WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights IP/N/1/BHR/C/2 
11 May 2004 
(04-2110) 
Original: English! 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
BAHRAIN 
The present document reproduces the text' of the Draft Law (2001) on Copyright and Related 
Rights, which is under consideration by the competent authorities of the Bahrain Government, 
notified by Bahrain under Article 63.2 of the Agreement by means of a communication from its 
Delegation dated 28 November 2001. 
Conseil des aspects des droits de proprit!te 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES A LA 
PROPRIETl!: INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
BAHREIN 
Le present document contient Ie texte' du projet de Loi de 2001 sur Ie droit d'auteur et les 
droits connexes, actuellement examine par les autorites competentes du gouvernement bahreInite et 
notifie par BahreIn au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord dans une communication de sa delegation 
datee du 28 novembre 2001. 
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 P ARRAFO 2 DEL ARTiCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
BAHREIN 
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto' del proyecto de Ley de Derecho de Autor y 
Derechos Conexos de 2001, que esta siendo examinado por las autoridades competentes del Gobierno 
y que Bahrein ha notificado en virtud del parrafo 2 del articulo 63 del Acuerdo mediante una 
comunicaci6n de su Delegaci6n de fecha 28 de noviembre de 2001. 
1 In English only'/En anglais seulement.!En ingles solamente. IPINIlIBHRlC/2 
Page 2 
DRAFT LAW NO. ----(2001) 
ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS 
PART I: DEFINITIONS 
Article 1 
For the purposes of this Law, the following words and expressions shall have the 
meanings given below to each, unless otherwise required by context: 
author: natural person who creates a work on which his name is indicated, or is attributed 
to him as its author at the time of its publication, unless established otherwise. Any person 
who publishes a work anonymously or using pseudonym shall be considered as its author, 
provided that the identity of the author may be clearly determined. Where there is any 
doubt, the publisher or producer of the work, being a natural person or a legal entity, shall 
be considered as the a representative of the author in exercising his rights until the identity 
ofthe actual author is determined. 
work: any production in the literary, artistic or scientific domain, whatever may be its 
mode, form of expression, importance or objective. 
creation: the stylistic nature that gives the work originality and distinctness. 
holders of related rights: performers and producers of phonograms and broadcasting 
organizations defined under this Law. 
performers: actors, singers, musicians, dancers, and other persons who act, sing, deliver, 
declaim, play in, interpret, or otherwise perform literary or artistic works protected under 
the provisions of this Law or falling in public domain. 
producers of phonograms: natural persons, or legal entities, who or which achieve, or are 
responsible for the achievement of the work, and provide the authors with all material and 
financial means for the production and realization of the work. IP /Nil IBHRlC/2 
Page 3 
broadcasting organizations: any authority which transmits, by wireless means, aural, 
visual, or audio-visual broadcasting. 
right holder: author, his successor in title, natural person or legal entity to whom are 
transferred the economic rights of the work. 
publication: making available a work, sound recording, broadcast program or protected 
performance to the public, by any means, taking into consideration the nature of each 
work. 
A work shall be made available to the public with the consent of the author or his 
successor in title. A sound recording or broadcast program shall be made available to the 
public with the consent of the producer or his successor in title. 
communication to the public: transmitting, by wire or wireless means, images, sounds, 
images and sounds of a work, performance of a sound recording, or a broadcast in such a 
way that reception by persons other than family members and close friends is possible only 
through broadcasting, in any place or places other than the place where broadcasting 
originates, irrespective of the time and place of reception, including any time or place 
individually chosen by the receiver through computes, digital communication networks or 
other similar media. 
phonogram: the aural fixation of a collection of sounds of a performance of any other 
sounds irrespective of the form or medium of fixation used. A phonogram does not include 
the process of fixing sounds with image in the process of making an audiovisual work, 
unless agreed otherwise. 
producer of an audio-visual work: a natural person, or legal entity, who or which takes 
the initiative to make, and is responsible for making, an audiovisual work. 
broadcasting: audio, visual or audiovisual transmission and recording of a performance, a 
sound recording or a program to the public by wireless means; such transmission by 
satellite is also "broadcasting". 
