for ninety-five years starting from the first 
day of the Gregorian calendar year following th e year during which the recorded performance was 
legally published for the first time. If such work  was not published during twenty-five years starting IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 14  
 
  from the date of completion, the economic rights of  this work shall be protected for one hundred 
twenty years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following its creation.  
Article (32):  
 The economic rights of the producers of sound recordings shall be protected for Ninety-five years 
starting form the first day of the Gregorian calenda r year following the year during which the sound 
recording was legally published for the first time.  If such sound recording was not published during 
twenty-five years starting from the date of comple tion, the economic rights of such work shall be 
protected for one hundred twenty years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year 
following the creation of such sound recording. 
 
Article (33): 
 
The rights of broadcasting programs of the broadcas ting organizations shall be protected for twenty 
years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following the year in which the 
program was broadcasted for the first time.   
Chapter VIII 
 
Deposit 
 
Article (34):  
 
The right holder shall have the right, to deposit,  at his own expenses, one copy of the work, 
performance, or phonogram with the Ministry, an d such deposit is considered as presumption of 
ownership, and bylaws shall dete rmine deposit system and the manner of publication.  They also 
determine due fees, in accordance with  prevailing financial regulations.  
  
Chapter IX 
 
Collective Management of Economic Copyrights and Neighboring Rights 
 
Article (35): 
 The authors and neighboring rights owners and their successors in interest shall have the option of 
authorizing one or more professional associations or other authorities to manage all or some of their 
economic rights, according to exclusive or non-exclus ive authorizations, for a fee to be deducted by 
the association or authority from their dues acco rding to the terms agreed upon in writing. 
 
Article (36): 
 
The associations and authorities, cited in the prev ious article, shall, unless otherwise agreed in 
writing, assume the following powers:   a-  Authorize others to use all or some of the economic rights of the work, performance 
or sound recording, and agree on a fee due for such use.  
  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 15 
 
 
   b-  Collection of the due fee and distributio n thereof to the right owners, after deduction 
of the payment due to these associations and authorities for managing such rights.  
  c-  Any other powers under the entered agreement for managing such rights.  Article (37):  
 
The management of the economic rights for aut hors and neighboring rights  owners shall be only 
engaged by authorization of the Ministry. Byla ws shall specify regulations to obtain such 
authorization and the due fees in accordan ce with prevailing financial regulations. 
 
Article (38): 
 
The management of economic rights for authors a nd neighboring rights owners shall be subject to 
control and supervision of the Ministry. The associat ions and authorities involved in this activity shall 
keep records of the names of their members, stat us, rights authorized to be used, due fee and the 
period agreed upon, and shall allow authors, right s owners and their representatives to access their 
data and information registered in these records.   The Ministry shall withdraw the authorization in case  of breaching, by such association or authority, 
the provisions of this law or the decisions issued in application of its provisions. 
 
Article (39):  
 
The organization of collective administration for the economic rights of the author and neighboring 
rights owners shall be in accordance with the bylaws. 
 
 
Chapter X 
 
Prohibitions Related to Effective Technologica l Measures, Rights Management Information, 
and Retransmission of Television Signals 
 
Article (40): 
 
 The following acts are prohibited:  
1- The unauthorized circumvention of any effective technological measures 
 2- The manufacture, import, distribution, o ffering to the public, providing, or otherwise 
trafficking in devices, products, or components, or  offering to the public or providing services that: 
  (i) are promoted, advertised or marketed for the purpose of circumvention of any 
effective technological measure; or 
  (ii) have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent 
any effective technological measure; or 
 
 (iii) are primarily designed, produced, or performed for the purpose of enabling or 
facilitating the circumvention of any effective technological measure. 
 3-  Committing either of the following acts without obtaining a written authorization from the rights owner: IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 16  
 
   (a) the removal or alteration of rights management information;  
  (b) the distribution or importation for distribution knowing that the rights management 
information has been removed or altered; or 
 
 (c) the distribution, importation for distri bution, broadcast, communication or making 
available to the public copies of a work, performance, or sound recording knowing that rights management information has been removed or altered. 
 In all cases the prohibited acts should be done knowi ngly or with reasonable grounds to know that 
they would induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal an infringement of any copyright or neighboring 
right.   4.  Manufacturing, assembling, modifying, importing, exporting, selling, leasing, or otherwise distributing a tangible or intangible device or sy stem, knowing or having reason to know that the 
device or system is primarily of assistance in decoding an encrypted program-carrying satellite signal 
without the written authorization of the lawful distributor of such signal.  5.  Intentionally receiving, or further distributi ng a program-carrying signal that originated as an 
encrypted satellite signal knowing that it has been decoded without the written authorization of the 
lawful distributor of the signal. 
 
 
Chapter XI 
 
Border Measures 
 
Article (41): 
 
1.  Any of the right owners may, if he belie ves that copyright goods may be imported that 
involve a violation of any of the rights established under the provisions of th is law, submit a written 
request to the Customs Authorities to stop customs clearance of such goods and prevent circulation 
thereof.  
 The request must enclose sufficien t evidence to convince the Custom s Authorities that the rights of 
the applicant are apparently violated, and the app lication shall contain sufficient information, which 
may reasonably be expected to be available to th e applicant to allow the mentioned authority to 
reasonably identify the concerned goods. The unavail ability of such information should not prevent 
resorting to taking these measures.   The Customs Authorities shall process the application and notify 
the applicant in writing of its decision on his a pplication within seven days from the date of 
submitting the application. The decision, to stop cu stom clearance, applies for a period of one year 
from the date of submission or for the remainder of the term of protection for the goods for which an action shall be taken, whicheve r is shorter, unless the applicant requests a shorter period.  
 
The concerned customs authorities shall ask the applicant to provide an appropriate bond or 
equivalent guarantee enough to protect the defendant  and the competent authorities, and to prevent 
abuse of the right to request the suspension of cust oms clearance. The bond shall be set at a level that 
does not unreasonably deter recourse to these procedures. 
 
The concerned customs authorities shall, automatically and with no need to file a complaint or request 
by the right owner or by others, issue a decision to stop customs clearance on goods that are imported, 
in transit or prepared for export upon receipt to  the customs area under its jurisdiction, where the  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 17 
 
 
  authority concludes that the evidence is apparently sufficient to prove violation of any of the rights set 
forth in this law.   2.  If the concerned customs authorities decide, in application of the provisions of this article, to 
stop customs clearance procedures, it shall:  
 
 a.  Notify the importer of goods and the right owner of the decision issued to stop 
customs clearance as soon as issued.  
  b.  Notify the right owner, upon his writt en request, of the names and addresses of the 
sender, consignor, and impor ter of goods, the recipient, and quantities.  
  c.  Allow the concerned persons to inspect the goods according to the customs 
procedures conducted in this respect.  
 
 In this case the right owner shall file a lawsu it about the cause of dispute before the competent 
court and report it to the concerned customs author ity within a period not exceeding ten working days 
from the date of notification of the decision to st op customs clearance of such goods, otherwise the 
decision is considered void unless this authority or competent court decides to  extend the deadline for 
a term not exceeding ten more days in other estimated cases.   
3.  The application to stop customs clearance,  and assessing the bond value or the equivalent 
guarantee to be deposited by the applicant on the basi s of the provisions of this article, and defining 
the storage sites and fees shall be in accordance w ith the rules and regulations stipulated by the 
bylaws and matching with the provisions of prevailing financial rules.  
4.  The provisions of this article do not apply to small quantities, with non-commercial nature, of 
works and sound recordings which are available among the personal belongings of  passengers or sent 
in small parcels.   
Chapter XII 
 
Preventive Measures 
 
Article (42):  
 The competent court shall, upon the request of the holder of a protected right, under an order issued 
for a petition, order to take one, or more , of the following preventive measures:  
  a.  Prevent the violation of, or the prohibited action against, any right protected under 
this law. 
 
 b.  Stop violation of any right protected under this law. 
  c.  Sign the seizure of the copies of the work, subject to violation, as well as the 
materials used in making such copies.  
 
 d.  If the alleged violation is for public  performance of a work, performance, or sound 
recording, stop the current show or ban it in the future. 
  e.  Limit income from illegal publishing or presentation decided by an expert, appointed 
by the court for such purpose, and sign th e seizure of the income in all cases.  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 18  
 
  The Court may order the Petitioner to provide evidences available to him, that suggest violation of his 
rights, or committing the prohibited act, or that eith er of them is eminent, and any other information 
that it may deem necessary to enable competent au thorities to execute the appropriate measure when 
issued.  
The Court may oblige the petitioner to submit adequa te bond or equivalent guarantee sufficient to 
protect the defendant and prevent abuse of the ri ght. The bond value or an equivalent guarantee shall 
not be so high as to unreasonably deter recourse to these procedures.  The Court shall act on the petition expeditiously and within ten days from the date it is submitted. 
 