reproduction: making one or more copies of a work, sound recording, broadcast program 
or any performance by any means and in any form, including, permanent or temporary 
electronic storage of a work or sound recording. IPINIlIBHRlC/2 
Page 4 
collective work: a work made by a group of authors under the supervision of a natural 
person or legal entity who or which undertakes to publish it under his or its name and 
supervision. The efforts of authors shall be integrated in the general objective sought by 
such person or entity such that it is impossible to distinguish the individual work of each 
author. 
joint work: a work that is not considered as a collective work, made by many persons 
irrespective of whether it is possible or not to distinguish the share of each of the them in 
the work. 
derivative work: Works derived from other existing works, such as translations, musical 
arrangements, compilation of works, including databases, whether or not computer 
readable, and collections of expressions of folklore, which, by reason of the arrangement 
and selection of their contents, are considered as creative. 
national folklore: expressions of oral, musical, choreographic or tangible popular heritage 
in distinguishable articles reflecting the traditional popular heritage that originated or 
continued in the State of Bahrain, and not attributable to any known author. 
public domain: status that covers all works that initially did not enjoy protection, or 
whose term of protection for economic rights has expired. 
PART II: SCOPE OF PROTECTION 
Article 2 
The original works of literature, arts and science shall enjoy protection under this 
Law whatever their value, type or purpose of their production or mode of expression, 
without a need for compliance with any formal procedure. 
Protection shall cover in particular: 
1. books, booklets, articles, pamphlets and other written works; 
2. computer programs whether in source or object code; 
3. databases whether or not computer readable; 
4. oral works such as lectures, speeches, sermons and works of the same nature; IPINIlIBHRJC/2 
Page 5 
5. dramatic, dramatico-musical and choreographic works, entertainments ill dump 
show and pantomimes; 
6. musical compositions with or without words; 
7. aural, visual, and audio-visual works; 
8. works of architecture, designs and representations; 
9. works of drawing, painting, engraving, lithography, printing on fabric, wood and 
metal, and works of the same nature in the field offine arts; 
10. photographic and similar works; 
11. works of applied and figurative arts; 
12. illustrations, maps, plans and three-dimensional works related to geography, 
topography or architecture; 
13. derivative works, without prejudice to protection provided for the works from 
which they are derived; 
14. title of the work if created; 
15. collection and selection of expresslOns of folklore from popular traditional 
heritage, where such collection is creative by reason of the arrangement or 
selection of its contents. 
Article 3 
Protection shall not cover the following: 
1. ideas, procedures, methods or operations of work, mathematical concepts, 
discoveries and data if they are expressed, described, outlined or incorporated in a 
work; 
2. official documents, irrespective of their original or translation language, such as 
laws, regulations, decisions, international conventions, court orders, decisions of 
arbitrators, and decisions issued by administrative committees with legal 
competence; IPIN/IIBHRlC/2 
Page 6 
3. news concerning events and current happenings which are published, broadcast or 
reported and which are considered as journalistic infonnation. 
Notwithstanding, collections of the above shall enjoy protection if their 
compilation is creative by reason of their arrangement or any other personal effort which 
deserves protection. 
PART ill: AUTHOR'S ECONOMIC AND MORAL RIGHTS 
Article 4 
The author shall alone enjoy non-prescriptive and non-transferable moral rights in 
his work, such rights include the following: 
a) right to decide on the publication of the work, and means and date of 
publication; 
b) right to claim authorship of the work; 
c) right to introduce any amendment to the work by change, revision, deletion or 
addition; 
d) right to withdraw the work from circulation if this is justified by the emergence 
of new circumstances; prohibition or withdrawal shall be effected pursuant to 
an order from the competent court; in such case, the author shall undertake to 
pay in advance a fair compensation to the holder of economic rights within a 
period to be determined by the court, otherwise the order shall be void; 
e) right to object to any infringement of his work, including deterioration, 
modification or any other amendment, or any change that is likely to damage 
his reputation or honor. 
Any disposal of any of the rights referred to shall be void. 
Article 5 
An author and his successors shall have the exclusive right to financially exploit 
his work by any means and shall have in particular the exclusive right to authorize or 
prohibit the following acts in relation to his work: a) Publishing, broadcasting and producing to the work to the public; IPINI1/BHRfC/2 
Page 7 
b) Reproduction by all means including photography, cinematography and 
recording; 
c) Translation, adaptation, arrangements or other transformation of the work; 
d) Use of a copy or more of the work for the purpose of rental or lending to the 
public or any other act in relation to making the work available to the public; 
e) Public performance of the work by reading or recital or acting or singing or any 
other mean; and 
f) Distribution to the public by sale, rental, public lending or otherwise of the 
original or a copy ofthe work that has not already been authorized by the author. 
Article 6 
Amendment in a translation shall not be considered as infringement unless the 
translator fails to refer to the place of deletion or causes, through his act, damage to the 
reputation of the work. 
Article 7 
Right of rental or borrowing shall not apply to computer programs if the program is 
not the object of rental or landing. This right shall not apply to cinematographic works 
unless such rental or lending has led to widespread copying of such work which is 
materially impairing the exclusive right of reproduction. 
Article 8 
The author, his successor or the right holder shall have the right to transfer to a 
third party, whether a natural person or legal entity, all or part of his economic rights 
outlined in this Law. Such disposal shall be made in writing and determine, explicitly and 
in detail, each right subject to disposal together with its scope, objective and period and 
place of exploitation. IPINI1 IBHRlC/2 
Page 8 
Without prejudice to the author's moral right provided for under this Law, the 
author may not perform any act that is likely to prejudice the right subject to disposal. 
Article 9 
The author, his successor or right holder may obtain a compensation in money or in 
kind against the transfer of one or more rights for the economic exploitation of his work to 
a third party on the basis of a relative share in the royalties derived from the exploitation, 
or on the basis of a fixed amount, or on both. 
Article 10 
If the agreement referred to in Article 9 of this Law is considered to be unfair to the 
right of the author or of any holder of related rights, or became so due to circumstances 
that emerged after the conclusion of the agreement, the author, his successor or any holder 
of related rights, may request the competent court to order the review of the agreed 
compensation. 
Article 11 
Disposal by the author of the original copy of his work in any form shall not result 
in the transfer of any of his economic rights, unless agreed otherwise. Notwithstanding, the 
owner of that copy shall have the right to present it to the public, without the obligation of 
allowing the author to reproduce or present it, unless agreed otherwise. 
Article 12 
Seizure shall not apply to copyright. It may apply to copies of a published work. 
Works whose author is deceased prior to their publication may not be seized unless it is 
clearly established that his intention was to publish them before his death. 
Article 13 
Disposal by an author of the his future work of intellect shall be void. PART V: HOLDERS OF RELATED RIGHTS 
Article 14 IP INIlIBHRlC/2 
Page 9 
Performers -and their successors -shall enjoy non-transferable and non­
prescriptive moral rights, including: 
a) right to claim authorship of their performances, whether live or recorded; 
b) right to object to any change, amendment or deterioration of their 
performances, that are likely to cause damage to their reputation or honor. 
The Ministry of Information shall exercise this moral right after the expiration of 
the term of protection of economic rights provided for under this Law in order to preserve 
their performance as it was created. 
Article 15 
Performers shall enJoy in respect of their performances the following exclusive 
rights: 
1. To broadcast or communicate their unfixed performances to the public. 
2. To fix their unfixed performances on phonograms. 
3. To reproduce their fixed performances on phonograms. 
4. Authorise commercial rental or lending to the public of an original or copies 
of their fixed performances 
Article 16 
Authorization to make an audiovisual recording of a performance allows the 
reproduction of the performance in the form of an audiovisual recording for 
communication to the public. 
Article 17 
Producers of phonograms shall enjoy the following exclusive economics rights: 
a) Prevent any exploitation of their recordings in any manner, without prior written 
authorisation, directly or indirectly, including in particular; reproduction, renting, 
lending, broadcasting or making available to the public through computers or the 
Internet or other means of technology. IP/N/1IBHRlC/2 
Page 10 
b) Making their recordings available to the public by wire or wireless means or 
through computers or any other means oftechnology. 