The Court may issue an order on the petition in the absence of the defendant, where it is likely that 
delay in issuing an order may incur to the Plainti ff a damage which cannot be remedied, or in which 
evidences of infringement may be removed or destro yed, and in this case, the defendant shall be 
notified of the order without delay as soon as issued , and notification may be sent, when appropriate, 
immediately after implementation of the order. The defendant may file a grievance before the 
competent court within ten days from the day following the date of his notification.   The plaintiff shall submit the original dispute to th e court within a period of fifteen days from the day 
following the date of issuance of the order on the a ppropriate procedure, or from the day following the 
date of his notification on rejecting the grieva nce submitted by the defendant; otherwise the taken 
procedure would be completely void. 
  
Chapter XIII 
 
Civil and Administrative Procedures and Remedies 
 
Article (43): 
 
1  - Without prejudices to any other compensations prescribed by any other law, the Court shall order anyone convicted of committing acts of infringements against any of the financial rights of the 
Author or of the holders of Neighboring rights to pay to the rights holder the following: 
  a) Compensations sufficient enough to c over for the damages to the right holder 
attributed to the infringement; 
 
 b) The amount of profits gained by the infringer and attributed to the infringement, and 
which was not taken into consideration wh en estimating the compensations referred 
to in the previous paragraph. 
   For the implementation of the provisions of  this paragraph, the right holder is each 
and every exclusive licensee, and also the unions and association representing the 
right holders, as per prevailing laws. 
 2  - Without prejudices to any other compensations prescribed by any other law, the Court shall order anyone convicted of committing any of the acts c ited in Article (40) of this law to pay to the 
rights holder the following: 
 
 a) Compensations sufficient enough to c over for the damages to the right holder 
attributed to the infringement;  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 19 
 
 
   b) The amount of profits gained by the infringer and attributed to the infringement, and 
which was not taken into consideration wh en estimating the compensations referred 
to in the previous paragraph. 
   The provision of this paragraph does not apply to authorities entrusted with keeping 
documents, public libraries, documentation centers, and non-profit educational and 
scientific institutions. It also does not apply to non-commercial broadcasting corporations on acts committed in violation to  the provisions of paragraphs (1, 2, 3) 
of article (40) of this law, if they do no t know, or have no strong reasons to know that 
their action is considered a violation of the provisions of this law. 
 
3  - When estimating the compensation stated in pa ragraph (1) of this article, the Court must take 
into consideration the value of the infringed g ood or service, as estimated at the retail price 
determined by the right holder, or according to an y other criterion he determines, provided that it is 
fair enough. 
 
4  - Instead of the compensation prescribed by para graphs (1, 2) of this article, the Court must 
order, for the right holder, and upon his request, the previously estimated legal compensation, provided it does not exceed the amount of Rials Ten Thousands for each act of infringement to cover for the damage to the rights holder as a result of acts of infringement.  The Executive Regulations 
shall determine the amount of these compensations wh ich must be capable of remedying the damages 
incurred. 
 5  - When estimating the amount of compensati on prescribed in this article, the Court must 
consider the court fees and lawyers' charges sp ent by the right holder, except in exceptional 
circumstances as seen by the Court in view of the compensation demanded by the right holder. 
 
Article (44): 
 
In civil proceedings involving acts violating the provision of this law, the person whose name is indicated as the author, producer, performer, broadcasting entity, or publisher of the work, performance, broadcasting program, or sound recording in the usual manner shall be presumed, in the 
absence of proof to the contrary, to be such.  It shall be presumed that, in the absence of proof to the 
contrary, the copyright or neighboring right  subsists in such subject matter.  
 
Article (45): 
 The competent civil court shall have the authority to order the infringer to provide any information 
that the infringer possesses regarding any person or persons involved in any aspect of the 
infringement and regarding the means of production or  distribution channel of such goods or services. 
 
Article (46): 
 The competent civil court shall have the authorit y to order the infringer to stop the infringement, 
including orders banning the export of infringed goods, banning the entry of imported goods to the 
trade channels after being customs cleared.  
Article (47): 
 
The concerned civil court shall have all the jurisd ictions prescribed for a concerned criminal court 
under the two articles (53) and (54) of this law. The Public Prosecution shall assume the jurisdictions 
prescribed in Article (50) of this Law.   IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 20  
 
  Article (48): 
 
The concerned civil court shall determine the fees and remuneration of experts and specialists it may 
appoint to assume certain missions related to the lawsuit and such assessmen t must be proportionate 
with the volume and nature of the mission, and in  a manner that does not deter recourse of such 
procedures. 
  