Article 18 
Broadcasting organization shall enjoy the following exclusive economic rights: 
a) fixation or recording of their programs and reproduction ofthose recordings; 
b) re-broadcasting of their programs by wired or wireless means and their 
communication to the public; 
c) granting licenses for the exploitation of their recordings and broadcast 
programs; 
d) objecting to the communication to the public or the television recording of their 
broadcast programs without their written authorization. Prohibited recording in 
this sense shall mean recording or reproducing those broadcast programs or 
reproducing, renting, re-broadcasting, or communicating to the public of their 
recordings by any means. 
PART V: LICENSES AND FREE USE 
Article 19 
Any person may -without authorization from the author -request the Minister of 
Information to grant him a personal non-exclusive license to reproduce and/or translate 
any work protected in accordance with the provisions of this Law, provided that the work 
is not made available by the author or his successor in the State or that copies thereof that 
were made available are out of print, against payment of a fair compensation to the author 
or his successor, on the condition that such license is not contrary to the normal 
exploitation of the work and that it does not cause undue damage to the legitimate interests 
ofthe author or his successor. 
The license shall be granted under a reasoned decision determining its time and 
place, provided that its objective is limited to the fulfi11ment of teaching requirements of 
different types and levels or the needs of public or national libraries. IP INIlIBHRlCI2 
Page 11 
A decision shall be issued by the Minister of Information determining the licensing 
circumstances, conditions, categories and fees not exceeding ( ..................... ) per work, in 
such a way as to ensure that no damage is unduly caused to the legitimate interests of the 
author or his successor, nor to normal exploitation. 
Article 20 
Without prejUdice to the author's moral rights provided for under this Law, 
performance of the following acts on protected works without the authorization of the 
author or the right holder shall be deemed to be legitimate: 
1) making one single copy of the work for purely personal non-commercial use, provided 
that such reproduction does not cause damage to the normal exploitation of the work 
nor to the legitimate interests ofthe author or the right holder, excluding 
a) reproducing or copying works of fine or applied arts if they are not permanently 
available in a place open to the public, 
b) reproducing or copying an architectural work in its entirety or a substantive part 
thereof, 
c) reproducing or copying a data base or a computer program in their entirety or a 
substantive part thereof, except where Item 2 of this Law applies; 
2) making one singly copy, or extract of a computer program by its legitimate owner 
within the scope of the authorized objective, for the purposes of back up or 
replacement where the original copy is lost, damaged or cannot be used. 
The back up copy or the extract shall be destroyed upon cessation of the ground for 
ownership. 
3) making copies of protected works for use in court or equivalent proceedings within the 
requirements of such procedures, provided that the source and author are referred to; 
4) making one single copy of a work through the intermediary of a non-profit resource 
center, archive center, libraiy or documentation center, directly or indirectly, in one of 
the two following cases: IPINIIIBHRJCI2 
Page 12 
a) reproducing is aimed at safeguarding the original copy or replacing a copy that is 
lost, destroyed or not usable, where it is impossible to replace it under reasonable 
conditions, 
b) reproducing is aimed at responding to the request of a natural person for use in a 
study or research, provided that it is undertaken once or through intervals, where it 
is impossible to obtain an authorization for reproduction in accordance with the 
provisions of this Law; 
5) quoting short paragraphs, extracts or analyses from the work within the common 
practice for the purposes of criticism, discussion, information, explanation or testing, 
provided that such quotation is limited to the required amount and that the source and 
author are referred to; 
6) performing the work in meetings in family, or by students inside a teaching 
establishment without any direct on indirect compensation; 
7) presenting works of fine, applied, figurative or architectural arts in broadcast programs 
where such works are permanently displayed in public places; 
8) reproducing short parts of a work in a written copy, aural recording or audiovisual 
recording for education, religious or professional training purposes, provided that 
reproduction is made within reasonable limits and within its objective, and that the 
party making the reproduction does not seek profit directly or indirectly, where it is not 
possible to obtain an authorization for reproduction in accordance with the provisions 
ofthis Law. 
Article 21 
Without prejudice to the author's moral rights under the provisions of this Law, the 
author, his successor or the right holder may not, within the limits justified by the 
objective, prevent newspapers, periodicals and broadcasting organizations from 
performing one or more of the following acts: 
1) publishing, broadcasting or communicating to the public, by any means, extracts from 
works lawfully made available to the public; this applies to extracts from works 
watched or listened to during current events; IP INIlIBHRlCI2 
Page 13 
2) publishing published articles concerning discussions on political, economic, scientific, 
mathematical, literary or religious topics that concern the public opinion at a certain 
point in time, provided no prohibition is imposed at the time of publication, and that 
the source used and author are systematically referred to. In all cases, the source used 
and author shall be referred to; 
3) publishing speeches, lectures, sermons and works of the same nature which are 
presented in public or directed to the public, provided that the work and author are 
referred to in all cases. 
Notwithstanding, the author, or his successor, shall alone have the right to compile such 
works in collections to be attributed to him. 
4) publishing extracts from an aural, visual or audiovisual work made available to the 
public in the context of media coverage of current events. 
Article 22 
Broadcasting organizations may, for the purposes of their broadcasts and using 
their own means, make a temporary recording of a work which they authorized to 
broadcast, provided that this copy is destroyed upon cessation or expiration of the 
authorization. This shall not apply to copies of works of a documentary nature, provided 
that only one copy may be kept of each work. 
Article 23 
Broadcasting organizations may broadcast works that are performed in any public 
place. They shall undertake to broadcast the name of the author and the title ofthe work, to 
pay a fair compensation in money or in kind to the author, and to pay any other 
compensation if necessary. 
Article 24 
Restrictions imposed on the author's economic rights under the provisions of this 
Law shall apply to holders of related rights. IPIN/1IBHRJCI2 
Page 14 
PART VI: JOINT AND COLLECTIVE WORKS 
Article 25 
Where many authors participate in making a work such that it is impossible to 
distinguish the share of each person in the joint work, they shall all be equally considered 
as authors ofthe work, unless agreed otherwise in writing. 
In such case, an author may not individually exercise the author's right without 
prior consent of all of them made in writing. 
Where the participation of all authors concerns a different type of art, each of them 
shall have the right to exploit separately the part of his contribution, provided that such 
exploitation does not cause damage to the exploitation of the joint work, unless agreed 
otherwise in writing. 
They shall all have the right to institute proceedings in case of infringement of any 
author's right. 
Where one of the authors dies and has no successor, his share shall be transferred 
to the remaining authors or their successor, unless agreed otherwise in writing. 
Article 26 
1) The following shall be considered as partner authors of an aural, visual or audiovisual 
work: 
a) author of a scenario or written idea of a radio or television program; 
b) person who adapts a literary work to make it appropriate to audiovisual style; 
c) author of script; 
d) compositor of a dramatico-musical work if it is specifically composed for the work; 
e) director who actually supervises the work and makes a positive contribution to its 
realization. 
Where the work a is simplified version or an extract of another previous work, the 
author of the previous work shall be considered as a partner author of the new 
work. IPINIlIBHRlC/2 
Page 15 
2) The author of the scenario, the person who adapts the literary work, the author of script 
and the director shall all have the right to present the work notwithstanding the 
objection of the author of the original literary work or the compositor of the musical 
work, and without prejudice to his civil rights to participate in authorship. 
The author of the literary or musical part shall have the right to publish his work in a 
form other than the published joint work, unless agreed otherwise in writing. 
3) Where one of the participants in making an aural, visual or audiovisual work object to 
finish his part,. the other partner authors may use the part which he made, without 
prejudice to his rights derived from participation in the creation. 
4) During the period of exploitation of the aural, visual or audiovisual work agreed upon, 
the producer shall represent the authors of this work or their successor, in concluding 
agreements of their exploitation without prejudice to the rights of authors of the 
extracted or adapted literary and musical works, unless agreed otherwise in writing. 
The producer shall be considered as the publisher of this work and shall enjoy the 
publisher's right on it and its copies within the objectives of commercial exploitation. 
Article 27 
Any natural person, or legal entity, who or which directs and organizes the creation 
of a collective work shall be its author and shall be alone entitled to exercise author's rights 
on it, unless agreed otherwise in writing. 
PART VTI: TERM OF PROTECTION 
Article 28 
The term of protection for the author's economic rights provided for under this Law 
shall be the life of the author and 50 years starting from the beginning of the (Gregorian 
calendar) year following the year of his death. 