Chapter XIV 
 
Criminal Procedures and Penalties 
 
Article (49): 
 
The Public Prosecution shall assume criminal inves tigation on whatever crimes it becomes aware of 
that violate the provisions of this law, without the need of a complaint filed by the right. owner, or his 
representative, or a request thereof from a concerned government agency.  
Article (50): 
 
The Public Prosecution may issue an order to seize goods suspected of involving violation of any of 
the protected rights, established under the provisions of  this law, and other re levant materials and any 
assets traceable to the activity of violation or pr ohibited act, as well as any tools used in committing 
the crime and any documentary evidence related to the crime.  Such orders need not individually 
identify the items subject to seizure, so long as they  fall within general categories specified in the 
order. 
 
Article (51):  
 
In criminal proceedings involving acts violating the provision of this law, the person whose name is indicated as the author, producer, performer, broadcasting entity, or publisher of the work, performance, broadcasting program, or sound recording in the usual manner shall be presumed, in the 
absence of proof to the contrary, as such.  It shall al so be presumed that, in the absence of proof to the 
contrary, the copyright or neighboring right  subsists in such subject matter.   
 
Article (52):  
 Without prejudices to any more severe sanction pr ovided under any other law, any person shall be 
punished by imprisonment from a minimum of three months up to a maximum of three years as well 
as monetary fines from a minimum of Two Thousand Rials up to a maximum of Ten Thousand Rials, 
or by either one, if that person performs one of the following acts:  1 -  Sells, leases, or transacts a copy of work prot ected in accordance with the provisions of this 
law, without the consent of the right holder. 
 2  -   Intentionally violates any of the protected moral or economic copyright s or neighboring rights 
protected by the provisions of this law.  
3  -   Intentionally violates any of the protected moral or economic copyright s or neighboring rights 
protected by the provisions of this law for the pur pose of realizing commercial benefits or achieving 
private financial gains, or intentionally violates any of the author's rights even without meaning to, directly or indirectly realizing financial gains.   IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 21 
 
 
  4  -  Intentionally violates the economic right of a work in the Sultanate of Oman by its publication 
abroad, or offering it for further distribution, or export.  5  -   Commits any of the prohibited actions prescribed in paragraphs (1, 2, 3) of Article (40) of this 
Law with the purpose of realizing commercial profits  or private financial gain, unless the perpetrator 
was a non-profit public library, a document keeping agency, educational or scientific or cultural 
institution, or a non-commercial govern mental broadcasting corporation. 
 6  -  Knowingly traffics in counterfeit labels affixed or designed to be affixed to: a sound 
recording, a copy of a computer program, documenta tion or packaging for a computer program, or an 
audio-visual work.  
 7  -   Knowingly traffics in counterfeit documen tation or packaging for a computer program.  
 8  -  Intentionally importing or exporting goods infringing the provisions of this law. 
 
9  -  Manufacturing, assembling, modifying, importing, exporting, selling, leasing, or otherwise distributing a tangible or intangible system or de vice, knowing or having reason to know that the 
device or system is primarily used in decoding an  encrypted program-carrying satellite signal without 
the written authorization of the lawful distributor of such signal.  
10  -  Intentionally receives or further distribut es an encrypted program-carrying satellite signal if 
he knowing or having reasons to know that it has been decoded without the written authorization of 
the lawful distributor of such signal.  In all cases, the punishment, both in its minimum and/or maximum limits, shall be doubled for 
repeating the offense, together with closure of the commercial establishmen t where the offense was 
committed, or banning of the activity, subject to the Court considerations.  In deciding the punishment, the Court must observe  that the punishment should be severe enough to 
deter further offenses matching with the policy aimi ng at eliminating the infringer's economic gains. 
 Article (53):  
 
Upon proofing the violation or intentionally commit ting the prohibited act, the court shall have the 
authority to order the forfeiture of any assets traceab le to the infringing activity and shall, except in 
exceptional circumstances, order the forfeiture and destruction of  all the pirated goods, and the 
materials and tools used in the infringing activity a nd destroy them at the expense of the convicted 
defendant, or to dispose of them outside the co mmercial channels should the destruction causes harms 
to the public health or the environment.  
Article (54):  
 Without prejudice to any more severe sanction provided under any other law: 
  a)  Any person shall be punished by impr isonment from a minimum of seven days up to 
a maximum of one month as well as monetary fines from a minimum of One Hundred Rials up to a maximum of One Thousand Rials, or by either one, if that person, any of 
the rivals, violates an order issued by the court pursuant to articles (45, 46) of this 
law. 
  b)  Any person shall be punished by monetary fines from a minimum of One Hundred 
Rials up to a maximum of One Thousand Rials, if that person, be any of the rivals, IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
Page 22  
 
  their lawyers, experts, and other aides to the judges, violates an order issued by the 
court regarding protecting the secrecy of information submitted or exchanged during 
the proceedings. 
 