Article 29 
The economic rights of authors of joint works shall be protected for their life and 
50 years starting from the beginning of the (Gregorian calendar) year following the year of 
the death of the last surviving author. IP/N/1IBHRJC/2 
Page 16 
Article 30 
The economic rights relating to authors of a collective work, other then applied art, 
shall be protected for 50 years starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year 
following the year during which the work was published or made available to the public 
for the first time which ever comes last, and where the author is a natural person, the term 
shall be calculated according to the rule provided under Article 28 and 29 referred to 
above. The economic rights relating to a work published for the first time after the death of 
the author shall lapse after 50 years starting from first day of the Gregorian calendar year 
following the year during which the work was published or made available to the public 
for the first time, whichever comes last. 
Article 31 
Economic rights in an anonymous or pseudonymous work shall be protected for 50 
years starting form the starting from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following 
the year during which the work was published or made available to the public for the first 
time, whichever comes last, unless the identity of the author is known or revealed in which 
case the term of protection shall be for his life time and 50 years thereafter starting from 
the first day ofthe Gregorian calendar year following the year during which he died. 
Article 32 
Economic rights of authors of works of fine arts and photographic works shall 
expire on the expiration of 25 years starting from the beginning of the first (Gregorian 
Calendar) year following the year on which they are first published or made available to 
the public, whichever is the furthest. 
Article 33 
"Where theterm of protection is calculated from the date of the first publication or 
making available to the public, the calculation of the term of protection shall be based on 
the date of the first publication. irrespective of further publication or making available to 
the public, unless the author introduces to his work substantive amendments such that it 
may be considered as a new work. 
"Where the work is composed of many parts or volumes published separately and at 
intervals, each part or volume shall be considered as an independent work in calculating 
the term of protection. Article 34 IP/N/1/BHRlCI2 
Page 17 
The term of protection to a performance is for a period of 50 years computed from 
the fust day of the Gregorian Calendar year following the year in which the performance 
was first fixed on a phonogram or, in the absence of such fixation, the year in which the 
performance took place. 
Article 35 
Producers of phonograms shall, enjoy an exclusive economic right, for a period of 
50 years computed from the first day of the Gregorian calendar year following the year in 
which the publication of the phonogram was made or, in the absence of publication, the 
year in which the performance took place. 
Article 36 
Broadcasting organizations shall enjoy an exclusive economic right allowing them 
to exploit their broadcast programs for a period of 25 years computed from the first day of 
the Gregorian calendar year following the year in which these programs are broadcast for 
the first time. 
PART VIII: COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT AND RELATED 
RIGHTS 
Article 37 
Authors and holders of author's rights and related rights may surrender their 
economic rights to a specialized professional association which would be responsible for 
the collective management of their rights on its own behalf and for its own account as their 
private successor. 
The creation, establishment and registration of this association shall be governed 
by the law promulgated under Decree Law No. 21 (1989) governing social and cultural 
associations and clubs, private bodies in the field of youth and sports, and private 
institutions. 
The contracts concluded by the association concerning the management of the 
members' right shall be considered as civil contracts. IPINIlIBHRlCI2 
Page 18 
Article 38 
The association shall undertake to treat those requesting contracts for the 
exploitation of the works of members without any discrimination. Discrimination shall not 
include cases where the association issues a reasoned decision granting licenses for 
exploitation against a reduced financial compensation in cases of exploitation, in 
particular: 
a) exploitation of works ill public ceremomes though live performance by 
performers; 
b) exploitation of works in the context of educational or cultural activities without 
any financial return. 
Article 39 
The association shall distnbute to its members their due amounts of money against 
the authorization they give it to exploit their rights after deduction of administration costs, 
and other amounts provided for under the Statute ofthe association. 
PART IX: DEPOSIT OF WORKS 
Article 40 
Authors, publishers, printers and producers of works, phonograms, recorded 
performances, and broadcast programs published by making copies thereof in the State of 
Bahrain, shall jointly undertake to deposit, at their expense, three or more copies thereof, 
as determined by the Minister of Information, with the Office of Copyright and Related 
Rights at the Ministry of Information before the publication of the works. Data concerning 
the work shall be published in the Official Gazette. 
Failure to deposit shall not entail any infringement of copyright or related rights 
provided for under this Law. 
Violation by the printer, publisher or producer of the provision under the first 
paragraph of this Article shall be punishable by a fine of at least 50 Dinars and not 
exceeding 100 Dianrs for each work, aural recording or broadcast program, without 
prejudice to the obligation of deposit. IP IN/ IIBHRJC/2 
Page 19 
Works published in newspapers, magazines and periodicals shall be exempt from 
the deposit if they are published separately. 
Article 41 
The Office of Copyright and Related Rights shall establish a register to record 
disposal of works, performances, phonograms and broadcast programs governed by the 
provisions ofthis Law. No fees shall be paid for recordal in this register. 
Article 42 
Subject to the approval of due fees by the Cabinet, the Minister of Information 
shall issue a decision concerning the rules for deposit, recordal and due fees. 
Article 43 
The Office of Copyright and Related Rights shall undertake all duties provided for 
under the two previous Articles, and in particular 
a) [sic: quality of authors, publishers and holders of related rights in the best 
manner to exercise their economic and moral rights]; 
b) resolution of disputes between authors and holders of related rights on one hand 
and third parties on the other, through amicable means if the parties so agree; 
c) proposal of draft laws and decisions concerning the protection of copyright and 
related rights; 
d) study of international conventions and participation in Gulf, Arab and 
international conferences and seminars in respect of copyright and related 
rights; designation of officials at the Minister for those tasks. 
PART X: PROVISIONAL MEASURES AND BORDER MEASURES 
Article 44 
The President of the competent court may, upon demand from the interested person 
and pursuant to an order issued on the basis of a request, order one or more the following 
procedures and any other appropriate provisional measures, in case of, or to prevent any 
infringement of any right provided for under this Law: IP/N/IIBHRlC/2 
Page 20 
1. establish a detailed description, ot: the work, perfonnance, phonogram or broadcast 
program and preserve the evidence; 
2. cease the publication, presentation or manufacture of the work, performance, 
phonogram or broadcast program; 
3. seize the original or copy of the work, phonogram or broadcast program, together 
with the material used in republishing or making copies of this work, performance, 
phonogram or broadcast program, provided that such material can only be used in 
republishing the work, performance, phonogram or broadcast program. 
The President of the court may, as appropriate, issue the said order urgently 
without summoning the other party provided that the other party is notified upon issuing 
that order. He may also designate one or more experts to assist the executing official and 
request the applicant to deposit an appropriate money bail. 
The applicant shall file the case before the court within 15 days from the date on 
which the order is issued, otherwise it shall be void. 
Article 45 
The person against whom the order is issued may file an appeal with the President 
of the court which issued that order within ten days from the date on which the order is 
issued or on which he is notified, as the case may be. In such case, the President of the 
court may confirm the order or reject it in :full or in part, designate an administrator to 
republish, exploit or make copies of the work subject of the conflict and deposit the return 
derived therefrom in the treasury ofthe court until the conflict is settled. 
Article 46 
a) Without prejudice to the right to initiate court proceedings, the Customs 
Administration may, spontaneously or upon request from the general prosecutor or 
from the author or one of the holders of related rights, decide, within a maximum 
period of three days, to suspend the procedures for the customs release of any material 
imported or intended for export within the customs zone falling in its jurisdiction, as 
long as it possesses -allegedly -clear evidence on infringement of any of the rights 
provided for under this Law. Such decision shall be communicated, by registered mail 
with acknowledgement of receipt, to the interested persons upon its issuance. IPIN/1IBHR/CI2 
Page 21 
b) Where a request is filed by the author or one of the holders of related rights, it shall 
contain a detailed and :full description of the infringing material in order to enable the 
Administration to identifY such material; it shall also be accompanied with sufficient 
evidence proving to the Administration the infringement of the right, together with the 
payment of the fee prescribed therefor. In such case, the Administration may request 
the deposit of a bank or money bail sufficient enough to ensure the seriousness of the 
request and to cover any damage that might unlawfully result from such suspension. 