Article (55):  
 
The Magistrate Court shall keep a detailed account of all goods, materials, and other tools of which 
their destruction has been ordered in  a crime committed in violation of the provisions of this law. The 
Enforcing Agency, at the request of the violated  right owner, may temporarily delay executing the 
destruction order, where the materials could be used as evidence in a civil lawsuit. 
 
Article (56):   
 
Any person, who is injured by a violation of th e provisions of this law, may exercise the civil 
remedies against the perpetrator, before the concerned criminal court. 
 
 
Chapter XV 
 
General and Closing Provisions 
 
Article (57):  
 
The provisions of this Law shall apply to:   a.  Works, performances, and sound reco rdings of Omanis and foreigners, normal 
residents in the Sultanate, and broadcas ting programs belonging to broadcasting 
organizations stationed in the Sultanate, or broadcasted from headquarters located 
inside the Sultanate. 
  b.  Works, performances, sound recordings , and broadcasting programs that have been 
produced in the Sultanate of Oman regardl ess of the citizenship or the residence of 
the producer. 
  c.  Works, performances, and sound recordings  that are published for the first time in the 
Sultanate of Oman or in a foreign country and then published in the Sultanate within 
a period of thirty days starting from the da te of publication abroad, regardless of the 
citizenship or place of residence of the authors. 
  d.  Audio-visual works where the headquarter s of their producers or their residence is in 
the Sultanate of Oman.  
  e.  Architectural works that have been c onstructed in the Sultanate and other works of 
art, incorporated in a building, or any other facilities, located in the Sultanate. 
  f.   Authors, performers, producers of s ound recordings, and broa dcasting organizations, 
that are eligible for protection by virtue  of and in accordance with any multilateral 
and bilateral international tr eaties and conventions, to which the Sultanate of Oman is 
a party or may become a party later. 
  IP/N/1/OMN/C/2 
 Page 23 
 
 
  Article (58): 
 
The employees, appointed by a decision of the Minister of Justice, following agreement with the Minister, shall have the right to inspect, control a nd access related locations, to check on violations to 
the provisions of this law and its bylaws. 
 
Article (59): 
 
Enforcing the provisions of this law does not impl y violating the provisions of the multilateral and 
bilateral international treaties a nd conventions, in which the Sultanate of Oman is a part or may 
become a part later, relevant to the copyrights a nd neighboring rights, which govern the rights of the 
citizens of member States or equivalent to them.  
Article (60): 
 The provisions of this Law shall apply to all work s, performances, sound r ecordings, and broadcasting 
programs that are produced or broadcasted before the date that was enforced, provided that they have 
fallen into public domain due to the expiry of the term of protection as prescribed in the cancelled 
law, or in the legislations prevailing in their country of origin.  
Article (61): 
 
The Ministry shall undertake the following powers:    a.  Alert authors and neighboring rights owners of their moral and economical rights.   
 b.  Amicably settle disputes that arise on an y of the rights set forth in this law, if 
approved by the parties, and as detailed in the bylaws.  
  c.  Coordinate with the concerned authorities for the protection of copyrights and 
neighboring rights.  
 
 d.  Other powers set forth in this law or required to implement its provisions, as specified 
by the bylaws. 
 
Article (62): 
 The publication of final judicial decisions in copy right cases, and administrative rulings of general 
application pertaining to the enforcement of copyri ght rights, shall be in the exigencies of public 
interests, and consistent with the rules detailed in the bylaws. Posting in the Internet shall be 
considered as publication.  
Article (63): 
 
Without prejudices to the provisions of the referred telecommunications law, the provisions of this law shall apply on the service provider on violations he commits against its provisions or its bylaws. 
 
Article (64): 
 
Where no specific text covers in this law, provision s of the referred criminal procedures, civil and 
commercial procedures laws shall apply to referred criminal and civil proceedings, as circumstances 
imply. 
__________