Action before the competent court must be initiated and the Customs 
Administration notified thereof, within a period no exceeding 10 days from the date on 
which he is notified of the decision; otherwise the decision for suspension shall be void 
and the goods and material referred to in the first paragraph shall be released provided that 
they fulfill all the legal conditions and procedures and that the period is no extended for an 
additional maximum period of 10 days if it is so considered by the Director General of the 
Customs Administration. 
c) The conditions, rules and procedures governing the request to suspend the release, the 
necessary documents to be attached thereto and the amount of the bail to be deposited 
by the applicant shall be determined by decision from the Minister of Finance and 
Economy. 
Article 47 
The Customs Administration may not -in all cases -prevent the persons concerned 
from having access to imported material whose customs release is suspended by decision 
in accordance with existing customs procedures. 
Article 48 
The provisions of Article 45 of this Law shall not apply to insignificant amounts of 
non-commercial material which is often carried in passengers' luggage or sent in small 
mail packages, nor to transit goods or goods that are offered for circulation in the markets 
of the exporting country by the right holder or with his consent. IPINI1 IBHRlC/2 
Page 22 
PART XI: SANCTIONS 
Article 49 
Without prejudice to any more severe sanction provided for under the law on 
sanctions or any other law, any person who performs one of the following acts shall be 
punishable by imprisonment for a period not less than 3 months and not more than one 
year and by a fine not less than BD 500 and not more than BD 2000 or by either one: 
1. infringing any moral or economic right of an author, right holder or holder of 
related rights provided for under this Law; 
2. selling, renting or offering for circulation, ill any form, a work, phonogram or 
broadcast program protected under the provisions of this Law, without a written 
prior authorization from the author, holder of related rights or their successor; 
3. communicating or making available to the public of a work, performance, 
phonogram or broadcast program covered by the protection prescribed under this 
Law, through computers, internet, information or communication networks, or any 
other means, without a written prior authorization from the author, holder of related 
rights or their successor. 
Sanctions provided for under the first and second paragraphs of this Law shall be 
increased depending on the number of works, performances, programs or recordings 
subject to infringement. The upper limit of the sanction shall be doubled in case of a 
second offence. 
Article 50 
Without prejudice to any more severe sanction provided for under the law on 
sanctions or any other law, any person who performs one of the following acts shall be 
punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than three months and not more than 
one year and by a fine of not less than BD 500 and not more than BD 2000 or by either 
one: 
1. imitating, selling, offering for circulation, exporting or shipping abroad a work, 
phonogram or broadcast program while being aware of its imitation; IPINI1 IBHRlC/2 
Page 23 
2. manufacturing or importing, for the purposes of selling or rental, equipment, means 
or tools designs or made specifically to overcome a technical protection used by 
the author or holder of related rights for the organization or management of these 
rights or maintaining the quality of goods, without a written consent of the author, 
holder of related rights or their successor. 
3. disabling or altering any electronic protection used by the author or the 
neighbouring right owner. 
In case of a second offence, the upper limit of the sanctions shall be doubled. 
Article 51 
Without prejudice to any more severe sanction provided for under the law on 
sanctions or any other law, any legal entity or the owner of any private body with a special 
activity, whose owner, representative, agent or employee has used, acquired for use, 
computer programs or applications without a written authorization for that by the holder of 
the right of disposal in such programs or applications, shall be punishable by a fine of not 
less than BD 500 and not not more than BD 2000, provided that such offence is committed 
for the benefit or on behalf of that legal entity or private body. 
In case of a second offence, the sanction provided for under this Article shall be 
doubled. 
The person committing the offence shall be punishable in person by the same 
sanction provided for under this Article. IPINIlIBHRlC/2 
Page 24 
Article 52 
Without prejudice to the sanctions prescribed under Articles 49, 50 and 51 of this 
Law, the court shall order the confiscation and destruction of imitated copies subject of the 
offense or obtained therefrom. It shall also order the confiscation of the equipment and 
tools used in committing the offense, and the closure of the establishment used by the 
offenders or their partner to commit such acts for a period not exceeding six months. The 
court may in case of a repeated offence order the publication of a summary of the 
conviction in one or more issues of a daily newspaper at the expense of the party against 
which the order is taken and order the closure of the premises at which, the offence was 
facilitated, for a period of 15 days to 6 months. In all cases, the confiscated equipment and 
tools shall be sold in public auctions and the return derived from such sales shall be 
deposited in the treasury of the court before depositing it in the State treasury after